November 11, 2019
The popularity of Crowdfunding over the past decade has facilitated the emergence of many successful, small businesses. This includes a range of ethically motivated fashion labels, skincare and beauty brands keen to make a difference to one of the most polluting industries in the world, the fashion industry. These brands set themselves up as alternatives to their mainstream counterparts, concerned with implementing progress in the industry and making a positive contribution to the world.
First of all, let’s take a look at the brands trying to make a difference. Uzza is a Barcelona based skincare brand that celebrates diversity. Their products are packed full of natural and organic ingredients (think of a tasty Moroccan-infused salad – cucumber, sesame oil, orange blossom, ginger, mint – but for the face) sourced locally from Spain, or from women’s cooperatives in Morocco, where they support women’s empowerment and economic development. Uzza are committed to creating a product, and practice that has positive social and environmental implications.
Trace Collective is another company trying to change the industry for the better. They team innovative designers with biodegradable fabrics, making eco-friendly clothing that aims to give back to the environment. The first collection is designed by Claire Payne, combining earthy tones with airy silhouettes for elegant classics. Choosing fabrics like linen and hemp, Trace are ensuring their base material cultivation is virtually zero waste.
Like Uzza, Trace are committed to making every part of their manufacturing responsible. You can find out exactly where each item has come from, what social/environmental impact it has had and how much it cost to make by scanning the label. Trace co-founders Antonia Halko and Aroa Fernandez hope full transparency of their supply train ‘will trigger a conversation on the industry and on fast fashion in particular.’
Trace and Uzza aren’t just trying to implement change through their products, but by creating entire manufacturing practices that have a positive environmental and social impact. This includes having a sustainable business model. ‘Ecology and economics are inseparable,’ says Salima from Uzza.
Whilst smaller might be better for a sustainable business, it’s not just about size. Smaller brands are, perhaps, so successfully responsible because they are born out of a passion to do good. Not every new company promotes sustainable practices, but those that do have an energy and fervour that motivates their work.
Whilst it is essential, passion doesn’t build a business on its own. Both Uzza and Trace are crowdfunding via Kickstarter to get their projects off the ground.
Since its creation in 2009, Kickstarter has been very successful, pledging over 4 million dollars for its projects and having over 150,000 successfully funded ventures. It uses all-or-nothing funding, so if a project doesn’t reach its funding goal, the financial backers aren’t charged, and the project isn’t pursued. This makes pledging with Kickstarter pretty risk free and economically sustainable for backers and creators alike.
For those who value responsibility and sustainability, crowdfunding is a way of expressing what we care about and bringing that into mainstream markets. Crowdfunding can build communities that will help to implement change. Trace value working closely with consumers, ‘so they start demanding greater transparency, which will, in turn, push brands to be more rigorous about their impacts and their communications.’
Kickstarter are committed to supporting projects that aim to be sustainable and have launched an environmental resource centre that encourages creators to be conscious of the impact of every part of their process.
The evolution of small, crowdfunded, ethical brands is emblematic of progress. Sustainability isn’t just about the environment; it includes social and economic endurance too. Crowdfunding ethical projects is a sustainable business model, and a great way of bringing innovative ideas into the mainstream market.
Trace, which earned 50% of its funding target in just two days of its Kickstarter launch, and Uzza are just two of many unique brands seeking to change the fashion industry through the way they do business, and the products they produce. Endorsing smaller brands, we build a market that achieves ‘more diversity in aesthetics and, hopefully, a richer dialogue on sustainability.’
To support Uzza click here or to support Trace Collective go here.
Beatrice Tridimas
Beatrice is an ethicist and book-lover, pursuing her passion for writing at KeiSei whilst studying for a masters degree at UCL. She graduated from the University of Edinburgh earlier this year.