Ethical is chic!
After the cupboards of the kitchen and the bathroom, ethical goods have made a sudden appearance in our wardrobes. Clothes, handbags, jewellery or shoes: the fashion each day gains more followers without sacrificing creativity, on the contrary...!
Ethical and luxury
Ecologically disastrous and by definition not very fair, fashion, a frivolous activity and ephemeral, seems light years away from any concern over ethics or sustainable development. Logically, we have faith in the socially responsible side of this economy condemned to oscillate between Peruvian ponchos and embroidered oriental slippers. There are a handful of entrepreneurs and designers that wish to make respecting human dignity and the planet go hand in hand with a reasoning of value creation. An audacious bet, certainly, but which in steering fashion towards a requirement of quality and of rarity (from where comes the cost) will naturally echo the luxury sphere of activity. A luxury good is far from ostentatious consumerism, obviously. In giving meaning to the purchase, in marrying it with social projects, ethical fashion revives know-how and perpetuity. The essence of luxury, if there is one.
An evolving sector
With a Fashion Show each year increasingly more tightly packed, of prestigious distributors (Colette, Franck & Fils, etc.), one thing is certain: ethical products have become glamorous! A ban on forced labour, minimum wages, rejection of all forms of discrimination...the code of good practise set out by the ethical brands questioned. Above all, fashion people are once and for all getting rid of their dusty image by proposing exciting collections. From jewellery by Mickel Kra (ex Balmain) or Katerine Pradeau to the ultra feminine creations of Fées du Bengale, from light bags by La vie devant soie to ecological baskets by Veja, without forgetting the very hyped about Racines du ciel, Juste, Tudo Bom, Machja and Edun, the ethical brands are blossoming and finding a growing public, despite the more consequential price. What a delightful prospect. Very soon ecological and social responsible fashion will start creating new trends. Who knows?
Ecologically disastrous and by definition not very fair, fashion, a frivolous activity and ephemeral, seems light years away from any concern over ethics or sustainable development. Logically, we have faith in the socially responsible side of this economy condemned to oscillate between Peruvian ponchos and embroidered oriental slippers. There are a handful of entrepreneurs and designers that wish to make respecting human dignity and the planet go hand in hand with a reasoning of value creation. An audacious bet, certainly, but which in steering fashion towards a requirement of quality and of rarity (from where comes the cost) will naturally echo the luxury sphere of activity. A luxury good is far from ostentatious consumerism, obviously. In giving meaning to the purchase, in marrying it with social projects, ethical fashion revives know-how and perpetuity. The essence of luxury, if there is one.
An evolving sector
With a Fashion Show each year increasingly more tightly packed, of prestigious distributors (Colette, Franck & Fils, etc.), one thing is certain: ethical products have become glamorous! A ban on forced labour, minimum wages, rejection of all forms of discrimination...the code of good practise set out by the ethical brands questioned. Above all, fashion people are once and for all getting rid of their dusty image by proposing exciting collections. From jewellery by Mickel Kra (ex Balmain) or Katerine Pradeau to the ultra feminine creations of Fées du Bengale, from light bags by La vie devant soie to ecological baskets by Veja, without forgetting the very hyped about Racines du ciel, Juste, Tudo Bom, Machja and Edun, the ethical brands are blossoming and finding a growing public, despite the more consequential price. What a delightful prospect. Very soon ecological and social responsible fashion will start creating new trends. Who knows?
Décembre 2007
