why sustainable fashion?

some days we start production at 4am 😴

working in sustainable fashion is… hard work.

a lot of work.

there’s never a budget.

the fashion industry doesn’t provide incentives for sustainable production- or ethical production.

if you’re actually working in sustainable fashion beyond a green washing marketing- you’ll know all too well how challenging it is.

i had no idea that all my years of leading nonprofits would be a direct transferable skill- ha! you really do have to turn water into wine, and you’re competing (are we?) against the giant brands that spend 10 cents per garment to produce and with millions in marketing budgets to win the attention of customers.

but we love it.

we’re working hard as a tiny team to make sustainable fashion worthwhile for our customers.

in a world where choices are plentiful- choosing to make our footprint just a little bit smaller in our ecosystem is what we nerd out on.

Choosing ethical production- paying livable wages and supporting and sustaining local fabric cutters and sourcing from deadstock from local fabric vendors is important to me. 🫶🏾

i love that i get to work alongside incredible women everyday. the camaraderie that we have in a world of scarcity feels special. i’ve never felt more inspired.

i also for the first time in my life/ have never been asked to conform. to tone it down.

it’s the first time i have been able to be myself- and not be critiqued, ridiculed, told to conform. ever.

in fact- me- being me, is kind of sort of part of my job.

the pay is terrible. of course.

the hours are long.

we have to create from constraints everyday.

but i have never felt more free or more respected than when i am working with women who want to change their life through clothes.

women who want a change- visually or are tired of what the marketplace currently provides.

that has been the best experience. ever.

just a snippet of a typical day at BAACAL.

there’s an unspoken luxury about knowing the people who made the clothes you wear.

that has now become my biggest luxury in fashion.