CHANGING THE FACE OF FASHION. ETHICAL LABELS AND LEARNING TO MAKE YOUR OWN CLOTHES

Fruit Check Shirt Dress- Cream

I recently had the opportunity to spend some time working at LOWIE's, an up and coming, designer boutique in Herne Hill, SE London. Shop owner and designer Bronwyn Lowenthal sells her ethically manufactured , vintage inspired collection in the affluent neighbourhood of SE24 alongside some accessories from other talented London based designers. The collection includes an array of feminine and flattering pieces, including some vintage inspired 1940s shirt dresses and handmade organic cotton knitted tea dresses, gorgeous nautical  and summer fruits  printed pieces , embroidered details on sundresses, beautiful handmade sweaters and cardigans all made of organic or recycled cotton and some gorgeous leather accessories including the embroidered leather bum bags and the stunning quilted waist obi belts.

Summer Cotton Tea Dress- Blue

During the time I spent working there I was struck by the lack of appreciation towards the connection between ethically manufactured goods and their subsequently slightly higher prices, if comparing the shop's merchandise to other labels offering garments of equal craftsmanship. Customers who walked into the shop and browsed through the collection, all seemed to love what was on offer, but often complained prices were too high.

Personally, if you think about it, paying £168 for a beautiful handmade, organic cotton knitted tea dress, or £145 for a unique summer fruit print shirt dress ,is not too much at all, when you consider these garments have been ethically produced, which means all those involved in the design and manufacturing process have been paid fair wages and worked in clean and safe conditions.

Pintelle Cardi (recycled cotton)

As a designer and dressmaker I perfectly know the amount of time and hard work that goes into designing and constructing each single garment and accessory that makes up a collection and people in the past knew this full well too and where therefore willing to pay more for what they bought and maybe buy less, but they certainly knew and appreciated the real value of their clothes and accessories.

The same cannot be said about today's fast foods/fast disposable fashion society. Nowadays, we can go to a high street retailer and pick up a garment that's taken hours to design and make for a ridiculously cheap price without really questioning the reason why we are paying so little for our purchase, without really making the connection between the cheap price and the wages the people involved in the manufacturing chain have been paid, nor their working conditions. We've lost touch with the reality and real value of clothing manufacturing and not many people these days get to make their own clothes like our grandmothers used to. Ethical fashion labels such as LOWIE  are contributing to a revolution that's slowly but surely taking place in the world of fashion as more and more labels start to go down the ethical route. Together with the growing popularity of and interest in sewing classes and dressmaking workshops  they are slowly changing the fashion world. The two go hand in hand and complement each other, as the more people learn about the process, time and effort involved in sewing and dressmaking the more willing they will be to pay a slightly higher price for their clothes. So here is some food for thought lovely people..learn to make your own, buy ethical and help to make the world a better place!

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