Here’s the most important thing about myself and fashion : we don’t click. We do not get along well. You cannot put me and fashion in the same sentence.
I wasn’t one who’d buy fashion magazines and indulge into ooohing and aaahing over the newest releases or lines of established and would be designers. I would rather help myself with a John Grisham suspense thriller or a Jodi Picoult sob story than go gaga over featured accessories that all look the same to me. You’d never see me reaching out for glossy magazines to check what Angelina Jolie wore during the Academy Awards or what Nicole Kidman donned during the Oscars. Whether they were smokin’ or not doesn’t appeal to me. Who and what motion picture bagged the Bests awards and whose speech was the most inspiring are what I’m curious about.
But lately, it appears that we, that is, fashion and I, are slowly working things out. It started with 3 words, ethical is Fashionable. Yes, you read it right. Fashion’s new partner is indeed ethics. You don’t quite get it? Same here. I had a tough time understanding it too, the 1st time I saw it. How can fashion, a free spirit, ever hook up with a harsh and stifling character, ethics. An unlikely pair, isn’t it?
A particularly interesting one, too. The ‘ethical is fashionable’ scheme is slowly gaining momentum. Some view this as a methodology still to gain recognition among clothing corporations to launch themselves into the mainstream fashion scene. Think fair competition and trade. Others believe that this is really a drive towards a more reactive and responsible fashion industry, thinking less of what designers and outlets need to produce and more of what the purchasers like and demand which hopefully will translate to less surplus and less production waste.
Whichever stand you opt to defend isn’t important. The more vital thing to think about here is what is being done in the light of this campaign. The ethical is fashionable scheme is bringing products that used to be considered non marketable to full view. Take as an example crochets and knits and other hand-crafted goods which are clawing in millions of dollars.
What has happened to the claims these are unprofitable? The point is kind of easy and it has for a while been gazing at us : there is a steady shift occuring in the world of fashion. What used to be a restrictive and inclusive play ground for big corporations is becoming more accessible to smaller firms. Thanks to the more informed and more responsible patrons who have spotted that fashion is not just about having the latest and hottest item there is . Fashion is also about choice, intelligent ones. It includes : caring about starting business ventures, giving them an opportunity to break in the rather monopolized industry and supporting corporations who give back to their workers.
One of my favourite brands right now is Ginger and Smart Dress. A great example of an ethical brand.
Folks caring for people. Folk caring for the environment. And folk looking good. When did fashion become this exciting! Ethical is indeed fashionable.
So go have a look at Ginger and Smart Online and do your bit for ethical fashion.
