What is Purpose-Driven Fashion?
[00:00:00] Hey friend, real quick before we start today's episode. So if you are someone who has always wanted to start a fashion brand, I Have a special resource for you. You guys know, I love giving away free goodies and today I have the fashion sort of checklist, which is our guide for a successful launch. And this is basically going to note down every component that you need to start your line. So it's going to be like a nice little blueprint, so you can see each step that's going to come next in the process. Of you starting your fashion brand.
So you're going to want to get your hands on this. It's super useful and it's just so nice to have everything laid out for you because sometimes you just don't even know where to start. Right. And so I want you guys to get your hands on this free resource. As usual you can go to make good fashion.com. Slash fashion startup. Or check the show notes. I'll Have the link in the show notes. And you can download it for free there
Jasmine: welcome to Make Good Fashion, the podcast that's all about starting, launching, and growing impactful fashion brands. [00:01:00] I'm your host, Jasmine Rennie.
Hey friends. Welcome back to make good fashion. So glad to be back here with you for another episode of the podcast. I hope you guys are all doing well.. We are getting into the year and getting into the swing of things. And so on today's episode, I wanted to talk about purpose driven fashion and like what that actually is.
I talk about that all the time and why that that's so important to me and why it should be important to you to. I've been working in the fashion industry for 13 years. So I have seen it all when it comes to brands, brands who, , are on the higher end of things, street wear brands. I've worked for them all.
And so. You know, you come across a lot of things, a lot of amazing, beautiful designs and a lot of innovative. Collections and all of these things, but the one thing that has always moved me and the fashion industry are brands that are doing things with a purpose. You [00:02:00] know, a lot of times it can it can feel so vain working in an industry that just pumps out. Clothing season after season trying to stay on top of trends. Getting rid of things that are not on trend and it can be very wasteful and very vain. But when I come across a brand that is doing something with purpose, it really draws me in because it becomes more than. Just about the clothes. There is a greater mission behind it. And to know that when you are purchasing a product or when you are wearing a product. And you are standing for something. That is greater than yourself, or you were providing opportunities for people or whatever the mission may be. It feels really good to do that. And. Not only from. The perspective of a brand creating that, but also the consumer getting to purchase that and B buy into that story and be a part of that is so special. I remember. A couple of years ago, I was at [00:03:00] this. Conference for moms, this moms conference. And my brand was actually one of the brands invited to pop up at this conference. One of the other brands that was there and this was a jewelry brand was called 31 bits. And went over to their booth because of course I'm just drawn to jewelry and I want to shop and spend money when it's not necessary.
But. I began to speak to. One of their brand representatives and she just began to tell me how their brand came about and how. For every piece of jewelry that is created. It's created by a woman in Uganda, and it's providing her with an education, not only an education, but with a job, and so they had all these initiatives to, to help these women become independent and self-sufficient and to care for their families and all of these things.
And it was just so amazing too. Hear that story. And to know that when I was purchasing one of those [00:04:00] products that I am. You know, supporting that and.
And I love brands that do things like this because it makes this industry feel worth it, you know, obviously as humans we're going to have to. To wear clothing. So there is a purpose for clothing in general. But I think that as the years go on and more resources become available and more people start to start their brands you'll see a lot of things in the market that again are very trend based and that, you know, are not sustainable and that are coming in and out of fashion. And so when I think about purpose driven fashion, I just want to further that mission of. Creating things, not only creating things with purpose. But opening that space for people to use their gifts and talents and their God given purpose to create fashion.
And instead of doing things with no rhyme or reason, just because it's fun and you're creative and you want to throw things out on [00:05:00] market.
And so if you are someone who is like wanting to start a brand and you want to infuse mission and purpose into that, one place to start is really to think about the things that you're passionate about, the things that set your soul on fire. Maybe missions that you w you want to support, or maybe a people group that you want to serve. I have a need in the market that you want to serve.
These are all things to think about. You know, people do this in different ways. So I talk about adaptive fashion, serving people with disabilities. Or sustainable fashion, you know, your purpose is. Creating a better planet or fashion that gives back. Creating fashion. That's going to give back to an organization and any type of way. So we see this with Tom shoes where it's a buy one, give one program. Whenever you buy a pair of Tom shoes, they give one back.
And I actually know this to be true because I went on a mission trip to Haiti, a couple of years back, and all the little kids had Tom shoes on and it made me smile because I'm like, you hear [00:06:00] about it, you hear their initiatives, but to actually see it and actually see it in action, making a difference. Is really special. It can also look like. Providing jobs, you know, just like I was talking about with the 31, but story. There's other brands that do that too, where they employ a disenfranchised people group. And, or it provide jobs for, you know, survivors of domestic violence, like all of those count as purpose, your bin brands.
And so when coming up with this concept of make good fashion and really wanting to inspire. You too. To do fashion in this way. This was the inspiration behind it, creating a better world through fashion. And we can do this with any industry. Right. Just making it more meaningful. And so, yeah, I just wanted to talk about that today to inspire and throw those ideas out and. You know, for those of you who, again, are looking to start, that you would consider. Making this a part of the things that you create and it doesn't have to be done [00:07:00] on this large scale where, you know, you have to, you feel like you need to go to another country then. Manufacturer with artists and to provide jobs for artisans
you can start small, right. And that can be like maybe giving back. 10% of your sales, or, you know, maybe that's not feasible for you right now, as you start, maybe that looks like, allowing. Your customers at checkout to make their purchase carbon neutral. Whatever that may be. I want you to really consider that what can you do to make this fashion landscape better.
How can you bring. Impact into our industry, even in the smallest way. For me when I started my brand, my purpose was really infused with my faith. You know, I had. Been dressing really revealingly in the years. Prior to starting my brand and it kind of my purpose behind that was really to get attention for myself.
And I was kind of in this place where I was lost and, you know, seeking love and attention in all the wrong ways. And that really was expressed through the way that I dressed. [00:08:00] And so I had this encounter with God where, you know, really changed my life and started living my life for Jesus. And that led me on a trajectory of wanting to dress more modestly.
I think that was an area that God really pointed out for me. And it was really important for me because of the lifestyle I had come from. And. I needed to know that my worth was not valued in. Dressing Lee or leading with my body or anything like that. And I wanted to start dressing more modestly and I didn't want to do it in a legalistic way where. I felt like, you know, I had to cover it, be covered from my neck to my toes.
I just wanted to honor my body and like, you know, Not have everything out all the time. And so from this, that led me to creating the concept for my brand, which was creating a brand that, that celebrated modesty in the way that wasn't restrictive. But allowed it allowed women to celebrate who they were.
And do so in a [00:09:00] way that was tasteful, but also fashion forward and allowed them to express their personal style. And so. In doing this, it came, it was derived out of my personal testimony, but also it solved this problem in. Fill this need for people who want us to do the same thing. And aside from that, it didn't stop there.
I also wanted to make sure that the brand was ethically made and that we gave back. And I wanted to include all of these components that. We're important to me. So we've been giving back to an organization called life impact international. And that was important to me because this is an organization that I've worked with before. And they rescue women and children from human trafficking.
And so it's just been such a blessing to be able to give back to this organization. You know, we've done. A thousand and something, 1,900, I think, transactions of donations to them. Since we have started, I think a little more than that. And then. Also with the ethical component, being able to, you [00:10:00] know, use better materials that are better for our planet and not only for our planet, but for people.
And so. Those are ways that I infuse pat my purpose and mission into the brand that I created. And so all that to say, I just wanted to share all of this to inspire you. And I want you to just get your gears going and start thinking, like, how can I do that? How can I create a business that's aligned with my values and that. I can infuse my personal story with, and that I can serve other people with. We need to see more of these brands moving forward and less brands creating waste. And disposable fashion that is just filling up landfills. And is. . Causing people to over consume. And so I hope that you will be a part of this movement and creating more fashion with purpose and with meaning.
Love you guys. Make sure to leave a five-star review. And share this episode with anyone that you think it may inspire or be helpful [00:11:00] to you see you next time.
