I just watched a documentary on BB1 about British Fashion Genius which I wanted to share with you because it really reflected my believe that charities are doing themselves and the sector a disservice by ‘guilting’ people in to sponsoring them.
On the programme, Jane Shepperton, the former brand director for Topshop who is credited with the store’s image and financial success is quoted as follows:
“If you buy a t-shirt for £2 obviously you are not paying for it but somebody is... the person who made that t shirt is clearly being paid an extremely low wage and probably not a living wage in order to make it.
But nobody likes to be driven by guilt, we need to make people feel good about what they are buying. What is sad at the moment is that consumers are not being offered exciting, interesting, well designed fair trade or ethically produced product and that’s a real shame. That’s where the industry needs to pull it socks up and put better design in.
It’s not enough to say “you should buy this because the people who made it are now being treated well, I know it looks like a sack but honestly, it will make you feel good” because it won’t!
To address this Shepperton, in collaboration with Oxfam, has begun an ethical fashion awareness campaign. Enlisting the help of the best of young British design talent (including Jonathon Saunders and Christopher Kane) Jane Shepperton and Oxfam are attempting to show how recycling and re-fashioning second hand clothes could provide a stylish and ethical alternative to fast fashion.
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