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Ethical Fashion

Ethical Fashion Fashion

Fashion Blog History

A retrospective of a Kitmeout Blog by ‘The Butcher’ back in 2013.

On the 1st May 2013 The Butcher posited:

‘Does the dominance of gay fashion designers suggest an endemic heterophobic propensity by the fashion illuminati which is manifest in its most insidious form by the pervasive tendency to corrupt the female body image by persisting with anorexic “de-feminised” models as a paradigm of perfection ultimately undermining the male/female synergy? … or perhaps the fashion illuninati are simply a pawn in the plan for androgenous evolution.’

The question today is how accurate was The Butcher’s position back in 2013? Is there a fashion illuminati with a gender-agenda?

Is ‘heterophobia’ endemic in the fashion industry? Are we as a species being deconstructed and re-designed? If so, who are the perpetrators?

THE GENDER-AGENDA

Ethical Fashion Fashion Football & Fashion

Sugar Cane Jeans for Eco-warriors!

One of the original Japanese denim brands, Sugar Cane has a deep root history in innovation based on style and materials.

‘ Sugar Cane ’ denim by traditional Japanese dyeing techniques by hand and not by machine. The first model ‘ Sugar Cane Awa ’ is made of sugar cane denim dyed by Awa indigo. Awa used to be one of the popular places producing indigo, located in the western part of Japan. The second model ‘ Sugar Cane Okinawa ’ is made of sugar cane fibre and indigo produced in the region of Okinawa, Japan. The third model ‘ Sugar Cane Hawaii ’ is made from sugar cane and indigo imported from Hawaii. ‘

BUY SUGAR CANE JEANS HERE

Ethical Fashion Fashion

Japanese Jeans – Kojima

OKAYAMA KOJIMA – Although just a small town in the prefecture of Okayama, Kojima has managed to play an integral role in the Japanese textile industry since the early twentieth century. Kojimas textile production history stretches back hundreds of years, but it wasn’t until post WWII that Japan became one of the largest producers of Japanese work wear and Japanese school uniforms. The first pair of Japanese jeans were produced in Kojima in the late 1960s.

In the span of a few decades, Japan has firmly established itself as one of the best denim producers in the world. As many of the High Fashion and American brands that inspired the first Japanese jeans chose to outsource their work overseas, the jean producers in Kojima chose to keep things local, refining their craft and continuing to use vintage looms and old techniques. The result is a culture of denim fanatics and an array of brands being headed up by true craftsman that care as much about their products as their most loyal customers.

Many of the brands in Kojima produce denim from vintage weaving machines known as shuttle looms. The result is a high quality denim fabric that is only half the width of the rolls produced by newer machines but one with a more durable finished edge, originally referred to as selvage.

Some denim houses still choose to indigo dye cotton by hand using the leaves from the indigo plant for their most premium jeans. This expensive and tedious process, as well as many of the other techniques used to make premium denim in Okayama has its roots in kimono production going back hundreds of years. The combination of old-world technique, with a modern silhouette in mind has earned Kojima a place in denim history.

Ethical Fashion Fashion

Sugar Cane Clothes – widest online collection

Take a butchers at the widest selection of Sugar Cane Clothing online at Togged.com

Uniquely Japanese denim made from you guessed it sugar cane. For many years, Sugar Cane Jeans were a ferociously guarded Japanese secret but today the brand is attracting global attention. Interestingly, Sugar Cane prefer to use the vintage term dungarees in preference to the term jeans to describe their product: The word jeans has become the vernacular for faux denim fashion wear that masquerades as the tough, classic waist overalls history made famous.

We have thoroughly analyzed our forerunners jeans from the 1900s in chronicle order from yarn, dye, weave and construction to components . We have with us the actual results of fabric woven and colour fade test on the original pants worn. In order to create our own original jeans, it took over 20 years of research. To perfectly reproduce denim fabrics from 50 to 100 years ago in todays advanced period is extremely difficult. To begin with we had to look for old power looms that had worked to weave denim fabric in those days, restore them and adjust them to weave the fabric we have. It was not easy to revive the old machines that disappeared a long time ago due to rationalization. Nowadays, the old power looms are not so unusual but in the early research stage, satisfactory fabrics could not be woven on the old looms found. It was a joint operation with the weaver of trial and failure and advanced step by step.

Sugar Cane denim by traditional Japanese dyeing techniques by hand and not by machine. The first model Sugar Cane Awa is made of sugar cane denim dyed by Awa indigo. Awa used to be one of the popular places producing indigo, located in the western part of Japan. The second model Sugar Cane Okinawa is made of sugar cane fibre and indigo produced in the region of Okinawa, Japan. The third model Sugar Cane Hawaii is made from sugar cane and indigo imported from Hawaii.

Ethical Fashion Fashion Football & Fashion

Vegan Shoes made in Italy, born in England

Take a butchers at these vegan shoes by NOHARM. All NOHARM shoes are made in Italy and the company was started 10 years ago in England. NOHARM is widely considered the ultimate vegan footwear brand and their shoes compare favourably to top leather brands like Gucci and Tods.

Ethical Fashion Fashion

NOHARM Shoes

NOHARM Vegan Shoes

NOHARM Vegan Shoes on the dock ready to ship.

Vegan shoes by Noharm Made in Italy. Noharm footwear is meticulously researched to ensure the finished product conforms to the highest ethical and environmental standards.

NOHARM Vegan Shoes

Ethical Fashion Fashion

Anti-Fashion

Here’s a debate worth a butchers on the Kitmeout Fashion Forum about the validity of Anti-Fashion:

“is anti-fashion still a form of fashion?”

“good question. i suspect it is if you wear a t-shirt to that effect. it’s all semantics. what is the true definition of fashion?”

“official definition =

1.a prevailing custom or style of dress, etiquette, socializing, etc.: the latest fashion in dresses. 2.conventional usage in dress, manners, etc., esp. of polite society, or conformity to it: the dictates of fashion; to be out of fashion. 3.manner; way; mode: in a warlike fashion. 4.the make or form of anything: He liked the fashion of the simple, sturdy furniture. 5.a kind; sort: All fashions of people make up the world. 6.Obsolete. 7.Obsolete. act or process of making. 8.to give a particular shape or form to; make: The cavemen fashioned tools from stones. 9.to accommodate; adjust; adapt: doctrines fashioned to the varying hour. 10.Shipbuilding. to bend (a plate) without preheating. 11.Obsolete. to contrive; manage. 12.after or in a fashion, in some manner or other or to some extent; in a makeshift, unskillful, or unsatisfactory way: He’s an artist after a fashion.”

Read the Full Thread

Ethical Fashion Fashion

Fur Coats and Celebrities

Here’s a raw thread on the Kitmeout Fashion Forum – take a butchers

Here’s a snippet:

“I think in the main celebrities who wear fur do so out of ignorance. they are generally so out of touch with the real world and I genuinely believe that if they really did understand the suffering that takes place and just how unpopular it all is with the general public they wouldnt wear it. Lets be honest their whole career is based around their popularity after all.”.

Ethical Fashion Fashion

The woes of a Vegetarian Fashionista

An interesting thread on the dilemmas of ethical fashion:

“i can picture it now: sitting in a suave veggie bar wearing a pair of calf skin gucci loafers weeping over a tofu wrap.”

Take a butchers at the thread on the Kitmeout Fashion Forum

“it’s partially true. soy bean production like any other farmed crop is a strain on the enviornment. however, it is nothing compared to the detrimental impact that livestock farming produces. cattle produce more carbon than all the cars in the world combined and here’s the big one, it takes 1 acre of livestock to produce 1lb or meat protein but the same 1 acre can produce 10lb of veg protein. so bean farming is not only more environmentally sound it also has the ability to feed the starving.”

Ethical Fashion Fashion

Sugarcane Jeans Savings

Togged has an incredible collection of Sugarcane Jeans, Jackets, Shirts and more at 25% discount. Take a butchers at their offerings here

Sugarcane Jeans have been one of the most popular topics of conversation on the Kitmeout Fashion Forum, including:

“AFTER READING AN ARTICLE IN ZOO MAGAZINE FEW WEEKS AGO, ARTICLE “8 OF THE BEST JEANS” I GOT MYSELF MY FIRST PAIR OF SUGRACANE DENIM JEANS. THE QUALITY OF THE STANDARD 1947 IS SECOUND TO NONE. ITS GOT TO BE ONE OF THE BEST BUYS I HAVE MADE FOR A LONG TIME. DOES ANYBODY KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE HAWAII DENIM JEANS.”

Full thread here

Ethical Fashion Fashion

Duffer St George to KU USA

A discussion including Duffer St George, KU USA, Luke 1977, Momotaro and Ed Hardy.

“yes, duffer had a store in london. he wanted exclusive which i gave him. then he didnt come to our stand one season, so i assumed he was moving on. i then sold to jones in covent garden (now gone). at that point, duffer did not pay me for my last shipment to them.

currently ku is only available in japan and at our store in los angeles. togged also carries some. we make 108 pcs only of everything so we sell out in our markets. i dont feel like building a big manufacturing/shipping company. i want to focus more on interior design and hand crafted items, some of which may be clothing.

ku started the ed hardy brand, and then we licensed it out. ”

Take a butchers at the full thread here >

Ethical Fashion Fashion

Vegan Shoes by NOHARM

NOHARM, the Vegan Shoe brand, which first promoted the link between vegan footwear and the environment is modeled here by Richie Kull. The brand is worth a butchers here at NOHARM.COM

Part of the NOHARM environmental pitch, goes:

“Senior U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization official Henning Steinfeld reported that the meat industry is “one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems.”

Carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide together cause the vast majority of global warming. Raising animals for food (AND LEATHER) is one of the largest sources of carbon dioxide and the single largest source of both methane and nitrous oxide emissions.”

Compelling proposition!

Ethical Fashion Fashion

Counterfeit Clothing

There have been a long list on conversations on the Kitmeout forum concerning counterfeit clothing. Here’s one, take a butchers:

“what’s your view on counterfeiting. i have read some posts here that say you were the owner of ed hardy so you must hate fakes with a passion.”

Ethical Fashion Fashion

Organic Fashion

Take a butchers at the debate on “organic Fashion” at the Kitmeout Forum:

“Because The Industry Is So Nascent There Are No Real Standards. Sugar Cane Have A History Of Producing Denim Made With Fibres Which Are Apparently Less Harmful To The Environment. A Lot Of The Other Brands Are Just Seeing An Opportunity To Make Hard Cash.”

See full thread here >

Ethical Fashion Fashion

Vivienne Westwood Menswear

The question was asked on the Kitmeout forum:

“I am a big Vivienne Westwood fan. How many men here buy Vivienne Westwood menswear? Do most people still see it as a ladies brand?
Does Vivienne Westwood have the same problem as Juicy Couture appealing to the menswear market? ”

Take a butchers at the full thread here – see more

To my mind Vivienne Westwood doesn’t have a problem in the menswear market. Viv’s connection to the Sex Pistols will always ensure her brand has a macho edge. I think her nigger problem is convincing punters of her ethical credentials which she’s being attempt to tout over the past few years.

Ethical Fashion Fashion

Paul Smith Wallet – Art or Not?

Ever since Paul Smith released his “naked lady” collection there has been a cacophony of indignation condemning the globally recognized designer for degrading the fairer sex. So what’s the deal? Here’s the chatter on the Kitmeout forum, Take a butchers.

The story goes, Archie Dickens painted it (a 94 year old from Kent, England) & the model is known as Christine (that’s all he said). Suppose the answer is to produce a similar collection showing a geezer or two striped down to the bare bone…

Ethical Fashion Fashion

Sugar Cane Jeans – What makes them special?

Sugar Cane Jeans have received extensive chatter on the Kitmeout forum, take a butchers at just one of many threads here.

Lots of questions surrounding the origin, purpose and future of the brand: “Something to do with being tougher fiber and environmentally friendly and also very minimalistic but not sure how the concept first came about. Be interesting to find out.”

Sugar Cane thoroughly analyzed our forerunners jeans from the start of the 1900s in chronicle order from yarn, dye, weave and construction to components . Sugar Cane have the actual results of fabric woven and colour fade test on the original pants worn. In order to create their own original jeans, it took over 20 years of research. To perfectly reproduce denim fabrics from 50 to 100 years ago in today ’ s advanced period is extremely difficult. To begin with Sugar Cane had to look for old power looms that had worked to weave denim fabric in those days, restore them and adjust them to weave the fabric. It was not easy to revive the old machines that disappeared a long time ago due to advent of new automated processes but Sugar Cane have managed to keep tradition alive.

Ethical Fashion Fashion

Androgynous Fashion – a bone of contention

Tongue in Cheek, Bone of Contention, all good innuendo but is “Androgynous Fashion” worth serious debate. To quote:

“Pompous title I know! anyways should men’s and women’s fashion ever meet. I mean is it ever acceptable for men and women to wear the same type of clothing and footwear. I realise body shapes will always ensure some kind of gulf between the sexes bit should designers ever look to bridge the gap and make androgynous fashion? I don’t mean what we’ve discussed in the past with juicy couture trying to pussify men I mean real in the middle androgynous fashion

Take a butchers at the thread here …

Ethical Fashion Fashion

Replica Designer Clothes vs Fake Designer Clothes

An interesting thread posted on the Kitmeout forum pitching Replica Designer Clothes versus Fake Designer Clothes. To quote:

“perhaps a controversial and provocative question. nonetheless, are replicas always wrong? i mean bags, clothing, jeans, watches, trainers. what are the real arguments against them? ”

Take a butchers at the entire thread CLICK HERE

Ethical Fashion Fashion

Ayahuasca – Dress Green

Artwork courtesy of Pablo Amaringo

Ayahuasca – The Fashion World needs some inspiration…

Where has all the inspiration gone? Have fashion personas destroyed true style? Is fashion dead? Questions flying around the web every day. Do we all need a new view point?

Ayahuasca – Dress Green

“there’s a lot of cultural evolution built around hallucinogens that have allowed for creative thinking and societal development. The negative connotations that we’ve all been inculcated with regarding drugs are taking hallucinogens out of their context so they are all perceived as negative. i think we all need to be a lot more broad minded and look for answers in their true traditional context. in fact, if there’s one drug that should be banned from all societies it’s alcohol.”

Ethical Fashion Fashion

KATO Jeans

KATO Jeans from the horse’s mouth. Take a butchers:

Are kato jeans worth the high price? seen some online but not seen them for real yet.

“simple answer is YES…..

but then I work with them!!

the price is sadly high due to the nature of the production and the cost on import, the short looming and the ZIM cotton and double harvest indigo all cost, with less producers on the cotton and the age of the weaver and dyer growing older there are simply higher cost and with the EU new import ‘issues’ with cotton and the higher tax in Japan on the processes..sorry am I boring….it just cost us more to produce a higher quality denim”

http://forum.kitmeout.com/talk-fashion/4155-kato-jeans.html

“many companies say the use Zim cottons, and most do, but the mass of it is from the Zimbabwe Cotton company, a company own by the government and selling ALL cotton from Zimbabwe, mixed together the many different strains and not paying the full price back to the growers, this is simply wrong, but you can still call it Zim Cotton, even though it’ll be a mix of long and short chain and not all organic.

the good thing about the ‘soil’ or should I say it location is the high above sea level, the chill winds and the clear skies. the raw cotton is strong and clean. if you buy direct you can be sure you money goes where it should. this is sadly not the case right now.

we will stop using Zim cotton after this batch is done and will source else where the same strain or better.

As for a ‘government doesn’t abuse and tyrannise it’s citizens’ I ask you all, now many pairs of nike do you own? or adidas or levi or any big brand for that matter, do you drink coke? do you drink at starbucks? all are using ‘bad’ production systems and damage more people.

there has always been an ‘issue’ with the regain and they will always will be, I’ve been I’ve seen and I’m not happy doing business with it. that said when i worked for much larger companies i saw worse in there factories

so please ‘boycott Zimbabwe cotton’ but keep up the pressure on all of this. As producers it’s our job to listen to our hearts and our customers. “

Ethical Fashion Fashion

“Welcome to Woodstock” Spring season launch

The Backroom Sydney and Sailor Jerry present

“Welcome to Woodstock” Spring season launch

Back for its third successful year we present you all things beautiful and delicious from the Spring summer season into one event.

The venue will be decorated all things spring wall to wall in floral decorations, floor paved with grass and Woodstock iconic rock and roll references.

Enjoy Floral and rock and roll themed cocktails complimentary from 9pm-10pm

Sailor Jerry “Rock and Roll” cocktail Stall

Hendricks Gin “Ladies of the Lawn” cocktail stall

Music By –

Dangerous Dan – Dan Single – aka MR Cool ( DAAN / BANG GANG )

GGMAGREE – aka Mrs Yeah Pussy

FREE vintage photo booth to capture all your spring break moments!

The Backroom Sydney
13th September
9pm

Ethical Fashion Fashion

Eco-Friendly Sunglasses

Designer Reading Glasses made from Organic Sustainable Bamboo

“Eynack Creats Eye Candy for Women, Eye Catcher for Men”

Eye glasses made from sustainable materials are no longer an optical illusion. Enhance your spec appeal with a pair of glorious glasses from Eynack, designer eco-friendly eyewear handcrafted from organic sustainable bamboo. They’re stylish, functional, and most important – affordable.

Ethical Fashion Fashion

Vegan Wallets by NOHARM

Here’s a sneak peek of the new NOHARM Vegan Wallets. These wallets are hand-crafted in Italy using top quality materials which are both vegan and environmentally-friendly. Worth a butchers.

Here’s an interesting blurb taken from the NOHARM website:

“Senior U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization official Henning Steinfeld reported that the meat industry is “one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems.”

Carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide together cause the vast majority of global warming. Raising animals for food (AND LEATHER) is one of the largest sources of carbon dioxide and the single largest source of both methane and nitrous oxide emissions.”

Ethical Fashion Fashion

Heterophobia – addressing a controversial mannequin

heterophobia

Does the dominance of gay fashion designers suggest an endemic heterophobic propensity by the fashion illuminati which is manifest in its most insidious form by the pervasive tendency to corrupt the female body image by persisting with anorexic “de-feminised” models as a paradigm of perfection ultimately undermining the male/female synergy? … or perhaps the fashion illuninati are simply a pawn in the plan for androgenous evolution.

Ethical Fashion Fashion

Milano Grunge

Since Kitmeout coined the phrase “Milano Grunge” in 2006, http://blog.kitmeout.com/2006/03/sir-bod-geldof-fashion-is-it-milano-grunge/, labeling the legendary Bob Geldorf as the archetype, the phrase has grown in popularity and has inspired and artistic following like the works by Federica Corbelli and Franzli.

Ethical Fashion Fashion

Men’s Vegan Shoes by NOHARM

Vegan shoes as good as anything leather can offer. NOHARM offers vegan’s an ethical alternative to the top leather footwear brands. Take a butchers (irony perhaps) at these quality vegan brogues in an Oxford style. Courtesy of Kevin Tong.

Ethical Fashion

Dolce & Gabbana S/S 2013 Campaign

Dolce & Gabbana s?s 2013 inspired by Sicilian street festivals and Luchino Visconit’s 1948 film La Terra Trema.

Ethical Fashion Fashion

NOHARM Toe Cap Oxfords – Ethical Footwear

Part of the new NOHARM 2013 Collection includes a classic toe cap style. Uncompromisingly stylish and uncompromisingly ethical – NOHARM ehtical shoes.

Ethical Fashion Fashion

Vegan Shoes made in Italy by NOHARM

Looking for men’s shoes with Italian style but with a strong ethical edge? Look no further than contemporary brand, NOHARM. All NOHARM footwear is made in Italy to the exacting standards of top Italian brands like Gucci and Prada but also to stringent ethical and environmental standards. Here we see a preview of the new collection of pointed styles. Visit www.noharm.com or call 860 391 3530 for more details.