Fashion ComPassion is an ethical fashion company which only represents socially responsible brands. It was launched in November 2010 by Ayesha and it provides a much needed platform for skilled and creative women in the developing world.
The brand helps to develop communities by giving socially oppressed women a chance to be somewhat independent by earning their own money and utilizing their valuable skills. It aids in enriching their lives - giving them a purpose and sense of worth - by enhancing their talents and giving them a percentage profit of the products that are sold - opportunities which are rare for women who are essentially seen as second class citizens. This in turn helps to combat poverty in places like Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
Ayesha's dream is to change attitudes to women in these countries by giving them fair pay for the work they do. In the last couple of years, with the exposure of shocking slave labour to produce the cheap products we buy in droves in the West, the fashion industry has had a lot to answer for and with the public's increasing demand to know where an item of clothing has come from and that the worker has been paid a fair wage, Ayesha's business venture couldn't have come at a better time.
Each company which Ayesha represents is hand picked to ensure high quality garments, made ethically and that fit with her concept. Each piece is then produced to order so each one is completely unique.
Currently Fashion ComPassion represents two brands - Beshtar and Palestyle - and has now taken Bhalo and Lost City on board too. Beshtar is an exclusive design atelier of clothes and jewellery, made from materials sourced in Afghanistan. The fabrics and other products are hand made by skilled artisans, combining traditional methods with contemporary designs. The money raised by selling the pieces is donated to the Zaher Shah Foundation and other charities that help Afghan people by providing micro- finance, vocational training and employment opportunities.
Livia Firth wearing the Burka dress to Vogue's pre-Bafta dinnerPalestyle is a mix of high fashion with a traditional Palestinian flavour (distinct embroidery and warm Arabic culture). It encourages Palestinian refugee women in Jordon, Lebanon and Palestine to utilize their creative skills and embroidery heritage to benefit themselves and their families by giving them an income and a percentage of the revenue from sales.
Distinctive clutch bagsBhalo is not only an ethical brand but a green one too. Their women's clothing and accessories are hand woven using naturally dyed fabrics. They travel to rural villages in Bangladesh, for both sampling and production, where they work with a collective of local fair trade producers who manufacture using foot pedal powered machinery, hand loomed, chemical free cotton and hand printed silk.
The Shipbreaker dress and olive and violet gather round topLost City is a New York design house engaged in creating products that utilize vanishing crafts and dwindling livelihoods in third world cities throughout the world. Lucknow, India was once a thriving fashion city but due to the West's increasing demand for fast, cheap fashion, their art culture has almost disappeared. Lost City is now working with traditional embroiderers to produce fabric, pillow cases and most recently scarves and clutch bags.
The painstakingly hand sewn sequin clutch and scarfSince launching last year, Fashion ComPassion has already featured in Vogue, Grazia Middle East, The Observer, The Guardian amongst many more publications and the highly sought after Beshtar Burka dress was worn by Livia Firth (Colin Firth's wife) to Vogue's pre-Bafta dinner.
The collection will soon be available to buy on Ayesha's new website (the link I'll post on my blog when it launches) but for now it is only available to buy from events and fayres - see the Facebook and Twitter pages for more info on those. Alternatively, you can email Ayesha at info@fashioncompassion.co.uk to request a look book.
