Skip to primary navigation
Skip to main content

Hikes in the countryside keeping me sane🌿

Hikes in the countryside keeping me sane🌿

It’s Pride Month, a month to celebrate individua

It’s Pride Month, a month to celebrate individuality, freedom and love. And a month where the isles of shops are filled with rainbow painted merchandise. However this month we are asking #WhoMadeMyPrideMerch and do brands really care for LGBTQ+ community, or is this all performative?

Behind every garment is a garment worker, who is most like not getting paid a living wage and who is working in terrible conditions. And someone who may be working in a country where homosexuality is still illegal - punishable by violence, imprisonments or even the death penalty. In Bangladesh, the second largest exporter after China, homosexuality is still punishable by life imprisonments, not to mention Tunisia, Morocco, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. How can these brands claim to stand for equality when the very bodies making their rainbow graphic tees cannot express themselves freely?

We cannot have a sustainable fashion revolution without social justice across the whole supply chain. Here are a few ways you can help: 🌈 Shop from LGBTQ+ owned businesses such as @j.caress.studio @atribecalledqueer @blackqueermagic @wearecraftinglove 🌈 Post a photo with you holding a sign asking brands #WhoMadeMyPrideMerch 🌈 Email brands asking how they are working to protect the LGBTQ+ community within their own supply chain 🌈 Protest with your purchases, shop less, shop small

This campaign was started by the lovely @muccycloud so definitely go check them out❤️

Wishing the sun would return so I can wear this dr

Wishing the sun would return so I can wear this dreamy playsuit I found on @depop 🤍

The last few months have shown the true colours of

Editing photos to look like film whilst I wait for

Editing photos to look like film whilst I wait for my film to arrive🎞

Over the last few days I have had lots of messages and questions regarding environmentalism & sustainable fashion - in particular racism and micro aggressions in the fashion industry. So this isn’t a ‘back to how we were’ post, this is a ‘I’m writing and researching and learning to make sure I give out the right information’ post. If there’s anything you want to know more of do let me know🌞

Culture is not there for your costumes, trends, ae

Culture is not there for your costumes, trends, aesthetics or profit.

Cultural appropriation is when a culture adopts an element or elements from another culture. But it’s become a pick and choose as to what parts of culture you want to be a part of, without recognising the deep cultural meaning behind them and without facing the micro-aggressions that the people of these cultures face everyday.

This happens all the time in fashion. Whether it’s fast fashion, luxury fashion or sustainable or vintage fashion. They are constantly appropriating cultures, camouflaged with terms like ‘exotic’, ‘urban’ or ‘bohemian’, without representing and supporting the people of those cultures.

This has become very apparent in the last few day’s. Brands such as Nasty Gal who love to use black culture in their garments and marketing such as making a faux leather durag...for $50...and put it on a white model. Yet when black people need their support, they remain silent.

This isn’t just fast fashion. Stella McCartney used Ankara prints in their 2017 show, however romanticised the print and used no black models to style these clothes, and there were only a few black models in the whole show.

It doesn’t just stop at the garments either, in 2017 Marc Jacobs sent their models down the runway in dreadlocks, the majority of these models were white. And out of the 52 looks of the show, less than 10 models were black.

I know most festivals are cancelled this year, however this is somewhere I see a lot of cultural appropriation. Chinese prints, qipao resembling garments, henna, kimonos, indigenous headdresses, hairstyles from traditional African culture such as braids and cornrows - the list goes on. And it’s triggering for the people of these cultures as they are discriminated for the very things you consider ‘trendy’. And this is just scraping the surface with a few examples. I’ll share some sources if you want to read further. But we need to recognise the difference between cultural appropriation and appreciation if we are to stop fashion’s unconscious bias.

Here are some lovely black-owned fashion brands to

Here are some lovely black-owned fashion brands to follow and buy from, some that I’ve loved for ages and others are new discoveries. Supporting black-owned businesses is so important, especially in fashion which is such a whitewashed industry and something I’m determined to consciously do more often🤍 *I know I usually write about sustainable fashion, and some of these brands are vintage/sustainable however I can’t say that for certain for all. However it’s important to provide black-owned options across all sorts of fashion. So if you’re going to make a fashion statement, make it anti-racist.

Fashion brands: It took you a while, but I have s

Fashion brands:

It took you a while, but I have seen you are standing in solidarity with black people on your social media, however your one performative post is simply not enough. What is next?

As I am sure you are aware, this is no new thing. Black people are having to fight every single day just so they can live peacefully and have the same opportunities. And, as a fast fashion company, your whole industry has been built off racism and the exploitation of black people. A lot of this exploitation remains in your company to this day. Likewise, many of your garments and marketing campaigns have used and exploited black culture pacified under the term ‘diversity’, and use white influencers who fetishise black culture rather than black influencers. And now, when the very bodies whose culture you love to spread across your social media and website are in need of your support, you remained silent.

Being silent is taking the side of the oppressor, and you must acknowledge the faults within your industry and your company, and do better.

So @boohoo @inthestyle @missguided @prettylittlething @misspap and many more, I ask: how many black people are in your team? If there is little to none why is that?
If you do base your marketing off black culture, are you using black models and influencers? And are you paying them the same as the white ones? Are you making sure you are not culturally appropriating, and how can you do this with if there is only white ignorance in your team?

Are you making sure black people across the whole of your supply chain are being paid and treated fairly?

How are you using your wide reach to make your black audience feel included and supported?

I also urge you to donate, and without making people buy a graphic t-shirt first.
You cannot put up a social media post and then go back to doing what you were doing. You are overdue change. ** I also want to add that activism needs to also happen off social media, and a similar letter is being emailed to brands throughout the coming days in the hopes they’ll get the message.

A little dose of morning calm for you (highly reco

A little dose of morning calm for you (highly recommend putting the sound on for this one🌿)

The most sustainable clothes are the ones you alre

The most sustainable clothes are the ones you already have🌞

The last few days I have been packing away my knits and coats and bringing out the dresses and shorts ready for summer. This little ritual always gets me excited for the season ahead as I get to rediscover my summer wardrobe as if they were new.

The UK charity WRAP estimated that £140 million worth of clothes goes into landfills each year, and around £30 billion worth of unused clothing is still sitting in our wardrobe nationwide (WRAP 2018). This is enough to fill 459 Olympic-size swimming pools (Clothes Aid). The average lifetime for a garment is estimated at 2.2 years, and extending this life by 9 months can reduce emissions by 24% (Eco-Age). So before you indulge the ‘new in’ sections and summer hauls, rediscover what you already have. Whether that be through styling something differently, mending items or giving your hand at upcycling.🌿 {outfit is both old Primark}

Follow on Instagram

Home
Categories
- Fashion
- Sustainability
- Lifestyle
- Travel
  - Europe
  - UK
Photography Portfolio
About
CONTACT

Wine

Sorry, no content matched your criteria.

PINTEREST

Copyright © 2020 EmilyBecca, Made by Underline DesignsBack to Top

Want Some Inbox Love?

Get new updates straight to your e-mail!