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The Vivienne Westwood Legacy

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What can we learn from the iconic fashion designer?


Our first post of the year is a tribute to Vivienne Westwood, one of the most revolutionary figures in the fashion system. Sadly, the iconic fashion designer passed away on December 29, aged 81.

Also known as the queen of punk because she started her career in the seventies with her punk designs, Westwood was consistent with her style throughout her life.

Instead of retracing her influential career, we prefer to focus on what made her unique, highlight her legacy and explore what we can learn from it.

What is peculiar is that her fashion wasn’t the expression of finance but reflected her free creativity and values. Most importantly, she worked for something bigger than fashion. Indeed, she used her voice not only to make clothes but as a platform to raise awareness, fight climate change and support human rights.

Vivienne Westwood and sustainable fashion

“Buy less, choose well, make it last. Quality, non quantity. Everybody’s buying far too many clothes.”

Vivienne Westwood

The above quote is the base of sustainable fashion and the essence of an evolved style. But also, it is the guiding principle for a sustainable lifestyle.

First, “buy less!” – nothing is more sustainable than this. So, reject the obsession with novelties and become a selective, conscious consumer. Reducing the number of pieces we purchase means taking only meaningful garments.
Second, “choose well” – pay attention to quality and design. So, learn to discern good quality from the rubbish, which we don’t have to support necessarily.
Third, “make it last” – love your clothes, and learn to take care of them properly. Also learn to mix and match them, as beautiful pieces are never inappropriate.

However, here you can understand the inconsistency of the fashion industry. Indeed, fashion brands talk about sustainability but put into production tons of new items every season. Not to mention fast fashion brands, who release new clothing pieces every week!

Westwood: a legacy to grasp


Being a political and environmental activist, Vivienne Westwood recently said: “Capitalism is a crime. It is the root cause of war, climate change and corruption.”

But, aren’t the same top brands part of that capitalistic game?

We can learn a lot from someone who worked with such a passion and has never conformed to the standards. Or to the logo obsession we see today. The Vivienne Westwood legacy shows that fashion without a vision is nothing. Therefore, sustainable fashion without ideas and without good design is just marketing. Another business added to the many other ones already existing.

In short, the power of unpopular ideas stands out. Will any young designer grasp this legacy?

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Happy 2023!

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New Year’s Eve-Eve celebration!


Happy 2023! As the new year approaches, let’s take a moment to share some thoughts.

Life taught us not to take things for granted. And that alone we do nothing, but we need the contribution of others, whatever we do. Even more for our small scale experiment about fashion and lifestyle, out of the beaten path.

So we’ll never stop expressing gratitude and thanking you for your support. We are fortunate to have wonderful humans inspiring us. And we are grateful for the friends we have made over the years.

When we come across something interesting, something we love, or something that leaves us perplexed, we share it with you. In doing so, we cultivate common ground, foster constructive ideas, and embrace a culture of change. That is the beauty of our connection, which we want to improve throughout the new year.

Happy 2023


2023: New year’s resolution


For the year to come, we invite you to see things differently. Rather than confirming our beliefs, let’s try to challenge them. Observing things from different perspectives is a good exercise.

Perhaps it will help us be less self-centred, see other people more, and understand them. The world deserves something deeper, more careful, and a collective culture can help change for the better.
And, you know, we all play a part in this!

Thank you for reading and stay in touch!

Wishing you love! HAPPY 2023!

suite123 staff
Ro, Cri & Thami
❤️

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2022: A Year In Fashion

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Looking back at the moments that defined fashion this year


Looking back at 2022, it seems that this year in fashion went by without any tangible sign of change. Indeed, retracing the events and analysing how brands run their businesses, everyone went happily back to normal.

Fashion advertising


Advertising released catchy stories creating a bubble that depicted a universe disconnected from reality. Over the 80s and 90s, the context promoted superstars, but now that ostentation is pointless and not appealing.
As regards the filed of marketing, forget sustainability, it’s all about greenwashing.

2022 in fashion design


From a design perspective, less but better was supposed to be the guiding principle to help the industry move forward. A clean and more focused fresh restart after the pandemic. But it seems that message has not been taken seriously by fashion brands. Perhaps it was something nice to say during a tiring moment, a way to move with the flow. Indeed, we witnessed a setback during the last fashion shows.

Furthermore, now that celebrations and parties are back, sequins and cheap fabrics are everywhere, again. Just looking at the pictures on social media or advertising on tv, the poor quality of the materials is the first thing you notice.

There’s no escape! The imperative of cheap clothing, accessible products that give the illusion of richness, is still very strong.

Fashion industry in 2022


Likewise, fashion companies have set up no measures to reduce the impact on the environment. Also, considering working conditions, we are far from giving workers decent wages.

From luxury brands to fast fashion, the rules are almost the same. And the difference between one or the other segment is just a matter of spending power. By the way, fashion is in the hands of finance, big groups pursuing perpetual growth. Therefore, overproduction which in turn fosters overconsumption. And, this toxic practice is always at the heart of the fashion business.
The industry is immersed in a consumerist culture exploiting people and the planet without no understanding of the scale of destruction it carries around. And no will to change.

2022, has been another tough year in fashion. In fact, throughout the year, we wrote a lot about the need for a different way of operating the fashion business, but perhaps it was naive to expect it for real.

Nevertheless, we’ll continue working in fashion, focusing on quality, good design and uniqueness—prioritising what truly matters, and always in limited quantities.

#formodernhumans

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Wishing You A Merry Christmas

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Thank you for being present!


Merry Christmas and much love! We take the opportunity of the Christmas festive season to thank you for being with us. Whatever Christmas means to you, we want to celebrate the positive energy of our connection.

On a journey of learning to live our lives in a different way, we are going through some challenging years. But we are here, connected, and we care about each other.

Merry Christmas


We are grateful to every single person that follows our activity (the blog, the boutique and private shopping) and supports us, keeping our community alive.

Making a change is difficult, but together we inspire each other.

We are proud to be connected with you. Thank you for being present.

Sending love your way.

Merry Christmas!

suite123 staff
Ro, Cri & Thami
❤️

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Sustainable Christmas, The News Says!

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Festive season: greenwashing is on


While people hunt for cheap gifts, TV is awash with stories about sustainable Christmas. And the narrative is getting awkward. You must have heard the news describing millions of led lights that decorate towns or giant Christmas trees. Recyclable but enormous. Of course, everything happens in the spirit of a sustainable Christmas.

Millions. Giant. Any doubts? Are you ok with this version of the story?

Sustainable Christmas?


“Millions” and “sustainable” in the same sentence don’t make sense. But also, giant and sustainable sounds weird. However, in the middle of an energy crisis, with people invited to save electricity consumption, we expected something different than lights everywhere! Even the idea: “Look, we change decorations every year, but we are sustainable!” is meaningless.

Greenwashing news is the practice of reporting nonsense to manipulate people. In the end, they talk about trillions of eco-friendly decorations to promote overconsumption and disposable gifts.

Overconsumption and cheap gifts


As the Christmas season approaches, disposable product supply grows enormously. Indeed, people want more, and retailers satisfy the request, triggering a vicious cycle that leaves no hope. During the festive season, all the resolutions about mindful consumption disappear. Christmas is about finding cheap gifts, little presents that will end up soon in the trash bin. Unfortunately, our waste will not disappear.

Low-impact Christmas


This Christmas, purchase your gifts with a purpose: buy only items that will not end up in the landfill. Check materials: are they made to last? Don’t go for fast fashion or disposable items, but choose quality. For instance, a book is always a great gift.

Also, limit the packaging. Since metallic paper isn’t recyclable, use magazines, brown paper or newspapers to make your creative wrappings. And reuse your Christmas decorations, no one will be offended! Most importantly, don’t waste food.

Sustainable Christmas does not exist unless we are ready to change our habits completely. Choose meaningful gifts and inspire the others around you to see things differently.

Change the narrative and your actions to make Christmas sustainable for real!

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