Consumer guide

Advertising and marketing

Clothes and other fashion items are much more than pieces of clothing or an accessory. They are part of the story we tell our surroundings about who we want to be and how we want to be seen. Fashion companies spend a lot of money on positioning themselves in this jungle of storytelling. Guess what: You have a lot of power in keeping them on their toes!

If you have an opinion about something a company does in their marketing or sales process; tell them! It could be anything from what type of bags or packaging they use, to how they communicate CSR with you as a customer. Check their internetpages (all fashion labels have one), and if you find something you want to share an opinion on, there will most certainly be an email address you can use to contact them. Demand an answer! Since most people do not take the time to contact a company, they will most certainly think that your thoughts are shared by many others, and they may even act on your thoughts.

We are always looking for new ways to try to tread more carefully

The following story from Norway can be of inspiration. In the small town of Drammen, some years back, a young girl reacted to a campaign launched by Cola Light where they started a diet competition (how dumb can you get?). She got the local newspaper to write about it, and guess what: The campaign was pulled. Getting the media on your side helps, of course - but one person can make a diffrence!

Some companies are more honest than others, if you check out the homepages for Howies, a Welsh sports company, you will find an example of how this can be communicated quite candid by admitting many of the obstacles that face a manufacturer. They admit to being far from perfect, and write as follows:

"These products have been made to last. So that one day you can hand them down to someone else. And they can carry on their little journeys. We live in times of limited resources but unlimited desire to consume them. The answer though is real simple: to consume less as a consumer; to make a better designed product as a manufacturer. Going forward we will have to take more responsibility for our consumption. The manufacturer and the consumer will both have to share that responsibility. (...) We are always looking for new ways to try to tread more carefully. Because that is what we set out to do: to try and run this business in a low as impact way as we can. If you have any ideas on how we can do it better, we are all ears."