Social Business and Slow Fashion

Social Business and Slow Fashion

Social Business and Slow Fashion may sound just like trendy catch phrases, but they should be important terms to any Conscious Consumer and they are intrinsically part of who Lotus Tribe is. In fact, Lotus Tribe Clothing was founded on both the Social Business model and Slow Fashion ideologies, but what does that actually mean?

What is Social Business?

Social Business is a term and concept that was coined by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and it is now being taught in Economics courses at universities globally. Social Businesses are created to address specific social problems and designed to help solve them. Socially responsible companies take their impact into consideration above their profit margin. They operate with a business model that includes social change and embraces their own responsibilities; from their environmental footprint, to the actual people involved in the manufacturing process. The big picture is woven right in to the fabric of the company. 

Slow Fashion Vs. Fast Fashion

Slow Fashion manufacturing is an ideology that promotes respect for the environment, animals and human well being- It advocates for fair treatment, fair wages and good working conditions. The use of sustainable, natural fabrics and conscious consumerism are highly encouraged.

Fast Fashion is a business model that tries to create clothing as quickly and cheaply as possible, with profit as the main goal and total disregard for the impact this process has on the planet and its inhabitants. Fast Fashion produces high levels of 'disposable' clothing that is poorly made, resulting in 92 million tons of clothing waste each and every year. Unfortunately, unless specifically stated otherwise, most fashion is Fast Fashion. For the conscious consumer, supporting Slow Fashion is an obvious choice.

Lotus Tribe's Slow Fashion & Social Business practices:

In our efforts to be the change we want to see in the world, we:  

-Minimize microplastics in the environment by using natural, plant-based fabrics for all of our clothing. (Synthetic fabric clothing leeches microplastics every time they're washed, polluting the environment and our bodies in a wide variety of ways.)

-Ship all of our orders in plastic free packaging that is reusable, compostable and recyclable, thus reducing the amount of plastic packaging in landfills and the world.

-Plant one tree for every item you buy through our partnership with TreeSisters (a wonderful UK registered social change and reforestation charity), thus supporting feminine leadership and reforestation projects globally.

-All of our products are hand-made with love by artisans from around the globe. This helps support their traditional art forms and lifestyles, all while being paid fair living wages.

-Promise to regularly review our procedures and commit to updating anytime we can improve.

Final Thoughts-

We are dedicated to the health of Mother Earth and all of its inhabitants. With this goal in mind, we commit to utilizing eco-friendly practices, Social Business objectives and Slow Fashion principles. We created the brand that we want to shop from, a brand that offers comfortable clothing for everybody (and every body), at a price point that is affordable, all the while helping prevent deforestation and reducing microplastic pollution.

Thank YOU for supporting small, social businesses that practice slow fashion; and most of all, thank you for caring about the Earth, your personal impact and for using your purchase power to do good in the world.