“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Dr. Albert Einstein
Happy Mondā, Beautiful Kreaturez & Honeydips!
As slow-fashion, mindful living enthusiasts, many of us fully know and understand the difficulties, inconveniences, and sacrifices experienced when embracing a more eco-conscious life.
Our mission, in addition to providing unique original art/art apparel, is to educate, empower, and energize our community at-small and at-large on evolving to a more sustainable mindset and lifestyle.
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Thanks to my dad, Ari, I grew up with a profound respect and admiration for Albert Einstein. I thought today’s quote was fitting after coming off the explosive, literally, film high after seeing Oppenheimer this past weekend.
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Einstein’s succinct sentiment is applicable to so many areas of life. I believe this is something that many of us recognize as 'a thing', but also struggle to apply.
Undoing lifelong habits, mindsets, lifestyles can feel like an extreme sport in and of itself; however, like we covered in one of our recent MILF Monday posts, when we know better, we should strive to do better.
We’re happy to do our part with deprogramming and reprogramming ourselves and community to understand the importance of us all taking the issues of garment workers’ rights, textile waste/pollution, mindful consumerism, and circularity, more seriously.
What are a couple of the problems we’re trying to solve as an eco-conscious lifestyle brand?
Overproduction & Overconsumption
Well for starters, we know that as long as humans are alive and thriving we will always need and want clothes, shelter, everyday items and technologies that have made and make our lives more convenient.
We also know that as long as humans have been alive, we did not start out the gate mindlessly overproducing and overconsuming. The idea of early humans carelessly letting resources go to waste sounds almost inconceivable so why have we gotten so comfortable? These are imbalanced behaviours of our modern industrialized and capitalist society that need to be in check.
Companies and Consumers need to be held and need to hold themselves/ourselves accountable for the symbiotic role they/we play in overproduction and overconsumption.
It's no secret that many fashion retailers overproduce
apparel/accessories which ultimately leads to a financial loss at the expense of extreme discounts, excessively donating, product shredding, sending to landfills, and or selling overstock to discount companies/online sites.
Almost half, 44%, of US fashion stores are stuck with excess stock after a disappointing start to 2023, according to a survey by Inventory Planner.
As consumers become more aware of and prepared to take action against the finiteness of our current linear production model many will look for more mindful alternative products and companies to support and or start to reduce spending altogether.
"Historically non-conscious" companies are seeing a growing demand of eco-conscious and mindful products, services, and production models
from consumers. They will either get in line and adjust their business practices, commit greenwashing(we'll get into this in another blog), or get left behind.
More than a third of American consumers said they will be willing to pay 25% more for sustainable goods in the CGS 2019 U.S Market Sustainability Survey.
Consumers and Companies can and do equally set the tone. Without a high consumer demand, companies will lessen supply as to avoid financial losses. As more consumers hold companies accountable via petitions, boycotting, and educating themselves and others, many retailers(especially fashion brands) may consider their sustainability contributions and consumer perceptions.
Without overproduction and sale after sale from companies, consumers become less tempted to make impulse purchases, possibly leading to more clothes not being worn, further increasing items that are tossed into landfills.
When businesses consider who's creating their products, how much they produce, the sources of the items being produced they allow themselves to set the tone for our present and future.
The thinking that has fueled and promotes the traditional linear fashion production cycle will not, and cannot be the same thinking used to develop and support a relatively scalable circular, conscious, and compassionate fashion production cycle.
How does Dakota Harley Co. | Harley's Attik help alleviate these issues as an eco-conscious lifestyle brand?
Simply put, we prioritize a made-to-order, small batch, and drop-shipping model for our art, art apparel, home & stationery, and luxury slow-fashion collections.
This helps us avoid the consistent issue of having excess inventory and or aggressively pushing sales for the urgency of clearing old items before new collections arrive.
We have upcycling initiatives in place for anything that is excess.
(Let's break the fourth wall: I, Kiéra/Harley, the author of this article- the artist/designer/creator of this lifestyle brand, have been working in fashion retail since 2012. I have seen and experienced firsthand as a sales associate and visual merchandiser the frenzied pressure of needing to get inventory sold, the push to get customers to make impulse purchases for a company's bottom line.
I knew then how I did not want to model my brand's universe which further helped shape the foundational experience I want my community to have.)
Our goal is to serve as a shopping alternative and or info source for our fellow conscious consumers.
We need more brands that have circularity, compassion, and consciousness woven into the fabric of their existence.
We need traditional, "historically non-conscious", companies and consumers to understand the importance of the above while working to eradicate behaviours and mentalities in opposition to mindful consumerism and capitalism.
Awareness and action are major keys to our individual and collective evolution. This is a drum we will fine tune and beat until our last breath.
Einstein's quote is a great reminder that Humanity is always in a constant state of discovery, learning, and unlearning. We find it supremely ideal that we remain ever present and aware in order to elevate and innovate our thinking for societal progress.
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Let's Make A Difference and Keep Evolving Together
Thank you for reading! (^_^)\/
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