Explorations

Community: Understanding The True Meaning

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Valuable insight from Simon Sinek


Now everything revolves around the concept of community. But can you understand the true meaning of it? Simon Sinek had the perfect response.

“A community is
a group of people
who agree to grow together.”
Simon Sinek

Community & growth


According to Simon Sinek, the purpose of a community is not just about having something in common, sharing a culture, heritage or a specific interest. It’s deeper than that. In fact, there’s an element of growth which comes from a journey you enrol in with a group of people. Specifically, growth is the product of a reciprocal process of shared interactions.

Community: making a change together


Fashion to celebrate the value of research and to tell the story of our times: this is a mission we share with people who want to make a change. And it’s a growth process, indeed. Because through our activity, we do more than just fashion. We use our blog and connections to discuss fashion and lifestyle as key to analysing society and promoting climate change awareness. And sustainability against greenwashing.

We started by ordering small productions of international brands and independent designers. An exclusive selection of timeless fashion and meaningful garments without gender barriers. While we are studying how to implement a practice of circular fashion, we shed light on what we consume and how we throw away, bringing about critical discussions.

What we learned


Our planet is an open-air landfill, and we must stop expecting our litter to disappear magically. Furthermore, we cannot move from capitalism to green capitalism just to keep consuming as we did before. We need something different to fight the climate emergency.

Buy less (far less), buy better is how we lead to thoughtful consumption.

Telling stories about fashion, lifestyle and climate change, inspiring and being inspired, we have a positive impact on each other. As a tiny community, we try to change for the better. And so we grow together, open to possibilities.

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The Mannish Shirt: A Wardrobe Essential

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In the mood for a relaxed elegance


The mannish shirt is a wardrobe essential. When it comes to timeless fashion, you cannot miss some good shirts to complete your capsule wardrobe. Classic or casual, shirts are garments designed for life. Above all, they add a stylish edge to your outfits.

The Mannish shirt & contemporary fashion


Slim volumes – too close to the body, aren’t a style we like, so we tend to choose slightly oversized to oversized fit. Indeed, grabbing the shirts directly from a man’s closet is one of the best options. The mannish fit is more comfortable, and the silhouette looks modern and fresh.

So, in the mood for shirts, we selected GoodNeighbors Shirts from Japan. We love its unisex designs, a style everyone can wear and make personal by revealing their personality.

However, we suggest starting with the check flannel shirts.

The Mannish Shirt
The Flannel Check Button Down Shirt – by Good Neighbors Shirts

1- The Flannel Button Down Shirt
2- The Flannel Mao Collar Shirt
3- The Flannel Maxi Shirt

These pieces come in check print (beige, black and white). While The Maxi Shirt is available in camouflage, too (100% cotton).

Good Neighbors Shirts: the design point


These well-tailored shirts come with a rubber band along the back, it is detachable, and you can wear them as a belt or as you like. Also, all the shirts have a pocket, on the right side, for your phone or wallet.

Styling tips
For preppy style lovers, layer your shirt underneath a sweater. You can wear The Maxi Shirt as a shirtdress or lightweight coat for the change of the season. Also, you can try these casual items to tone down some statement pieces of clothing in a modern mix-and-match. But we love these pieces as an overshirt with a basic t-shirt underneath and straight-leg trousers.

The Mannish shirt, a relaxed elegance #formodernhumans

Check out Good Neighbors Shirts.
Drop us an email, WhatsApp or comment here below to know more!

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Gendered Fashion Weeks, Genderless Fashion & Sustainability

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Do we still need separate men’s and women’s fashion weeks?


In order to make sense, genderless fashion and gendered fashion weeks should find a thoughtful convergence. And not only from a style perspective but for the compelling necessity of a more sustainable industry.

During fashion weeks, which last about one week for each category, womenswear and menswear, designers present their new collections. Now there are two elements:
First, the fashion industry needs a more sustainable approach.
Second, many designers lately proposed clothes less defined by gender.
The intersection of these two points can help the fashion industry change for the better.

Genderless fashion: what does it mean?


Contemporary fashion is more gender-fluid, and the separation between men’s and women’s clothing seems less felt. Apparently, people are free to select clothes from the category they prefer. Indeed, genderless fashion doesn’t mean renouncing femininity or masculinity but having the freedom to pick the garments suitable for yourself.

Genderless has become one of the most represented concepts in fashion designs. So why does the fashion industry keep dividing the schedule into women’s and men’s fashion shows? It seems contradictory in terms of style proposal and sustainability, too.

Fundamentally, we are free to choose. Designers can create the image they like following their creativity and vision of style. At the same time, everyone can refer to femininity and masculinity to express their personal tastes.

Gendered fashion weeks & sustainability


But it is not just a matter of style and freedom of expression. In the face of the environmental crisis, sustainability must be a priority in the fashion industry. In fact, weaving together men’s and women’s on the same runway would not only optimise costs for the brands but would reduce the impact of fashion shows on the environment.

And so, do we still need gendered fashion weeks? Presenting one calendar only seems to be a more sustainable solution for the future of fashion.

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What Is Sustainability? A Comprehensive Definition by Vito Mancuso

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Exploring ethics, nature and accountability


What is sustainability? Think about an all-embracing definition, a few words we can extend to any field. To our whole life, indeed. In our search for a more sustainable lifestyle, Prof. Vito Mancuso offered some food for thought.

In a tv show called “Quante storie”, a must-see programme which is all about books, Prof. Vito Mancuso, a theologist and philosopher, introduced his latest essay titled “Etica per i giorni difficili” (Ethics for difficult days).

Addressing the need for shared ethics, he gave some guidance on the importance of preserving nature. Precisely, he said: “Custodire la natura è un’ assunzione di responsabilità.”

Literally:

“Preserving nature is an assumption of responsibility.”

Vito Mancuso

We believe we can extend this definition into the discussion on sustainable matters. Likewise, we can assert: “Sustainability is an assumption of responsibility.” Put more simply, “Sustainability is about taking responsibility.”

And taking responsibility means, in other words, holding ourselves accountable.

However, holding ourselves accountable goes beyond economics, marketing, or personal power. In fact, it’s about ethics.
And so, from a marketing perspective, can we agree to associate the word sustainable with big corporations? From the perspective of profit, can we allow well-known brands to sponsor sustainable events? Or set up sustainable fashion shows with the same rule as non-sustainable ones?

On an ethical level, we cannot agree.

From an ethical perspective, taking money from big corporations won’t lead to real change. But holding ourselves accountable doesn’t mean being perfect in our effort to make a change. It means taking seriously the choice we made and being consistent with it. Fundamentally, it means changing the way we operate, and being very careful who we partner with.

Mainstream sustainability vs ethics


So, what is the mainstream sustainability movement proposing? Green capitalism as the enlightened path. Specifically, it encourages us to shift towards an eco-green-sustainable model while continuing to consume as much as we did so far.

Of course, it won’t work. Either they are missing the point, or ethics isn’t their concern–nor is sustainability.

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The Land Of Waste

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How the fashion industry dumps the problem into Africa


A land of waste describes the unbelievable amount of discarded clothing that is regularly dumped in Africa.. About three million pieces of clothing every year. Endless layers of textiles form mountains high of fashion waste polluting the land and waters. A terrifying sight that illustrates the destruction the Western world inflicts on nature, known as waste colonialism.

Fast-fashion waste recycling?


People often believe that clothes discarded into the recycling container (the yellow ones here in Italy) are reused. Usually, charities are in charge of these garments. But fast fashion items are of poor quality. So, large quantities can’t be resold and eventually end up in a massive toxic blob in Africa.

Y2K: the overproduction era


Since 2000, global clothing production has doubled, but the quality has steadily decreased. As we’ve already discussed, brands accelerated the overproduction model. At the same time, they promoted overconsumption, kickstarting the toxic cycle.
Brands overproduce up to 40% every season.

Waste shipped to Africa: waste colonialism, the western solution


In West Africa, everyday cargos arrive full of dirty clothes, and most get there in unwearable condition. In Ghana, a dumping ground for textiles, they call them the “dead white man’s clothes.” Moreover, Western garments are so cheap that local manufacturers can’t compete (source ABC.net.au) with their original textiles.

The city of Accra has to find a place to dispose of 160 tons of textile waste every day! Liz Ricketts, a circular economy advocate, has spent about ten years documenting what happens in Ghana.During the monsoon season, the heavy rains drag the textiles into the sea. Then they return to the shore buried in the sand.

In Accra, there’s no room left to throw away clothing.

ABC News: the land of waste


We recommend to watch this video by ABC News:

Video by ABC News


Waste colonialism & the land of waste


If waste is the byproduct of a fashion industry based on an overproduction pattern, consumers play an active part, too. Indeed, they contribute to this environmental disaster with their consumption habits. Perhaps years ago, information was lacking, but now it’s everywhere! Everyone can understand the downside of cheap clothing.

There are people who are underpaid to make cheap clothes and, at the end of the cycle, other people who earn 4 dollars a day collecting fashion waste. Slaves, indeed!

The western world’s solution was to ship the problem to Africa–waste colinialism. But that has resulted in a land of waste, which we are leaving to the coming generations.

Fashion brands are responsible, but so we are if we don’t change our consumption habits.

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