BUYING local is notably one of the best ways to be sustainable while empowering local communities.
Conversely, when you shop at any big or internationally branded stores, many of the items you buy travel over thousands of kilometres – based on where the clothing is manufactured – to reach your wardrobe. By cutting down on these miles, you are helping to reduce the carbon footprint on the consumer end.
While it may not be a comprehensive enough action to curb the climate crisis, it does promise a huge advantage in building a more tolerable buy and sell nature. Basically with practice and consistency, hopefully, comes perfection.
Here are some options for when you need to splurge while at the same time lessening the environmental impact of your fashion choices…
Zora
Zora aims to act as a purveyor of democratised, zero-waste clothing.
The brand is busy reimagining a future without over-production and environmentally devastating waste by adopting sustainable practices. It leverages our proprietary demand-driven production, cultivating a circular take-back initiative, and employing green packaging for our products.
Biji Biji Ethical Fashion
A Malaysian social enterprise established in 2013, Biji Biji Ethical Fashion uses materials like faulty seat belt webbing, deadstock vintage kimono, tarpaulin banners, and needle punch carpets recovered at their end-of-life stages.
The cycle of their garment creations incorporates a safe hygienic working environment, fair wage, and without any forced or child labour.
A fashion brand that puts the sustainability agenda at its forefront, the aim is to disrupt the typical manufacturing process and encourage a circular economy with a refreshing take on up-cycled materials.
Biji Biji’s handmade fashion accessories and apparel are selected meticulously from a range of industries, including those foreign and unique to the fashion world, before transforming them into beautiful, functional and timeless designs.
Dia Guild
A fast-growing homegrown platform that aims to change the narrative around Southeast Asia that has long been associated with cheap labour and mass-produced products, Dia Guild offers customers a way to support the industry with a more sustainable view.
The website is a progressive market space for local creators (and those within the region) who are fusing heritage craftsmanship with modern design in ethical ways to connect with like-minded shoppers.
Versions of artisanship like batik printing or rattan weaving have been plenty in the mainstream, and often there is a lack of context or credit around its origins. Sometimes the craft is simply white-labelled, or even just imitated, and then sold.
Dia’s ethos is to give context and credit, where the brand wants everyone in the world to experience what Southeast Asia has to offer but from authentic boutique brands that employ artisans fairly.
Brands include Suria Artisan Batik, Fugeelah, Fern, Khoon Hooi and Talee Studio among others.
Muni
Founded by Munir Osman after a trip to Bali, Muni takes its inspiration from seeing how the community creatively adapt and embraces life on the tropical island in their unique way and makes use of the abundance of natural resources.
The brand uses natural dye extracted from tropical plants for its products. Leaves, fruit skins, and tree barks are all used in the traditional method of hand dyeing, making the garments age well with time
The timeless and versatile designs of their items are inspired by the style essence of indigenous cultures of Southeast Asia. Its mission is to humanise fashion by being transparent about how they do and make things. – The Vibes, May 4, 2022
