RE: THE CONVERSATION IN MANARA'S FLICKR

Sorry that the majority of this post is written without proper capital letters etc but it stems from a comment I was going to leave on one of Manara's pictures - but didn't cause it was veering off topic a bit.





it is a shame that people have to go for cost instead of being given the opportunity to choose ethically. a lot of this is just driven by the business of the stores people shop in. i was in cos the other day - which i have to prelude by saying i never went in there before but was just checking it out after philippa said it was nice to see me in some non-vintage clothes one night [lol] and i noted that all the garments were made out of the same cotton sateen fabric [like a standard flat cotton.]

organic ethically produced sateen is not a stock fabric, it needs to be ordered and woven specifically for a buyer. the minimums for the fabric are like 10,000 metres or some crazy shit like like that - and this is in a colour called greige - prepared to be dyed. then you can get that 10,000 dyed into different colours [whatever the dying minimums are] but this cost prohibitive for even the most dedicated independent designer. but for a store like cos with some of the range made from the same fabric AND part of the H&M group which could also use this fabric, 10,000 is actually nothing to the fabric consumption to a company like that. what i am trying to say is it would just take a few high street stores to change their mind about what fabric they use and create a demand for it and turn it into a stock fabric and make it cheaper for everyone to be able to use it.

As for the pictures, suffice to say I left empty handed.

xx Lektrogirl

POST SWISS DELAY

Man and I'm looking for the chocolate rush! After having to cut my part of the trip short I was kind of glad when I was darting around Migros picking up all the Swiss essentials: Weisswurst, Roesti, Deodorant, Supermarklet chocolate. 3.90 CHF for three bars of choclate better than you ever new. Anyway - I've been totally tired so sorry for not reporting back with all the details a bit sooner.

The trip was for work - the Distributor for Katharine Hamnett was showing us around Zurich and a few towns in the south of Germany to show us which doors he is thinking about for the brand. I'm Sales Manager so it is my job to know that someone like Christoph has the same ideas that we do.


So yep, Christoph really knows wassup. He knows a good sausage when he sees one and I'm happy to know that too.

So the first shop he showed us is WINK.

Wink is the store owned by one of his agents who sells the Katharine Hamnett brand in Zurich. Wink is an organic and fair trade store - but it doesnt smell of lentils. It really is a great store. I was trying on some Spring Courts there in bronze leather and heart broken when they on ly had my size in black. If you are in Zurich you should definitely check it out.

die zukunft beginnt jetzt
wink ist ein fashionstore in zürich der es sich zum ziel gesetzt hat, modisches bewusstsein mit den attributen „organic“ und „fair trade“ in einklang zu bringen.

wink zielt darauf ab, neben herkömmlich produzierter mode, das angebot an „organic“ und „fair trade“ kollektionen stetig auszubauen.

wink trifft den zeitgeist, denn bewusstes konsumieren ist kein widerspruch sondern gesunder menschenverstand.

wink wagt den spagat zwischen bewusstsein und verantwortung durch «fair trade» und «organic» auf der einen und coolen styles und edelster trendwear auf der anderen seite.

wink verkauft fashion für wache ästheten, die sich modisch nicht einengen, aber sich bewusst sind, was sie tragen

Here is the link to Wink. And on the same street are a load of other stores a tourist might want to check out PLUS The Zuri Bar and I can't even remeber the name of the place that I ened up with Christoph at 1 in the morning drinking beers, listening to Guns and Roses and Black Sabbath reading our Astrology from the paper. I had to refuse the free Jagermeister. So not like me. Oh! TIKI BAR I think. But nothing like Trader Vics... More like The Intrepid Fox when it was still on Wardour Street.

Oh and if you want to know more about my new best friend Christoph Dahn, you should check out his blog GoodTrueBeautiful German only - but maybe for you Deutsche peeps who are interested in organic / bio / environmental / ethical fashion stuff check here. Also, Christoph is the fashion export for this amazing new german website called Utopia

Okay so that is all the fashion stuff over LETS GET ONTO THE GOOD PART - THE FOOD!!
Basically you can eat trash off the pavement Switzerland is SOOOO clean. But don't - there is so much amazing food served on a plate you wouldn't need to get desperate there. For dinner that evening Christoph and I were the guests of Daniel who's parter is the Swiss agent / owner of Wink, and Daniel runs a company with 9 restaurants around Zurich - all different and if they are all as good as Toto where I went then OMG Zurich has a food bomb dropped on them. Toto was INCREDIBLE.

www.ristorante-toto.ch
Don't be put off by the dudes in suits in the first picture on the site - there were loads of cool people there too - I wasn't the only one wearing jeans. You get me?


Starter


Daniel


Christoph [New Zealand lamb! I secretly wanted to sneak a piece but as it was a work thing...]


Emma [veal with wine risotto. DELICIOUS]

Katharine wasn't feeling great that night, so we got a chance to talk about stuff other than business and I got to learn the mystery of the straw man with the exploding head ceremony of the craftsmens guilds, two more ways to get out of compulsory military service and well there was some business stuff - about how the guys both like to work and think about their businesses. The best part was when we got to talking about blogging and stuff though!! Thanks to Daniel and Christoph for a great evening!! Come to London!!

So, it is time I got ready for work. Here is a nice tourist shot of the Limmat at night as we walked into town.


Everything in this picture is a Christmas chocolate or dried fruit. I love this place. The windows are intense!


And the end of the night - me drunk and happy in bed wearing my old Shopgirl Babycham pyjamas.


xx Lektrogirl

GRIME FASHION REPORT

Seems there are big changes on the street. Big news that big knits really hit the big time and even Jammer was trying to give away his hoodie. A lot.

The other night I went down to Cargo and whooped it up on the whiskey sours with Raggatha Christy and took the opportunity to cast my expert eye over the Ruff Sqwad.


Rapid, FudaGuy and Slix.

Rapid is really a Yacht Rock guy and only a few steps away from joining Duran Duran on Simon Le Bon's boat. Slix dresses like he kind of is, but his shoes look like an indi boy. FudaGuy... Cap is a little bit 8-Ball Lucky Strike with the embroidered dice, but I guess he is big on the stitches with the hat like that, the embroidered Pink Panther on the knee and the ICE-B embroidery on the pocket.

See - ICE B

I'm really not into these jeans and even less into his pants. They look really cheap and nasty and infact, the entire outfit could have been bought at Camden market.
At the next Ruff Sqwad gig I have half a mind to present Fuda Guy with a selection of new undies. I am opposed to so much hanging out, for real. Imagine if he does a sloppy fart or something! FudaGuy could to be painted with the Ginuwine brush for example - Versace undies would be great. I am thinking that maybe Vilebrequin in the Moorea traditional boxer short cut would be great if FudaGuy really wanted to go round with his bum out. Vilebrequin also do incredible cotton boxers embroidered with strawberries or bees [if a girlfriend buys you these, she is a keeper.] About 2000 times better that Polo. Finally another option could be from Clone Zone on Old Compton Street. I know it is a Gayer shop and the pants are for Gays but the brand is called XTG - almost like XTC - YGM??!!



Here is Scholar who I am deeply in love with. He wears the coolest sunglasses and he has a beautiful smile. A big smile fixes everything. But sadly he is wearing one of those rotton t-shirts. I don't think much of all the slogan t's rolling around the East End these days. These ones in particular are pretty painful because I am almost certain that they aren't made from organic cotton. Conventional cotton - like the cotton used in these bulk t's that printers supply you cost them .70p each - represents 10% of world agriculture and uses 25% of the world's pesticides. 20,000 people die every year from accidental pesticide poisoning in conventional cotton agriculture. I can also be pretty sure that the inks on those garments are not water based inks and probably contain PVC.

Now Scholar is hiding in shame cause his t-shirt is so wrong and FudaGuy is suffering from all the chemicals and pesticide residue in his t-shirt.

[if people are really interested in looking for better quality (better in quality because they are better for the environment) for printing on, you should contact me and i can maybe get you a hook up. no time wasters.]


Here is Slix up close.
The Wikipedia Handerchief guide says that a black bandana means the wearer is into heavy S&M Pain and wants to whip others (if worn on left); wants to be whipped (if worn on right). Ah so Slix, what you into?!!

And forget about Claire's Accessories, this is Slix Accessories.


Rapid really wipes the floor with the rest of Ruff Sqwad in the fashion stakes, smart, clean, sexual. Look at Slix little fat face here - he looks like one of the Fat Boys! So check this:

YACHT ROCK!! WOO HOO!! So beautiful. Deano from Real Gold was also wearing some of these last night and I noticed that they are Clarks. Personally I would get the Sperry Top Sider from Zappo's OR the Rockport Bridgesport for guys and Sebago Docksides for women.


What is in the bag though? From the bump in the side it could contain a tampon, lipgloss or a battery. Cardinal suggested it looks like a bag for a travel hair dryer. Nicely unwashed denim vibes. Totally Hard Yakka early '90s vibe. Though of course, all that Hard Yakka stuff that came out over here and got worn by Oasis was all fake. Hard Yakka [and tougher it'd rust] is made for jackroos in the Australian Outback. Where it is fucking hot. A sheepskin lines denim jacket just did not exist. Until workwear was cool over here and everything got faked up.

xx Lektrogirl

I'M IN LOVE

Teki from TTC is totally sexual in the most completely spiritual way.
Here he is in a XL Katharine Hamnett slogan LOVE t-shirt. Buy yours here.

MORE CLOTHES

If you ask me how a t-shirt gets made, I can tell you a gang of different ways now. I can tell you about organic cotton. I can tell you about soil association approved printing. I can tell you about discharge prints and super blue. I can tell you about different types of construction. Different weights of jersey. Compact Spun. Enzyme wash. India. Peru. But at the end of the day, unless you want to make t-shirts I guess it is pretty boring. I've been wearing the same four t-shirts to death lately - three I bought in Paris and one I got from the rag bag at work. Oh and a CHOOSE LIFE tshirt from the rag bag that I prefer to wear inside out for some reason.


The only downer with this reprint t-shirt from Katharine Hamnett's archive is that people keep yelling "Hey YOU!" at me. Apparently this t-shirt is misprint. Very few come back as misprints with Katharine Hamnett slogan t-shirts cause the printers are so good. Urban Outfitters are stocking this colour way. A lot of people have asked me already where to get them from. On the Katharine Hamnett website we will have them on yellow t's with black and hot pink with a discharge print [very pale pink] for sale by Wednesday.


There are no down sides to this t-shirt. This is the Teki Latex t-shirt I bought. PLEASE NOTE TEKI - I BOUGHT THIS!!! This t-shirt is like totally booyah all over the place.

Then I also got a Gasius t-shirt that looks like and infinate fill pattern mixed with ghosts. I don't have any pictures of that and it is in the machine right now. The other one I keep wearing says "French Flair" on it with a retarded little man who looks lie a French version of The Little Chef. That is in the machine too.

So here are some videos of the songs I played at Roxy's Blonde vs Brunettes party the other night.
Cameo: Word Up

There is also not a bad word that can be said about this song.

Outkast: Ghettomusick

There are DEFINITELY a lot of sexual men in that video. I'll get my people to me in touch with their people.

Inner City: Big Fun

Can't complain.

Then I nearly choked myself laughing at the quality of my photoshop skills for my friend Ramiro.





Actually I feel a bit sick looking at them now cause he isn't like that at all.

xx Lektrogirl

Top 100 Ethical Heros

Hey dudes! From today's New Consumer http://www.newconsumer.com/views/item/2726

Wendy Martin writes
They've worked tirelessly for the past five years to make our shopping greener and fairer. Some of the names you'll never have heard before, while others are already mega celebs.
But, together, these are the people who we think have made the biggest contribution to ethical consumption over the half decade. They are our Top 100 Ethical Heroes:

1. Katharine Hamnett Fashion Designer [My boss!]
2. Anita Roddick Previously Body Shop
3. Harriet Lamb Fairtrade Foundation
4. Al Gore Campaigner
5. Jonathan Porritt Campaigner
6. Tony Juniper Friends of the Earth
7. Patrick Holden Soil Association
8. Caroline Lucas Politician
9. Stuart Rose M&S
10. Tim Mead Yeo Valley Organics

And the rest [in order] but my cut and paste didn't take the numbers:
Craig Sams Green & Black's
Penny Newman Cafédirect
Yvon Chouinard Patagonia
George Monbiot Journalist
Peter Melchett Soil Association
Naomi Klein Author
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall River Cottage
Wangari Maathai Activist / politician
HRH Prince of Wales Duchy Originals
Bob Geldof Activist
Sophi Tranchell Divine Chocolate
Richard Reed Innocent Smoothies
Jerry Greenfield Ben & Jerry's
Paul Chandler Traidcraft
Vandava Shiva Activist
Safia Minney People Tree
Noreena Hertz Journalist
Mark Constantine Lush
Jeffrey Sachs Author
John Elkington SustainAbility
Juliet Davenport Good Energy
Tim Smit Eden Project
Dale Vince Ecotricity
Leonardo DiCaprio Celebrity
Barbara Stocking Oxfam
Simon Ferrigno Pesticide Action Network
Rupert Howes Marine Stewardship Council
Carlo Petrini Slow Food
Mohammad Yunus Grameen Bank
Brad Hill The Co-op
Ecover Eco brand
Dan Rees Ethical Trading Initiative
Ashok Sinha Stop Climate Chaos
Andrew Simms New Economics Foundation
Deron Beal Freecycle.com
Morgan Spurlock Supersize me
Romy Fraser Neal's Yard
The Hyiatts Howies
Penney Poyzner TV presenter
Carolyn Whitwell Bishopston Trading
William Lana Green Fibres
Abi and Thomas Petit Gossypium
Kumi Naidoo Activist
Jo & Julian Spector Natural Collection
Bill Dunster Green architect
Ali Hewson Edun
Anya Hindmarch Fashion Designer
Graham Hill Treehugger.com
Dick Strawbridge TV presenter
Stella McCartney Fashion Designer
Alistair Sawday Sawday publishing
Lucy Siegle Journalist
Sarah Ratty Ciel
Joanna Blythman Author
Andy Good Equal Exchange
Herbert Girardet Green architect
Ella Heeks Abel & Cole
Felicity Laurence Author
Guy Watson Riverford Organics
Hass Hassan Fresh & Wild
Renee Eliot Planet Organic
Jamie Oliver Chef
Jenny Ambrose Enamore
Nick Pecorelli Hug
Roy Scott One Village
Tamsin Le Jeune Ethical Fashion Forum
Carry Somers Pachacuti
Sienna Miller Celebrity
Bono Red Campaign
Rev Billy The Church of Stop Shopping
Galahad Clark Terraplana
Ali Clabburn Liftshare.com
Clean Clothes Campaign and Labour Behind the Label Campaigners
David Cameron Politician
Keeley Hazell Glamour Model
Tricia Burnett Tourism Concern
Charles Middleton Triodos
Geetie Singh Duke of Cambridge
Jill Baker Green Baby
Maria Chenoweth-Casey Traid
Tescopoly Campaigners
Centre for Alternative Technology Campaigners
Jeremy Piercey Shared Earth
British Association of Fairtrade Shops Campaigners
Charles Clover Author
Daryl Hannah Celebrity
Colin Mace Booja-Booja
Georgina Down Campainger
Woody Harrelson Celebrity
Kalle Lasn Buy Nothing Day
Now, it's over to you - let us know in the comments who you think we missed out, who we got right and who we got wrong.
Look out for an expanded feature on these heroes soon. Our Top 100 was compiled using a set of criteria including viability, influence, quality, sustainability and authenticity.

And one of the comments:
Katharine Hamnett is a fantastic choice as number one. She has been tirelessly campaigning for ethical and environmental practices in the fashion industry for the last 17 years and now thankfully people are finally starting to sit up and pay attention to what she is saying and DOING.

As a student studying in the area, I was deeply upset after reading the ‘Clean Up or Die’ essay on her website to learn that 20,000 people die from accidential pesticide poisioning a year(WHO) and something like 200,000 farmers commit suicide annually due to debt they get into for buying pesticides to grow conventional cotton(PAN)… and that is just the beginning of the humanitarian and environmental devestation that is a direct result of the fashion industry.

It was a shocking realisation as a fashion lover and consumer that I, along with every other consumer, am indirectly responsible for all of this because I buy conventional cotton products and had never considered the environmental and ethical impact of the clothes I buy. Thankfully people like Katharine are blowing the whistle on unethical industry practices and providing a positive alternative by making fashionable clothing that is made as environmentally as possible (even her zips are made from organic zip tape and recycled steel teeth!!).

The clothing & textiles industry needs to start taking a long-hard look at how she does business as it has the potential to help millions of farmers trade their way out of poverty. Organic cotton is a key solution to the problems she highlights.

We as consumers need to stop and think. We need to eduate ourselves and then take responsibility as there are positive, good quality alternatives now. And for consumers whom the price arguement comes to mind she has also done a line of clothing for Tesco, that is produced under her strict environmental and ethical policies. It may be Tesco but we have to affect change somehow and start somewhere. No company is 100% perfect and an entire industry will never be revolutionised overnight. It will be an evolutionary process and it is people like Katharine who have such strict policies and ideals that will drive this change.

If you do one thing today go on to her website and read the ‘Clean Up or Die’ essay http://www.katharinehamnett.com. It changed my whole outlook on how I consume fashion.
---------

AWESOME!

And just FYI my life in September is looking pretty glamourous - I will be at PRET A PORTER PARIS, LONDON FASHION WEEK and maybe WHITE in Milan! I never went to Italy.

xx Lektrogirl

Organic Cotton

It is always hard trying to explain to other people what it is I do at work - and what is so cool about working for Katharine Hamnett. Well my 5 year old nephew got it really easy when I explained it to him as being healthy for the earth - he didn't accuse me of a being a lezza hippy. I am by no means a hippy. Though I have been called Earth Mother before by Lu weed... but I think that was more to do with a weird outfit I had on... anyway - so this was made in the studio recently:



This YouTube video pretty much explains what organic cotton is all about. Katharine only uses organic fibres producing her garments and in particular cotton.

There is also this great short movie by the Environment Justice Foundation about where cotton comes from.



xx Lektrogirl