Why Sustainable Fashion Matters: British Retailer Primark Again Faces Slave Labor Controversy

It’s been a shocking month for the British fast fashion retailer Primark after SOS cries were found stitched into at least 3 Primark garments around the UK. While Primark has come out denying the legitimacy of the pleas as fake,  these discoveries are an appalling reminder of Primark’s terrible labor rights record and the dark side to fast fashion. These new allegations are another in a long line of purported labor abuses in Primark factories.  A brand that turned a blind eye to the clear structural integrities of the Rana Plaza factory before it collapsed leading to the death of over 1,100 workers.  Primark now faces a media outcry as consumers continue to uncover tragic appeals for help from workers in far off places facing slave labor conditions.

In one handwritten note, headlined ‘SOS SOS SOS’, the garment worker wrote: ‘We are inmates of the Hubei Xiangna Prison, working on clothing lines for export over a long period of time. We work 15 hours per day and the food we eat wouldn’t even be given to dogs or pigs. We work as hard as oxen in the field.’

In another tag found by another Primark shopper, hand stitching in the tag read “Forced to Work Exhausting Hours” while another found miles away in another retail outlet read “Degrading Sweatshop Conditions.”

24 Hour Summer Sale Starting Tonight: Up to 50% Off Select Items

 

Visit Modavanti tonight for our 50% off summer flash sale for 1 day only. Starting at 9:00 PM everything from the Atelier Collection will be 50% off. What’s better than sun, style and sales??

 

Into the Woods: Your Sustainable Camping Style Edit

What is the Greenest State in America? What’s Brazil’s National Drink? What toxins are in your cosmetics? The Weekly What is out!

 

 

 

 

Roads that do what?!?!? What’s in your cosmetics? What to wear this Memorial Day weekend? The Weekly What is out!

 

What is your sustainable style? Armani is selling out for what? What’s happening to California? The Weekly What is out!

 

 

Modavanti has teamed up with Green Tree Textiles for our Modacycle Campaign!

 

We are excited to announce that we at Modavanti have teamed up with the New York based Green Tree Textiles organization to donate over 40 lbs of clothing as part of our  first installment of the ModaCycle campaign. Green Tree Textiles is a clothing recycling service that supports the disadvantaged, the homeless and those in transition as well as the environment by repurposing clothing and textiles for re-use by environmentally minded manufacturers. Green Tree collects unwanted textile materials including clothing, shoes, accessories and household linens that would otherwise go to already overburdened landfills.

      

 

So how can you participate in future donations?

As New Yorkers, we know that distressing feeling when you want that special new (sustainable) dress but just don’t have any space left in your closet. Cleaning out your closet can be therapeutic until you realize that whatever you get rid of is just going to end up in a landfill. In fact, textiles already account for 5% of landfill waste. That’s where Modacycle comes in! Send us your old dresses, jeans and tops that no longer fit or have gone out of style and we will recycle them for you. In return, we will give you $20 in Modavanti credits, up to a limit of $40 in credits per month.

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Step 1 – Email us at service@modavanti.com with the subject line “Modacycle” and we will give you further instructions.

Important note: We are currently not accepting shoes or jewelry (we’re working on it, we promise).

Step 2 – Once we receive your clothes we will add $20 of Modavanti Credits to your account.

WHO PAYS FOR SHIPPING?
We do!

Senior Thesis: “Unethical Exposure”

 

 

My name is Christy Stone. I was born and raised in Champaign, Illinois.  I will be graduating from the Savannah College of Art and Design this May with a B.F.A. in fashion design.  My goal as a fashion designer is to create designs that are classic and that people will want to keep in their closets for a long time.  To me one special garment is better than a hundred mediocre outfits meant to keep up with current fashion trends. I love clothing that can be dressed up or dressed downed and worn more than one way for a variety of occasions. My philosophy on fashion is to stray away from fast fashion and promote individual style. I believe in eliminating unnecessary waste and excess in the fashion industry.  My personal goal is to move fashion towards a more socially responsible and environmentally friendly industry. I would also love to see fashion eliminate the use of toxic chemicals.

For my senior thesis at SCAD, I created this four – look collection called “Unethical Exposure”.  I was inspired by the problematic amount of waste the fashion industry produces each year.  I found a painting of textile remnants and manipulated the colors to create the print used in this collection to represent waste.  I used all natural materials including: 4-ply silk, organic cotton, an embossed pig suede and shell buttons.  I chose to use the embossed pig suede as a bi-product of the food industry to create a “trash bag” effect.  The goal for this collection was to create a high-end sustainable collection exploiting one of the biggest issues in the industry while using minimal materials.

Enjoy!

 

1/2 of Americans live with what?!? Millennials are suing our gov over what? Sugar is addictive as what?! The weekly what is out!

 

MET Ball 2014: The Best Dressed List

It’s not spring in New York until the MET Ball. Once again, on a blustery spring evening, hundreds of celebrities donned gorgeous designer outfits on the red carpet. Here are the best dressed from the 41st annual Costume Institute Gala.

 

Charlize Theron and Sean Penn