It’s always fun when you show up at a party and see people you know. But for me, it’s equally as fun when I show up at a party and see people I don’t know wearing clothes or jewelry I know. Of course, I’m referring to party-goers wearing Mata! That’s what happened to me recently at my friends Mark and Roshani‘s place. They were hosting a fundraiser for a new organization called The Center for Workplace Democracy. It was a rockin’ party, and I nearly flipped out when I saw both the Monarch earrings and the Arbor skirt there, too!
Ethical Fashion Blog
My mom was in Baltimore visiting my aunt recently and they popped into Milagro, one of the cutest shops on the eastern seaboard. Milagro (meaning miracle in Spanish) specializes in unique, globally-inspired pieces from Baltimore and around the world.
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Hillary Clinton is thought of as a heroine to many women, but who are her heroines? One of them is Ela Bhatt, founder of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in India and one of the world’s most remarkable pioneers and entrepreneurial forces in grassroots development. Now over a million members strong, Bhatt formed SEWA in 1972 as a trade union for poor Indian women who make a living by selling vegetables, recycling trash, hand-rolling cigarettes and working in other marginal occupations.
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Going to any festivals this summer? You can count on Mata to have some of your must-have festival looks.
Mata Traders got its start in festival booths! So, being the veterans that they are,
Mata doesn’t disappoint when looking for festival gear (made from 100% cotton so you can breathe!).
Pig roast and potluck? BYOB? Patsy Cline cover band? These were some of my husband’s early suggestions for our wedding plans. A picnic affair he called it – I settled on ‘casual elegance.’ We went with open bar, affordable yet outstanding catering, Gatsby inspired attire, and yes, a Patsy Cline cover band. Guests couldn’t have been happier and we did it all with fair trade flair!
Get ready…
Our Fall ’12 collection is due to launch in stores mid-July and online early-August. We shot the catalog back in the first week in April, on a brisk day, traipsing the streets and alleys of Chicago. Now it’s 100 degrees here today, but perhaps a behind the scenes look at the Fall ’12 photo shoot will take you, at least momentarily, to a cooler place.
Our Charity of the Month for June is the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, aka CAASE. Their work includes prevention, policy reform, community engagement, and legal services, and their efforts have made an impact on the culture, institutions, and individuals that perpetrate, profit from, or support sexual exploitation (including sexual assault and the commercial sex trade).
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So much of what designers create today are updated things from the past. With good reason!
I love looking at old fashion books and seeing the way people used to dress back in the day. It is so inspiring!a
I’ve long been an admirer of Human Rights Watch. In fact, when I went to grad school and studied trans-national advocacy, I considered them my dream job. Now here I am, advocating fair trade with Mata Traders, so you could say my dream came true!
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Mata means mother in Hindi, y’all, and Mata Traders was so named in part to honor the women at our cooperatives.
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I celebrated Earth Day by having a mini picnic and wearing Mata’s ‘Blue Belle Dress‘.
By choosing to wear Mata’s clothing you are making a difference. Usually fashion is seen as having a negative effect on our planet (lots of dyes and chemicals are used to produce garments). Luckily for us, most of Mata Traders’ pieces are hand block printed with eco-friendly vegetable dyes. Mata also uses fair trade cotton, which means they support small family farms and follow environmental standards that restrict the use of agrochemicals and encourage sustainability.
Ikat is a print known and loved around the world. Mata uses ikat prints in many of their pieces, and, as we all know, Mata’s pieces are handmade by Indian women artisans. I thought I’d delve into this world of ikat and really see what is behind the scenes. I was in for a surprise. Hopes of a DIY ikat project were shattered when I found out how intricate this process is. I didn’t even know how to pronounce ikat correctly until I heard Maureen say it; it is pronounced ‘ee-kaht.’ It is a style of weaving where the yarn is dyed in zigzag or geometric patterns. The weaver chooses the exact pattern by wrapping the yarns with wax and clay before dipping it in different dyes. It is like a puzzle that gets more complicated with each color that is in the ikat design. Since the threads are dyed before they are woven it gives an “inaccurate” color distribution resulting in the enchanting blurred edges of the finished product.
Our Charity of the Month for April is Inspiration Corporation, the coolest place to volunteer. IC is a community organization that helps people who are homeless and at risk of homelessness, offering meals, case management, job training, and housing. What started out 23 years ago as one woman pulling a little red Radio Flyer wagon filled with sandwiches and coffee is now a powerhouse of homeless services.
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What is fair trade? That question comes up a lot. I have 2 knee-jerk responses that I tend to blurt out in equal share:
In the middle of winter we need layers to keep warm, but that can make it difficult to keep a sleek silhouette. I’ve been wearing fitted turtlenecks under the majority of my dresses to solve that problem. I love the stark color contrast of black against Mata’s teal ‘Japonaise Dress‘. (I love the block print on the inside collar)
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