sustainability

Overconsumption = Extinction

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Activism disrupting fashion shows


Overproduction is devastating our culture, and it’s directly connected to the way we consume: overconsumption. Indeed we discussed this topic in many of our previous posts. We recognise that it’s deeply rooted in our social context.

October 5, Louvre Art Gallery. When the Louis Vuitton fashion show started, an activist broke in, carrying a sign reading:
“Overconsumption = Extinction.”

The protestor represented ‘Amis de la Terre France’, ‘Youth for Climate’ and ‘Extinction Rebellion’. She marched down the runway along with the models until a security guard forced her to leave.

Overconsumption ≠ extinction, protest disrupting Louis Vuitton fashion show
Photo credit: Amis De La Terre FR


The reason for the protest? It was stated on the banner clearly. Overconsumption = Extinction.
Why LVMH? It’s understandable since LVMH is a luxury conglomerate – so to say, a profit-oriented corporation.

It’s known that corporations make profits by exploiting the market, squeezing the lemon to the max.

Luxury conglomerates & overproduction


Overproduction is the way corporations thrive. They run ever faster, renewing the range of products nonstop. Doesn’t it sound familiar with the market of mobile phones too? And in order to be able to sell all the tons of goods they produce, they push people to consume more and more – to the point of brainwashing them by playing with marketing tricks.

This protest went on after a pandemic, precisely during a fashion week in which some shifts were awaited. Even more, ‘rewiring fashion’ seemed a subject so dear to many major industry players.

If not radical changes, at least, we expected to see a little sign. Despite this, the only news was the protester disrupting a fashion show.

Is there another way to approach fashion? Or business in general? Of course – but it’s not mainstream. Also, two more facts are striking: first, people talk – a lot – but still buy fast fashion. Second, no one talks about the impact of technology, which perhaps sells more than fashion.

What we consume and how we consume makes the difference. Obviously, it’s not related to fashion only. It’s about all industries. It’s a matter of lifestyle and economic system.

Shifting your habits is the only way to avoid extinction. Hear the protest if you care enough for the future!

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Awakening: Social and Ethical Consciousness

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Exploring the impact of modern issues on personal responsibility and collective action


Awakening means developing your consciousness – ethical and social – in order to become a better human.

Awakening is an intentional choice. Indeed, it is the act of opening our eyes to realise what happens inside and around us. Once we understand the reality, the damage we have caused to other people and the environment, awakening follows.

Therefore, we become aware that acting without considering the consequences – in other words, acting without a long-term ethical vision – is not a worthy choice.

Awakening requires our eyes to see, our brain to think and pay attention, freeing our conscience to emerge. For instance, we reach a higher level of consciousness by reading books, essays, or newsletters. Following thoughtful leaders. Interacting and sharing ideas in a community. Perhaps we could list other ways, but honestly, meditation is not our field of knowledge.

Ultimately, awakening is free.
So, you can pay someone to turn on the light for you, but then the process is yours, and no one can do it for you.

How does it all connect to fashion?
Believe us, it does. Fashion, as a reflection of our society, is part of a system based on exploitation. Part of the world is living at the expense of others and the planet.

The result of awakening is that we are no longer satisfied with this system. We cann’t take it as it is. So, we want to bring about change.

How do we do it?


We do it by offering you a thoughtful selection. By intentionally choosing fewer items – only what we really need. Unique pieces. By no longer conforming to fashion rules but instead being active agents of change. By infusing our own vision and values. More is not the answer. Rather, less but better with more ethical choices.

How do fashion brands do it?
Smaller production runs, higher quality, and shorter and adequately paid work chain. No sales, just real, balanced value. No modern slavery serving fast fashion.

How do you do it?
Consume less. Choose wisely.

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Design Against Waste

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Innovative solutions for a sustainable future


Waste is a major issue in our culture–perhaps one of the biggest. It is undoubtedly a side effect of our lifestyle. Waste is the ignorant byproduct of our times, meaning the etymological non-understanding of what we leave behind.

In other words, it represents a blind and egoistic short-term vision. People simply don’t care. Their children will live in an open-air landfill, but that’s not their concern.

However, the problem is real, devastating, and we cannot ignore it anymore. There’s no way to sweep waste under the carpet or make it magically disappear.

Acknowledging the problem and the environmental cost it carries along, is the first step. But what is the solution?

Design is the answer.
An accurate design is at the core of solving the waste issue. Changing the way we conceive products is absolutely crucial. We need intentionally designed items in every single field and category–fashion, furniture, technology, and beyond.
Products made with eco, recycled materials taht can have multiple lives and eventually enter a circular pattern.
Items made to last. In other words, design against waste.

By the way, this was the standard in the past in terms of lifetime. Products were built to endure. Now, the life of a garment barely exceeds a couple of washes, and a mobile phone lasts less than a year.
Moreover, convenience culture played a significant role in exacerbating wasteful habits and proliferating a throwaway mentality. Buying a new item is cheaper than repairing it. So people throw things away and replace them—even if the new item lasts only a few months. And so, the never-ending cycle continues.

The point is that real designers make good designs. But fashion–like any other industry–is in the hands of people who are more attracted to marketing than design. So It’s unlikely that change will emerge from within the current system.

Unless a new generation of designers, aware of the issue and moved by it, steps forward to make a difference–to change for the better.
We remain optimistic!

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The Modern Migration

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From big cities to small villages


Modern migration from big cities to small villages is the key to sustainability and happiness.

Transformed by the pandemic wake-up call, we decided to spend our August holidays back at our roots. A tiny village in the Basilicata region of South Italy, immersed in nature and silence. The only sounds were cows mooing, dogs barking, or the wind.

Travelling in the middle of the night through the woods, we came across a family of porcupines crossing the road, their spines standing on end. What a marvel! We promptly stopped the car to savour the unique show that nature offered us. We let them cross, illuminated by the headlights. It’s a scene forever etched in our memory.

How different life is in small countryside villages! Healthier, for sure. You reclaim the value of time, space. You don’t feel trapped as you do in a city apartment. No matter how big it is, it’s still cement. So you come to realise that in exchange for fewer services, you might just be enjoying real life.

Reading the news, it seems that the migration from big cities to the countryside has already begun, a tangible effect of the pandemic. Indeed, the idea of a slow and sustainable lifestyle fits naturally into this context, accompanied by a different way of dressing–which we will explore further–and decorating our places. Undoubtedly, it is a way of living our life in tune with nature.

It has been proven that economic growth and environmental impact are directly linked. What we used to call climate change is now a climate emergency. Therefore, in order to reduce our impact on nature, we have no choice but to change our lifestyle.

To this end, modern migration to the countryside presents an opportunity. Our needs have changed, big cities are no longer the answer. What we need is more nature.

Therefore, we envision a future where people repopulate small villages, breathing new life into them. Intensive mass growth gives way to smaller communities, all interconnected so as to support one another.

Finally, progress and the web can be used not to dominate or exploit but to genuinely and deeply connect.

With this mindset, we can become part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

That’s the lifestyle for modern humans.

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The Cultural Element

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Sustainability and the contradictions of contemporary culture


This is when you go to an event dedicated to sustainability, and one of the first things you hear is a journalist stating that we cannot consume less!

“During the pandemic, we saw what happened–everything came to a halt. It’s clear that we cannot consume less.”

We looked at each other perplexed: “Are we in the right place?” If this is the viewpoint of someone invited as a speaker to discuss sustainability, imagine the mindset of the average consumer.

We could not engage with those people over there, but we take the opportunity to explain our thoughts here. In fact, we do believe the opposite, it’s quite evident.

Consuming less is one of the most effective ways to save our planet.

Consumption and capitalism


It is necessary to find a new economic model to replace capitalism, which has been revealed to be outdated and unsuccessful. Exponential growth is absolutely inconceivable and even harmful now.

Although a new economic model is a fundamental step, we cannot wait, arms crossed, for something to happen. Sooner or later, the gods of economics and politics will come up with a brilliant idea, a valid substitute. At least, we hope they do.

But in the meantime, maintaining a sustainable level of consumption is crucial. Becoming aware of what we consume and how we consume must be at the core of our actions.

When it comes to changing the way we live, eat, travel, or shop, culture plays a central role.

Culture comes through education. In the past, we had the excuse that sources, books, and information weren’t accessible. Now we can find whatever we need.

Knowing more about environmental issues and climate change. Discovering more about ethical work and production modes. Understanding materials, craftsmanship, quality.

Educating ourselves to become conscious consumers is what we can actively do to enhance our lifestyle and change for the better.

It’s about improving our well-being rather than accumulating things and money with the outcome of waste and exploitation.

Learning more is free, and often it just takes a click!

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