With Black Friday around the corner, we’re about to face a weekend – no, month – full of shopping madness. Well, not for us. Oue products always have a fair price. We never give discount. Not during sale season, not on Black Friday. Instead of supporting a system that is all about greed and overconsumption, we choose to give back a little extra. 20% of our Black Friday proceeds will directly be donated to the local heroes of the food bank in our hometown, Utrecht. We’ll tell you why.
The dark side of Black Friday’s race to the bottom
Together, all around the world, we buy 100.000.000.000 pieces of clothing EACH year. This number has doubled in the last 15 years. However, we are wearing our clothes much less – about 36% less on average and even fewer in Western countries – and as easily as we buy new stuff, we throw away our clothes. Our generation is known to toss clothing away twice as likely compared to older generations because we think it’s ‘unfashionable’ or we are just into something new. “But we are recycling, right?”, is what we hear a lot. It might seem like recycling is becoming the norm, but sadly enough 73% of all clothes still ends up in landfills or is incinerated and only 13% is repurposed. Only 1% of the discarded clothing is actually reused into new clothing (Ellen Macarthur).
The system of ‘fast consuming’ sounds amazing to many people, but it has a pretty huge dark side. Black Friday is a low point in the fashion industry: even before the winter season starts, almost all brands choose to devalue their products, just like that. This bizarre system creates a stranglehold for entrepreneurs who feel compelled to also offer a discount. The result is that the loss of profit has to be recouped somewhere in the supply chain. We all know that the weakest links in the chain have to pay the highest price: the makers and the planet. There are currently around 40 million people working in the garment industry, under dreadful circumstances. They have to work excessive overtime hours for extremely low wages in insecure factories. As long as we’re not willing to fair a fair price, they will take the hit. Where does this end? Someone has to push the brakes.
We stand for a business model without seasonal collections, sales and Black Friday
Good thing: it’s possible to turn things around. Ever since we started in 2000, we have been fighting non-stop for a better fashion system that is fair to everyone in the chain. A system in which consumers are willing to pay a fair price for their clothes and products don’t just go on sale because “that is just the time of year.” A system that puts people first.
We proudly stand for making beautiful products that remain in our collection for years. Due to our focus on timeless design, we’re not forced to join the sale madness. Our business model is designed around valuing our makers, using environmentally friendly materials and always searching for ways day to do things even more sustainable. We are completely transparent and you can trust us in always paying everyone in the chain a fair price. We really want to prove that things can be done differently. No excuses or compromises. Ideals first. Always.
Why we donate 20% of our Black Friday profits directly to the food bank
Like we said: you won’t notice a price difference on our Pure Goods on Black Friday. Of course, we’d love you to buy something from us, but only if you could use it and are in love with it. On a day that revolves around taking as much as possible, we want to turn things around and give something extra to people who really need it. That’s why we will donate 20% of our Black Friday sales directly to the food bank heroes of our hometown, Utrecht.
It breaks our hearts to see how tense the pressure on the local food banks is at the moment. Due to the corona crisis, the food banks have to provive 8,5% more people for their basic food needs than last year. Due to economic recession, the expected wave of bankruptcy and the rapidly rising unemployment rate, food banks are preparing for further increases. To be able to provide all families with enough food, they could need our help. You can also make a direct donation here.
Let’s turn around the system, directly or indirectly. Let’s pay a fair price and treat people right, no matter what the system tells us to. It’s not that hard 🙂