"What do you think about when you're buying clothes? Do you like it? Can you afford it? Does it fit? What about who made it? Or were they treated fairly? Last year 1,129 people died when the Rana Plaza Building factory in Bangladesh collapsed. We were confronted with who made our clothes and the conditions that they worked in."
These were the opening lines of our crowdfunding campaign to launch Visible Clothing in April 2014. A decade later, these are the same questions that we ask ourselves whenever we are in a conversation about clothing.
This book is separated into two parts:
PART I - The Four 'Buts' of Ethical Clothing
- Firstly, we want to help dispel the most common reasons that consumers give for why they can't shop in line with their values. As we share some personal stories about our initial journey in ethical clothing, we hope to bring awareness on the impact that our individual purchasing directly has on others. Whether we accept responsibility or not, we believe that customers have massive power and where money is spent has an impact, either positive or negative. It speaks loudly about what we really value and who we truly are: the actions that we take reflect who we are. Actions speak louder than words.
PART II - Visible: Our Values-Driven Social Enterprise
- Secondly, this book shares a story about social entrepreneurship. Our story. The real story. We hope that by sharing glimpses into the successes and failures that we experienced along the way, we will be able to both challenge and encourage you on the journey of values alignment. By sharing the reality of social entrepreneurship, we hope that you too will come away with a feeling of
hope, of optimism
. We hope you will laugh with us at our comedic mistakes; cry with us at the injustices in our world; and most importantly, feel both inspired and hopeful about the huge opportunity for positive social change. You can make a difference in the world simply by intentionally choosing to buy clothes in line with your values.
It's been a wild ride. It's hard to overstate just how much learning there is to be had from operating a social enterprise. On this adventure, we have had to frequently pivot and adjust. The daily challenges of trying to be a values-driven business provide incredible highs and devastating lows, forcing a lot of self-reflection. It's been a journey of consistent learning, often through struggles. Yet, we remain convinced that buying in line with our ethical values can change the world. We have seen it, we lived it. This is our story. The story of Visible Clothing.
We want to share it with you with hopes that you'll continue to access your role in it. The book concludes with a call to action and a challenge to each of use of role as consumers for social good.
To a world where everyone in the clothing sector is treated fairly!