Fast Fashion-the darker side of Fashion

Slow Fashion-What we are all about here at oriwo-design.

When one pictures the Fashion Weeks in Berlin, Paris, New York & London, what first comes to mind are the Journalists, Photographers, Models, Bloggers & Celebrities who attend these Shows. Perfect models in their perfect Make-up dressed up in their Outfits which are sometimes very far-fetched & crazy walking for a few minutes down the catwalk. After all the Glitz & Glamour comes the features in magazines, Parties, advertisements on TV & Internet on the must-have looks & pieces.

But do we really think about what it takes to turn these Runway collections into available clothes for the consumer? With most Fashion Labels creating upto 12 Collections in a year (Yes you read that right, 12), the pressure to keep oneself in the Media limelight & to pull in the consumers to the Shop is at its highest. There is a huge burden as a result of the production with lots of negative effects physically, emotionally & environmentally. This can be seen day in day out from the tired faces of the Factory workers (who by the way do not choose to work under such poor working conditions, but are forced as a way to earn their living), excessive use of water used during production & the release of waste full of harmful chemicals from the Factories into nearby rivers & lakes.

Fashion isn't anymore about having something to put on, to cover or protect us, it has now turned into a means of creating an identity, showing a difference in class or status & even to serve as a sign of showing that you belong in a certain class or group of people. Buying clothes has become a way of trying to satisfy this new 'want' which somehow never actually goes away but instead develops into an even bigger Appetite to want to buy more.

Slow Fashion

Is there an escape to this problem? Do we need to stop alltogether from buying clothes? Of course not. But we can do our best to shop consiously, try to find out where & how the clothes are produced, buy locally produced (support local talent), and buy second hand & recycled clothes. Let's buy what we actually need & are going to wear instead of buying cheap & in large quantities which just end up occupying space in our closets.

Let us be ready to pay more for our clothes because we know that they have been produced under humane working conditions & fair wages. As always, let us choose Quality over Quantity.

My Family & I visited the "Museum für Kunst & Gewerbe" here in Hamburg & had the pleasure of víewing an eye-opening Exhibition on the Fashion & it's negative side. I thought that it would be great to share with you the Information that we got there & to share my views on the Topic.

This is a very interesting video showing the crazy shopping spree that young people go on as a result of media influence.

Below are Pictures of Haitians wearing T-shirts that are imported form the US into Haiti. They often have slogans written on them which is now a way of asserting some sort of social message, but the Irony is that such importation destroy the local textile industries in most 3rd world countries.

Take a look at the 'Tag' or 'Label' on your garment. What is written there, ''Made in...'' actually means that there is where the last details e.g. buttons, zipper, embelishments were added onto the garment before it was shipped to the store. But the Garment itself was produced somewhere else.

A new method of printing out Sewing Patterns in such a way that less paper is used thus conserving the environment.

An artist creates this Sweatshirt with printed Fabrics showing the Catastrophe of a Clothig factory that collapsed recently in Bangladesh leading to many lives lost & shone a light on the poor working conditions at such factories.

I am wearing this Ankara Sweatshirt, available on my online shop, black distressed High-waisted jeans that I bought on Ebay, they are originally from Vera Moda but I had to hand-dye them because they were too faded for my liking. You can get something like these here & here. The boots are from a random botique, but these are also nice. My accessories as always, Micheal Kors watch & an African bead bangle which was a gift from a friend in Kenya.