Fashion with a conscience

Ayesha Mustafa, the founder of the online boutique Fashion ComPassion, is on a mission to make our shopping habits more socially minded.

Friendship Clutch: The multi-colored clutch symbolizes peace and friendship through the brass clasp made out of recycled bomb and bullets in the shape of two hands holding each other. The material is Show more

Tell us about the backstory of Fashion ComPassion.

We started in 2011 with the aim of bringing sustainable fashion to the mainstream global market. We wanted to create an awareness of conscious consumerism. So the Fashion ComPassion website basically has accessories with real stories behind them. And with sustainable products, you don’t make them in the thousands – but maybe 50s or 100s.

Explain what you mean by sustainable fashion accessories.

Sustainability is a very broad term and one angle is the focus on people – this is the socially responsible angle. The other focuses are on the planet and eco-friendly production. So sustainability is about producing fashion that is fair, good to both people and the environment. Social responsibility is more about people, working with and empowering communities with the skills they have in fashion and design.

What about the brands that you work with? Any success stories?

Our collaborations are with brands that have the possibility to expand and create a greater impact. One such brand is called 1701 — it’s a cooperative from Gujarat with about 3,500 women that’s been going since 1969. About 35 artisans have created a beautiful collection of wallets and folios and we’re introducing their products to the global market.

The ladies were so proud when we showed them the website and found out that their products would be sold abroad because their world is just a little village in India. Most of them will now be able to educate their children, pay for their medical needs and have an income they can live from.

What percentage of sales goes to the artisans?

Each case is different but often the cooperative offers us a set amount of the product for a certain price and we don’t bargain. It’s not information we normally share but, if we’re selling clutch bags for Dh309, it would cost about Dh173 to make it. So the majority of the money goes to the artisans. We’ve also partnered with the United Nations to help people in the developing world by donating US$5 (Dh18) for every product sold.

You feature a mix of emerging and established brands — are they equally popular and selling in similar measures?

Yes, and realistically, some of the products originally created by the artisans and the cooperatives were very handy-crafty. Nobody would have bought them in a fashion sense, which is why we’ve kept the crafts alive with modern design. To sell and repeat sell, the design was very important. The consumer looks for a beautiful product and something that satisfies their need. After that, the story of the artisans kicks in. Otherwise it’s just charity and I don’t want these people to live on charity because they have an art and a talent that they should be recognised for. So merging craft with high-end design to produce these products is the only way forward.

The site has some regional brands such as Palestyle and Farah Asmar. Are you looking for more from the Middle East?

Yes, I’m constantly on the look out for new brands and my recent trip to Dubai was to find out what was happening in the space. While Farah Asmar is not a sustainable designer, I happened to meet her at Fashion Forward in Dubai and we decided to come up with a socially responsible collection. Bradley Bags is another regional brand, where the products are made in Lebanon by a family of artisans.