Ethical Fashion Blog

If you’re ever in Kansas City be sure to stop by Donna’s Dress Shop. Situated in KC’s hip Midtown neighborhood, you can shop new & used clothing, books, and more all in one block. Donna’s is carefully curated by the lovely Donna herself (check out her awesome aesthetic in the photos below). The Shop is filled with vintage curios and new Fall styles from Mata Traders fair trade fashion and other brands we love like Nooworks, Global Mamas, Many Belles Down, and Tulle.

The Chicago Uniform Project

In May 2009, Sheena Matheiken put on a little black dress and didn’t take it off for a year. Well, that’s not exactly accurate because I’m sure she took it off to sleep and wash, but the point is that she wore that dress everyday for a year and ended up raising over $100,000 for the charity Akanksha Foundation.

VISITING THE BLOCKPRINTERS

Maureen and Kristin are in India at the moment working with the co-ops on next Spring’s collection and even getting started on Fall 2012. This past weekend they visited one of the block printers where we source our fabric. Maureen said they got a lot of great photos and video, and it motivated me to finally get these pictures up from last summer when Michelle and I visited another block printer we use.

FAIR TRADE FOR TEENS!

Grab yourself a copy of the back-to-school edition of Justine Magazine on newsstands now. Justine is a national magazine filled with fun, positive, and empowering content for teenage girls. This month the mag features fair trade clothing from our Fall 2011 line, out this September.

IT’S AUGUST ALREADY?

This summer has been scorching. Also, this summer has been the busiest. Lots of exciting projects! I’ve pretty much resorted to wearing dresses only. This slightly cuts my prep time in the morning – dresses are no-brainers because it’s like an instant outfit.

MATA MEETS INSPIRATION

Here’s a pic of me and my friend Rian out to lunch at the new Inspiration Kitchens that opened up 2 months ago in Garfield Park. The restaurant is the newest social enterprise of Inspiration Corporation, a non-profit homeless service organization. The delicious “contemporary American cuisine” is prepared and served by students and graduates of their food service training program. Of course, there is an obvious connection between Inspiration Kitchens and Mata Traders as organizations with a double bottom line: a sustainable, self-generating income and a social mission of being a vehicle providing people a way out of poverty.

FAIR TRADE PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS ANNOUNCED

And Mata Traders wins!! …along with 11 other amazing photographs that will be featured in the 2012 Fair Trade Calendar. Of the 3 producer photos we submitted, our image of the rural woman hand block printing was chosen by voters. Thank you to everyone who voted for us!

FAIR TRADE FEDERATION CONFERENCE

Michelle and I drove up to the very cool city of Milwaukee in May to attend the Fair Trade Federation’s annual conference. Michelle is an old hat with FTF conferences, but it was my first. I really enjoyed meeting other folks involved in the fair trade movement, people who dedicate everyday of their lives to providing a way out of poverty to hundreds of farmers, artisans, and skilled workers all over the world.

In the Garden

Hello, everyone! Here I am guest blogging for Mata! I have always been a fan of this brand, and have a sizable Mata collection in my closet. I am such a blog junkie, so it’s neat to be writing instead of reading.

Welcome New Fashion Blogger!

Laura is a wardrobe and image consultant and first came to Mata as a design intern from the Illinois Institute of Art – Chicago. Besides modeling in our catalogs, she also styled several of them and designed the layout. She’s got some serious fashion chops, and we love her intuitive sense of style and coolness.

Fair Trade Lingerie is Not Easy to Find

Michelle got married on Saturday! It turned out to be a fabulous event and all of us bridesmaids were looking great in our fair trade bridesmaids dresses. We’ll be sure to post lots of pics as soon as we get them from the photographer.

1000 Fair Trade Towns

A few weeks after Chicago was declared a Fair Trade City, several more towns will reach that milestone. Enough to make 1000 fair trade towns in the world!!!! Fair Trade is clearly a strong and growing movement, as more people shop for fair trade products and demand fair trade options in their towns. The fair trade towns campaign really epitomizes that expression, “Think Globally, Act Locally.”

Chicago is a Fair Trade City!!

Chicago celebrated World Fair Trade Day with an exciting announcement. After a 2-year campaign of outreach to residents and businesses, Chicago was declared a Fair Trade City!

Spot a Mata (Online Edition)

San Francisco fashion blogger Modelina Michelle found us in local boutique Marmalade, and if you’re in the Bay area, you can, too! Entitled “Sweet Bohemia,” Michelle’s post features the Edgewater dress, Lakeshore dress, Skylark skirt, and Symphony skirt from our new Spring line. She notes Mata’s bright colors, bold patterns, and laid back bohemian vibe, but she’s just as impressed with the line’s social impact – empowering Indian women. She asks, “How often can you buy a dress for yourself and help empower other women at the same time?” Thanks for the shout out, Michelle!

Social Purpose is the New Black

The global marketing firm Edelman conducted their 4th annual good purpose study to explore consumer attitudes around social purpose and their social expectations of companies. The study surveyed more than 7,000 adults in 13 countries (1,000 in the U.S.) and some noteworthy data has emerged.

Ethical Fashion Blog

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