June 15, 2020
The Importance of Protecting Designers & Artists
Fashion is a powerful form of self-expression. It shows the world exactly who you are, or what you’re feeling, without you needing to say a word. A dash of colour might say, “I feel like sunshine today”. Paint splattered on a white tee might whisper, “I’m an artist. Watch me bring things to life”. A pink sherbet tote might shout, “I’m going to make today FUN”.
All this to say fashion matters, and fast fashion ~ with its wide-reaching impact ~ is contributing to a decline in local fashion makers and creators.
Artists everywhere have something to share with the world. They find joy in sharing their views and creations with their communities. They feel pride in walking past someone wearing their totes, their tees, and ultimately their expressions. They are helping to make a difference to an industry historically wrought with exploit and abuse for the sake of affordable clothing.
At Consequence of Change we believe that we all have a duty to protect fashion artists by supporting them in doing what we can to influence positive change in the fashion industry. Social media has been a significant contributor to the cause by providing artists with a platform to engage one-on-one with their communities. They can convey not only their designs but their motives, values and passions with a community of like-minded supporters.
The internet, in its own way, shows it’s support for artists. While it can be a rabbit hole of bargains, sales and click frenzies, it can also be a wonderland of artistic gems. Sites such as Teepublic, RedBubble and CafePress provide platforms for artists to showcase their work in the form of tees, sweats, mugs and posters. But is it enough?
While it does work to enable artists to reach wider audiences by sharing their unique voice with the world, in most cases artists are minimally compensated for their work, with commissions on some platforms, such as Society6, being as low as only 10% on already underpriced items.
This is where we come in.
Consequence of Change was founded on the belief that artists are valuable; not just their work, but their time, passion and creativity too. We’re impassioned to be a part of an industry that champions slow, sustainable fashion and works with our artists to create unique pieces of art you can travel the world with. We don’t make throwaway items; we invest in small runs of high-quality tote bags ~ soon expanding into backpacks, belt bags, sweats and hoodies ~ so you can carry your daily essentials while sharing our artists’ expressions with the world.
But unlike the sites that solely aim to profit from artists, we ensure we protect the integrity of their work by using high-quality fabrics that complement their designs. We don’t use them for their talent, but we champion them for their passions. We commission or licence their work, offering fair compensation and promoting our artists as best we can to make sure their designs can be delivered into the hands of art lovers.
We collaborate with, rather than employ, our artists to showcase local ideas and expressions. In doing so, we’re helping to shape the new and by-far improved fashion industry.
