FROM SOMEWHERE - WELL DONE AND WELL DESERVED AT RE: FASHION AWARDS

Okay, have to confess I did not make it to this important event. Why? - well, its a long, and more relevantly, somewhat boring story, so I'll spare you. But the main reason for my writing about it is to publicly congratulate From Somewhere duo Orsola and Filippo for winning in 2 categories

RE:Fashion Designer of the Year Award

and

RE:Use Award

I have learned so much and continue to from Orsola about ethical fashion (most notably, long lessons in what upcycling actually is) - the business of it, the politics around it, the fashion benchmarks that must be at the forefront at all times and the love of it all. DeviDoll has been proud to be the only retailer in the UK other than the label's eponymous boutique, to stock From Somewhere clothing. Our pleasure and honour entirely. Always has been.

Anyway, these guys have been doing the right thing since 1997, ie, back when saying ethical and fashion together could only mean -- in the best case scenario -- that you (a) didn't like fur but only because animals and plants are 'one with us' (b) lived in a commune, ate alfafa and (c) thought that commerce was the devil.

Today we all know that ethical fashion is something far more encompassing and headed for the mainstream..warts and all. This, in no small part, thanks to people like Orsola and Filippo with their clear message and hard work. I can't think of a more deserving label for these awards -- pioneers, fashionable, stylish and activist. Ooooh, gives you goosebumps.

Read all about what went on, who was there, what they wore and see really great pictures of all the above at Sarah Woodhead's ever-more-impressive daily green glossy greenmystyle.com.

IF YOU GET IT RIGHT, THEY'LL WRITE...

These are hard times for the biggest names in high street retail. Imagine what they are for a online, ethical designer fashion start up. Yikes!! - as Shaggy from Scooby Doo would say. Don't dwell on the image though - you may not survive it.

Fact is times like this are the context in which all those self-help books come in handy. Time to find your reserves of tenacity, self-belief and most of all, tap into your almost pathalogical sense of optimism (a phrase from my one and only meeting with the late Anita Roddick. She told me it was required of any entrepreneur. I memorised it).

I'll admit that nothing does the trick quite like self-motivated, organic (how could I not use the term) energy but I cannot agree that this is enough. A necessary ingredient to keeping your head above water are peer reviews. They keep the space fertile and make what you do seem worthy.

And lately, BTGOG (my secret term which I cannot unfurl, sorry), DeviDoll and our efforts to define and propogate the notion of ethical fashion as essential, fashionable and the the only way forward, have received plenty of attention. Editorial, no pay for play, pure opinion from those who know about luxury, fashion, green issues and have something to say.

So a very big thank you to

greenmystyle.com -- a truly 'daily' read. Lots out there says it is such but you wouldn't really go there everyday. This you would -- for a start for the 'daily e-bay' finds that make reused/vintage/recycled a J-O-Y. Sift for the best green style.


Spire.com -- join up, ask (literally) any question you need answered about luxury, quality travel, lifestyle, shopping, eating and more, and I guarantee you will benefit from the responses you get. A discreet meeting of like minds happens at Spire and experiences of how, what, where are shared (but not your whole life, phew!). The site does what it says on the package: Quality lifestyle. Savvy perspective.



ecofashionworld.com -- for these folks, its all about helping you arm yourself with knowledge about ethics in that most universal of medium, fashion. Very global, very much about things close to style as well as those that impact it from far off (China Issue, Sept 2008).



theginlady.com -- 'under the influence of Green, Independant and Natural lifestyle brands'. Pretty much sums it up really...read here about all kinds of brands, events, happenings, and more -- all from the land of ethical. Sweet.


Check these for more than their take on DeviDoll. As Spire's Suzanne says - 'Sharing the best, so you can leave the rest'.

BBC THREAD STYLE SEARCH AND DEVIDOLL

DeviDoll is proudly supporting BBC Thread in its Style Search for ethical fashion designer talent. Wondering what BBC Thread is (where have you been?!) - its an online portal (used to be a time when that was only ever a Star Trek word...remember?) that is all about everything relevant to ethical fashion: they talk about style, ethical styling (interesting video with Elisabeth Lasker from Ethical Fashion Forum and Konnie Haq), pure fashion trends, how to be a fashionista as well as whats going on behind the scenes in the manufacturing and production world (hence the strap line 'fashion without victim'), ie, susbstantial issues that no credible ethical fashion lover can afford to ignore.

And now, through the Style Search competition, they aim to support up coming sustainable and conscientious designers. Something DeviDoll upholds as an original principle having from its very inception been an 'incubator' for promising ethical fashion talent, across the globe, by giving it a commercial platform.

So get moving on your designs or at least put the word out! A digital image of a design must be uploaded to the BBC Thread site and away you go. E-A-S-Y! And the prize (ooh-aah) -- a day spent with a catwalk stylist at London Fashion Week in September. Click the picture above for full details.

WHAT (ETHICAL) COMPANY ARE YOU KEEPING?

Earlier this month I was at a conference about online fashion retail. Among the many 'nuggets', as an old friend used to call wise advice, I came away with was that shopping is an emotional experience for women (check), it is as much about aquisition as socialisation (can't disagree), referrals from trusted sources (your friends, me, blogs/sites that insist on 'no pay for play') are increasingly important as choices proliferate (true). All this means that any successful retail enterprise on the net needs to locate itself firmly in a like-minded community. Its visitors can that way socialise, refer, discuss, emote and so on while (hopefully) putting the ching-ching in ka-ching (££$$) as they (in a way only women can) multi-task.

Made me think a bit harder about the DeviDoll 'community' -- I know who the like-minded retailers are out there, but what about the rest of the community: the advisors, referrers, informers, discussers? Two things emerged --

1) Most of the community is widespread across the blogosphere. Everyday new and interesting blogs spring up with new things to say and DeviDoll's current 'we-know-you' list is to the right hand side of this entry. But among them as far as women-centric goes Eco-Chick is the only one that comes to mind. But then EcoChick is relevant to everyone not just women even if its roots are from there.....

2) There simply aren't that many sites that (a) are geared to all those things about shopping that define women and which para 1 talks about here (b) are portals that put all this together. I did, however, find one (I think relatively new - though if not, then apologies in advance) that comes quite close:
Ethics Girls
There is alot going on on this site that aims to SET THE EXAMPLE on how to shop and care about the future of the planet AND to socialise about all this and more. They have customer recommended items, a magazine, ethical money, food, fashion (and more) tips/insights and interviews with like-minded women who are making a difference. Most interestingly, they operate like a cooperative. Keep an eye out for what these Girls do next...

Happy as I am to have discovered them, my little reccy mission has spawned another one: to find 'social netoworking' type ethical lifestyle sites. First lets find them and then lets see how many are savvy to the most emotional shoppers of all.....

Stay tuned....(and if you know names I am missing, PLEASE direct me there).

DOES ETHICAL FASHION REALLY MATTER?

Readers of this blog will be well aware by now that this is a question, the treatment of which at the hands of general press, vexes me. Not the question, you understand, rather the absence of sensible or helpful or not wildly biased (to put it mildly) answers to it. Not sure what I mean? Here's an example.

Not to say there isn't more positive press...rather to say that this type of questioning is now archaic and needs to be switched off and replaced with some actually helpful advice on how to go about the business of being more ethical in our fashion/lifestyle choices.

But, you know, my insistence alone isn't all that and so I decided to put the matter to other, better known people, in the space. Fertile, informed debate - who can resist it? Here's the question I asked:

"Given the reputation of fashion as a 'dirty' business, a 'shallow' business and as creating false needs, ethical fashion is often written off as hypocritical/unrealistic/fashion piggybacking on wider awareness of eco-issues without adding any real value; a 'rich people' syndrome -- from organic food to organic cotton tops simply for the sake of seeming 'in' -- is derided as the symbol of what ethical fashion really is all about. And so the question is often asked: does ethical fashion really amount to any real good for anyone/the planet?
What are your thoughts on this kind of thinking and can you offer a counter-opinion about ethical fashion?"

And here's who I asked (if you're reading this because of even a modicum of interest in ethical fashion issues, you'll know at least one of them) --

Margaret Teich: Associate Producer on The Lazy Environmentalist radio show and curator extraordinaire of the Directory of Eco-Fashion Retailers on the influential Lazy Environmentalist blog. Margaret's job requires her to be somewhat of a knowledge bank and have her eye on lots and lots of different goings-on in the world of modern-day eco/sustainable/ethical living.



Starre Vartan: founder of must-read, in the know, particularly inspiring for (but by no means only) women , blog Eco-Chick. Starre writes for other publications too and she's on our panel because there is very very little going on in the eco living world that she is not aware of. She is quite simply, in the know.

Jocelyn Whipple - far left

Jocelyn Whipple: Jocelyn's agency, Element23, represents leading ethical fashion brands in the UK and Europe. She also separately designs and supplies sustainable textiles as well as being a personal stylist. This is a person who lives and breathes the commerce of ethical fashion -- its creation, marketing and distribution.

Interestingly, all 3 of them had the same key arguments:

GET REAL!

Women will shop, fashion will be important-it always has been. To question the interest in/place of fashion is to be, at best, naive and at worst, part of the problem, not the solution. Starre puts it aptly "Human beings have been decorating themselves and their clothes for as long as there has been civilization, so assuming that we're going to stop for any reason (even the poorest people in the world add color to fabrics they create themselves, or patch clothing in ways that show creativity and flair) is just ridiculous." and Margaret is even more direct "So here is the reality: women love to shop. We love the idea that the interior can be expressed by what is worn on the exterior."

BEING ETHICAL AND FASHIONABLE IS TO RETHINK OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CLOTHES.

Jocelyn goes straight to the heart of the matter "Buy better, less often". We should understand where clothes come from and what happens before they arrive in front of us (just like you think about battery chickens and automatically buy free-range eggs). We should also revert to previous ways of thinking, according to Starre, so that clothes are not "...disposable items, but investments...". Then, we'll more naturally, make better choices whether these are to eschew disposable fashion, ask for accountability or, as Margaret emphasizes "...(support) designers and their artistic craft, green sourcing and ethical manufacturing processes...".

AS CONSUMERS WE REALLY CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

Forget all the cynical nay-saying about ethical fashion being the purview of only the select few blah blah blah; no, it affects and can be affected by everyone at some level. Starre sets it out simply "We can make a lot of positive change, as consumers, in all these areas.(...)These problems need to be solved, not ignored. This is not just an issue for "yummy mummys". We all need to wear clothes.". How? you ask - well, by building your awareness, looking behind the label and, as Jocelyn emphasizes "...be sure the brands and concepts you are buying into are upholding their part of the deal, by giving you real information and support around the complexities of the ‘eco /ethical’ fashion industry. Ask questions. Ask for accountability."

Of course, these ladies had more to say and I'll publish their full comments later. Here I wanted to just point out that there are substantial issues which everyone in the field, regardless of specific involvement, recognizes. And, even more crucially, these are issues which pertain to you and me....not just celebs or deep green vegans. As Margaret reminds us, there is 'modern environmental revolution' afoot (by they way, you're ALREADY part of it with all your organic food choices, washing machine at 30c, switching off lights, buying white goods with optimal energy ratings....) and 'touting green fashion' is part of that revolution.'

Yes, these are extraordinary issues relevant to ordinary people.

'THREAD' - THE BBC GETS INTO ETHICAL FASHION

The BBC has launched an online fashion magazine - Thread, Fashion without Victim, wholly dedicated to eco/ethical fashion. Its about style but also substance - various terms used in ethical fashion are explained, the true cost of cheap clothes is revealed, whats out there to purchase is well catalogued, and we're told which organisations are actively involved in ethical fashion.

And thats the tip of the iceberg -- there's a gorgeous style-file full of fabulous clothes (including Mociun's Judas tee!) and key trends for the season. Jewel in the crown has to be the associated programme, "Blood, Sweat and T-shirts", about a group of twenty-somethings -- very into fashion from different angles -- who experience life as factory workers in India, making clothes for the UK high street. Needless to say it deeply affects their views on fashion and the cost of fast fashion.

So this is a 'go-to' url to the say least. And happily its got many relevant issues woven through it, so that we can understand the dilemmas as well as victories of ethical fashion in an intelligent way. At DeviDoll its always been about how and why to curate your consumption -- the BBC Thread magazine is a welcome addition to this project.

Photograph courtesy Thread-BBC site

NU MAGAZINE ARRIVES ONLINE

Late last year I met two bright and very motivated women in the midst of executing an inspired idea: to create a practical and widely relevant magazine that showcased the best in ethical fashion and lifestyle. They had thoroughly researched the idea and realized that what was missing was a publication correctly balanced between all that is glamourous about fashion and all that is ethical (or not) about glamourous fashion. It was a project that could not have come at a better time and exactly for that reason, a very daunting to take on. Well, as the new online version hits our inboxes, I can safely say Amisha Miller and Lauren Maleh have pulled their plan off and with some aplomb.

The inaugural online edition of NU -- 'fashion laid bare' -- has much to offer -- fashion everywhere -- the kind that everyone involved with this 'space' wants to broadcast and that equally, lots who are not involved should see and know about.




And its more than fashion...




NU is a welcome magazine for those who know their Kelly B from their FIN (and love both!) but (and this is the really important bit) also those who don't... it has the right look and tone to introduce ethical fashion to those who only understand the 'fashion' part. This is a key service that ethical publications - especially those focused on fashion - must provide and NU gets it right.

Their spring issue is out soon but, in the meanwhile, you can download this issue free and get started on everything NU.