THE BUSINESS OF ETHICAL FASHION

So, the eco-fashion party I spoke of some weeks ago happened. And it was quite an instructive happening – from the venue (Club4Climate’s Surya bar), the designers who exhibited, the fact that there was an auction – of important pieces donated by participating designers -- proceeds from which went to Ethical Justice Foundation (EJF) to the vibe among those who attended – everything about this event was about activism via the (increasingly popular) platform that is ethical fashion.

Throughout the evening a key fact loomed large -- ethical fashion now, without a doubt, straddles two things almost equally: as it has always done, it is about awareness, issues, taking a normative stand…things that people might say are ‘serious’ (things that the DEVI in you will tend toward). Equally, with the rise of chic, cool and seriously stylish designer clothing, it is now about looking good (things that the DOLL in you will appreciate deeply) and in this respect it is no more or less than all other fashion. No need to take a stance, make a point. Just get us to look fab, thank you very much.

Also it was interesting to see how, in just the last year, ethical/eco fashion has gone from being a quirky, cool, edgy concept to a real live business prospect. Selling organic cotton/locally produced/natural fabric/animal free etc etc fashion, works. As you can imagine, we at DeviDoll are pleased that in 12 months so many have joined our ranks. But it also throws up an interesting question:

as this arena opens up – new retailers, ‘specialists’, stylists, designers –who will who will take ethical fashion on as a retail issue, full-stop and who will take it on as the complex, messy issue that it is? Who will stay well clear of activist type events but be very smart about selling, merchandising, trend marketing (‘its cool, it’ll sell, lets do it’) and who will open themselves up to, even welcome, questions like

Can ethical fashion really make a difference?
How can I be ethical and fashionable on a limited budget?
How can I ethically style my wardrobe, my life?
Is there good and bad bamboo?
Should I choose the organic cotton tee designed by Lacroix for EJF or From Somewhere’s upcycled fabric tee -- is one ‘more’ ethical/eco than the other??
If this is fair-trade and ethical, then why is it so expensive?

Don’t get me wrong – the retail-minded focus is instrumental in giving ethical fashion business legs and without those the ‘space’ won’t gain the credibility and participation it needs and deserves. So no slagging off the pure ‘lets-sell-it-because-that-works’ type here. Just noting that ethical fashion, unlike conventional fashion, has (always had) serious heart and now, as the eco-fashion party showed, it is developing a serious rational, bottom-line oriented mind.

There can be no doubt that, given the very premise of ethical fashion, the meeting of heart and mind will raise interesting debates and issues about the business of ethical fashion. Stay tuned.

(ETHICAL) FASHION FESTIVITIES BEGIN...

So while many fashionistas are away sunning themselves (under cover of SPF factor Trillion+, of course) reading all about 'autumn 2008 pre-ordering' -- #2 of Grazia's TOP 10 stories is all about 'pre-collection' ordering (pre-order I understand but pre-collection..? I'm obviously not reading by Grazia closely enough. After this post, perhaps) -- those of us who are part (also) of the supply side of the fashion world, are hoisting up are (pre-ordered) summer skirts, rolling up the sleeves of our (pre-collection, pre-ordered) gauzy hot-weather tops, to get ready for FASHION'S AUTUMN/WINTER 2008.

Now, the fashion world works on 2 clocks (sorry if I am boring you but I find this point endlessly intriguing) -- the fashionista one and its own. The former is about clothes that match the season, ie, AW08 buying for a fashionista is about buying autumny-wintery type stuff....about diving into the debate over knee-high vs ankle boots; chunky knits vs body con cashmere and so on. The other clock is one that buyers (eg - yours truly) adhere to and its set to 1 season ahead. So at all the trade shows (LFW, NYFW etc etc) I will start attending from next week, my concern will be about what will take the fashionista's fancy IN SPRING/SUMMER 2009 (florals?/mini vs supermini/neon vs pastel etc etc). Of course the whole notion of pre-ordering and pre-collections, sort of throws this received clockwork into a bit of a tizzy but that is a conversation for another time -- prepare to receive that dish with lashings of commentary on fast vs seasonless fashion.

You're going to hear from me over the next 2 months about interesting events and happenings from FTZ (fashionista time zone) and OTZ (our time zone). Some even overlap!

To kick off, let me alert you to 'The Eco-Fashion Party' to be held on August 12, 2008 at Surya Bar of the (shiny new) Club4Climate (there is some seriously ecological intention, fronted by the seriously wierd Dr. Earth, behind the Club4Climate - check it all out here).


There is an auction of prize pieces from participating brands (DeviDoll included) and also the opportunity to purchase from their larger collections. Basically a big party (club style, full on party) with the chance to see and buy some seriously fashionable clothes -- all of which look good and are certain to make you feel very good.

Pre-collection or not, these are clothes no serious fashionista can afford to miss. See you there.

DEVIDOLL DELIGHTS FROM HIPPYSHOPPER, ETHICAL MAG EXTRAORDINAIRE

Editor of the very cool Hippyshopper (don't let the name fool you -- this site has L-O-T-S to offer, whether you are or are not a hippy esque conscientious consumer), Abi Silvester, shares her thoughts about summer and DeviDoll's current collections on the recently launched DeviDoll Loves (love being a noun here not a verb) section.

Check out Abi's adventures in eco-living on Hippyshopper and on ShinyTV - this girl tackles more than just 'best eco swimsuit' type questions..watch her take on eco can-crushers (with aplomb, we might add and involving some very fast coca-cola swigging), green (as in eco, not actual colour) kitchen cleaners and tour the Innocent Smoothie HQ.

Abi sees and hears alot about ethical living and choices and she shares the best of what she learns....best you stay tuned.

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).