DEVIDOLL'S 40% OFF COMFORT SALE HAS BEGUN

Look at these two - chic, stylish friends who look pretty wiped out. Sounds like us, no? We've got the look, we got the style but, sadly, we also read the papers....sigh.

Newspapers are awash with bad news (yesterday's Telegraph front page was a number -- the cost of global banking crisis bailout -- and it had so many zero's it almost fell off the side of the page. £2 trillion if you must know). And with winter's most definite approach the last few days have been awash in general.

The papers are, in the same breath, full of information about how the ordinary you and me should cope with the crisis in money (thats basically what it is, after all). And fashion shopping does get a central mention - Telegraph's Bryony Gordon smiles from above the £2trillion number and we read 'NOW IS THE TIME FOR BARGAINS'.

Exactly. Which is where DeviDoll comes in. With its Comfort Sale. We decided to put everything - absolutely everything on the site - which includes new colection -- on sale for upto 40% off for 1 week.

A friend in need is a friend indeed. Just ask those two.

So whether its your
'i-need-a-pick-me-up'
'i-have-an-event-i-need-a-new-frock-for'
'time-to-get-with-some-autumn-trends'
or your 'i-must-do-some-fabulous-xmas-shopping-while-there-is-a-bargain'
or a combo of all 4 or some other motivation --

GET YOURSELF TO THE DEVIDOLL COMFORT SALE NOW!!

ps -- since everything is on sale you could get lost. Here are some Autumn 08 stars:

Aymara Amanda Knit Cardigan

Doie Bamboo and Silk Tomkins Top (we have it in Black and Silver/Ice Blue)

FIN Organic Cotton Jersey Polo Neck top and Organic Cotton Jersey Full Skirt (looks nice as one but not a set)

Viridis Luxe Bamboo Cashmere and Silk Exposed Seam Sweater (what a colour!!)

So thats a micro-mini taster but now you know.....

BACK TO LIFE, BACK TO REALITY

How long have I been gone from blogland ("blogosphere" is too technocratish for me)?!? Too long. Everything I have been longing (okay, I'm going to get my thesaurus out) to say has piled up and now is melting one into another ("compost" comes to mind).

Rather than dig through all the pile I picked one thing I wanted to talk about and with that get the blog ball rolling again.

September 16 saw ethical fashion grow up a little with the very slick, very enjoyable 'Make Your Mark in Fashion' catwalk show at the Hospital Club. Organised by Nolcha and a handful of sponsors (DeviDoll among them) this event made it clear that ethical fashion has absolutely no reason to be stuck in the hemp-sack, austere, glamourless doldrums of yore. No siree....not only are eco-fashionistas doing it for themselves they are doing it pretty damn well.

Credit for the event being full-on 100% glam fash-pack event must be divided between

--Nolcha founder, Kerry Bannigan and her trusted lietuenants. That they are bringing their love of indpendant designers to ethical fashion land and to London is good news for everyone in the space
--the Make Your Mark team (not sure if it was them or someone else on this list but someone got the Observer's Lucy Siegle to model on the catwalk -- and what a good call it was!!)
--and of course the designers themselves!! Of the three very talented teams -- R.A.J.E, MIAWI and BERRIE, the winner was MIAWI. Designer Mia Nesbit's inspiration (and soon manufacturing) are based in Malawi, where she plans to involve local communities in her work.

All in all a tastefully done, very well received event that sent all the right messages during the buzz-fest that is LFW.

And I haven't even mentioned the after party......

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.