Vast quantities of clothes are worn only — times and discarded. Someone, somewhere put time and effort into creating these cast offs with little reward. Clothing has become a symbol of peoples disregard for the actions of large businesses squeezing every last drop of profit out of these someones, somewhere. Actually we should recognise their skills and their right to make a living. Ethical labels are doing their best to change the relationship between the producer and the consumer in this incredibly tough economic climate. Everyone has a stake in the future of ethical consumerism and ethical fashion will only survive if it is supported; otherwise we will end up with a very small choice in the high street, of mega brands.The British have always fostered a creative design approach and fortunately there are great ethical designers optimistically coming our of art schools every year.
Give them something to be optimistic about and make an ethical purchase when you are able.
Evolutionary Design
Life is about change but in nature this usually occurs at a slow pace, why do we need to adhere to the twentieth century doctrine of rapid and reactionary change just for the sake of it?
Evolutionary design pays homage to the excellence that has come before and avoids the trashing of old things before their time is up.
In our society there has been a gradual but continuous loss of value placed on the things that surround us in our busy lives. We are encouraged to change our clothes and our bathrooms, our houses and our partners because there is a never ending supply of new ones for us to move on to.
The twentieth century saw the manufacture of a new form of desire that was exploited at the core of capitalist enterprise. Fashion magazines made us believe that we could not live with last
years colours and constantly bedazzled us with new products, seducing us into believing that the products in the latest issue were superior to those that came before.
The creation of leisure time also brought with it the idea of boredom and made us look for new ways of staving this off. The boredom factor has reached its zenith today with the desire for new things becoming a weekly or daily quest for some. Shopping has never been so easy.
We lost our relationship with the producers of our objects of desire but instead of replacing this with a relationship with the objects themselves, we have been encouraged to see these objects as endlessly replaceable.
Linda Row
Blanket Approach
July 16, 2009
Boutique Ethique is launching ‘The Blanket Approach’ this autumn. Working together with uk textile mills and manufacturers, we will be collecting woolllen off-cuts and sample lengths.
These will be manufactured into a variety of products including bags, cushion covers, throws and blankets. They will be made by a recycling project based in Bristol called Silai for skills.
Silai is an important resource for unemployed women in the culturally rich and diverse area of Bristol’s Easton district. Women come to Silai for all sorts of reasons; from a search for new skills and creative inspiration or simply social interaction. A large number of these women are refugees wanting to gain skills which will lead to employment.
Each item sold will buy part of a blanket which will be given homeless shelters this winter.
We want to ensure that the Blanket Approach gains maximum exposure in the press, in order to be of benefit to the many homeless individuals who are in need of direct support during the winter months.
Boutique Ethique’s founder, Linda Row, is a pioneer in Ethical fashion, having started the label Clothworks in 1997. Linda feels that in the current economic climate it is essential that we all pool our resources to help those who have difficulty helping themselves.
Fashion and Politics
March 18, 2009
Fashion designers are not supposed to bother themselves with politics but I have always been bothered. It seemed very obvious to me, when I started my green clothing label, Clothworks, that the financial system we have been living with for the last 50 years had overrun itʼs time. So fragile a system, based on the stability (or lack of it) of those at the
epicenter.
The main driving force behind my work has been the belief that we are, as individuals, still able to make small changes to the systems we live within. Ethical consumerism as an example of this, has grown to be quite mainstream over the past few years.
Whilst most of us are more concerned, right now, with getting through the next few months of financial turmoil with ʻwho knows whatʼ? around the corner, one positive strand to draw from it all is that we, as consumers, can actually decide where we will place our much much smaller disposable incomes.
In a survey of Credit Crunch shoppers, a recent Feel survey found that 92% of consumers still claim to be willing to pay extra for a products perceived to be ethical and 76% said they would choose products benefiting people rather than the planet.
The changes that are occurring on the high street are a direct result of consumers being more selective about where they spend their harder earned cash. Where we choose to consume in the future will shape the new high street.
