Style and sustainability
Current mood: blissful

is it possible to do everything I want to do ina lifetime? No probably not which is why I am trying to streamline my  (net) life.

I am in the midst of sampling the first ready to wear collection of Moksa Surya - surya being the Sanskrit word for sun. It's going to be " mass" produced in a limited edition of one hundred of each of 14 pieces. So while it isn't quite the Gap, it's still big...well for little ol' me.

It's an exciting time, I am using material that is only organic and ethically produced which also adhere to the principles of Fair Trade and it's a street-wear collection of denim and cotton pieces that can be dressed up with the Peace silk and heavily embellished garments within the core collection. Its inspired by henna designs and vintage tattoo flashes and the Tree of Life.  To do the embellishment we are using (paid for ) labour from within the UK prison system and also disenfranchised groups such as homeworkers who cannot go to work in factories because of their culture. There are literally hundreds of accomplished Bengali women in and around London who have been laid off or cannot find work and we are giving them work on a piecework basis.

I want to keep the good and the green ethics flowing in the chain  from the design of the garment to the production and to the end user. If we produce good and affect people's lives in a positive way, I think there's cosmic karma that brings it back again.

Have also been finishing the business plan for Moksa which has really made me focus in on what it important and what I want to maintain in my life and my work. The partnership with Simon Parchment ended rather badly, Simon wants to see his name in Swarovski on everything we did  and thinks that clothes are only for celebrities. I want slow fashion, to be worn by real women, sturdy, handmade lovingly embellished pieces which enhance the identity of the wearer not  my brand or my reflected image of myself. Fashion is such an effective tool for change...think about Katherine Hamnett and those amazing silk parachute Tees in the 80s and the more recent clothing boycotts of the super discounted and cheap stores. The consumer is more educated and isn't comfortable in the £3 pair of jeans or the Coach bag  made by 12 year olds in the Third World who are paid pennies a day. The Fashion brands can't feign ignorance anymore, the world has become too small and we share a global soul.

I am blogging about my experience in putting this collection,  for Spring Summer 2009  here

 http://moksalondon.blogspot.com/

see you on the other side!

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