Quarantine love letter
It’s spring 2020 and it’s one like no other. The current isolation we are in due to the COVID-19 pandemic is making things come up, emotions come up. One person has been around for all the hardships of my (love) life since I was little, and that is her. The other day she saved me once again, from her quarantine on the other side of the world, so I wrote her a love letter.
She is a life-saver. We’ve been best of friends since I was 6, when she stopped me on my way bringing out the trash. “Oh hey, do you live here too?” - she said. We had just started first grade in the same class. We’ve been on and off at times since, but that is how family is like, isn’t. And in the most off of times, it was her door I ran to first throughout the heartaches of high-school.
About 4 years ago though, something very special’s happened. It started with the craziest, most romantic, laughing-our-asses-off, forgetting the number of shots we had 20-years-of-friendship date night at the Bulgarian seaside, when she also showed me the magic of the law of attraction with a bang. It’s too long of a story to explain here, but basically what you think and really truly can believe, you create. It works - just take it or leave it. Since then, maybe it’s us that’ve grown, but I can definitely say our relationship did. She pops up in my life in the moments I need it the most, when I feel lost, when things don’t make sense, and grounds me. She knows. She knows stuff and she knows the right things to say. She knows that everything happens for a reason, and everything is there to teach me something. She knows that my anxiety and my body’s reactions don’t just happen, but they encode the messages of what my soul actually wants and needs. She knows that my femininity is sacred, and my intuition is my superpower. And she reminds it to me any time I seem to have forgotten. She also says I do the same for her sometimes, and that makes my heart so warm you could fry an egg on it (and I am vegan so I don’t even eat eggs but it’s the first thing that came to my mind).
We wore these funny halves of a heart “best friend” necklaces in 3rd grade, and so the moment I saw these “stay together, slay together” t-shirts with the same “best friend” print on their backs a few years ago, I had to get them for us. And funnily, we haven’t even worn them together yet, that’s how rarely we see each other. But I have her in my life, and that’s enough.
You might be lucky enough to have one like her around or you may not, but all the things above, I hope you can put them somewhere deep in a pocket and take them out whenever you need them. She is a life-saver.
xx, D
The way we live our days is the way we live our lives
A good yoga practice is the one you do. Even a five or ten minute stretch with intentional, deep breathing can change the quality of your thoughts, physique, and entire day.
And the way we live our days is the way we live our lives.
These are just a few short words on mindfulness, that I must have picked up from one of my favourite podcasts, if I’m not mistaken. It’s called The Doctor’s Farmacy (yes with an “F”), and the host doctor Mark Hyman is a beautiful soul who has so much knowledge and wisdom to share, as well as some really cool guests.
So there it goes. Couldn’t have caught the essence of what a good yoga practice is if you had asked me right now.
A good yoga practice is the one you do. Even a five or ten minute stretch with intentional, deep breathing can change the quality of your thoughts, physique, and entire day.
And the way we live our days is the way we live our lives.
Picture from one very beautifully and mindfully lived day in and around Ubud, Bali btw.
And my new favourite organic-cotton-and-ethically-made-in-Bali yoga top credit goes to studio kolektif.
10 Women Revolutionizing the Fashion Industry Today or Why You Need to Start With "Why"
Regardless of this article being way overdue due to my rather out-of-control recent schedule, let me introduce you to 10 power women revolutionising the fashion industry today. They do that by bringing transparency and sustainable practices into the their brands’ value chain. They do business with a purpose, and are an example of capitalism with common sense.
From some very young fashion label-owners to big fashion industry players, they have one thing in common - they all lead fashion businesses that start with the “Why”. But what do I mean by that, you may wonder. First time I heard this concept while interviewing Hang Osman, the founder of ethical fashion brand All The Wild Roses, for my master thesis, and I was completely sold. The “Start with why” TED Talk by Simon Sinek that Hang suggested I watch was not only super inspirational and made so much sense in the context of my work, it also made me question the way we teach management in university as well (I was a tutor at our university’s Institute of Strategic Management at the time), and how little we actually talk about ethics in management, while it is not only extremely important, it is, as Hang put it, “the glue that sticks everything together”. After checking out some other TED talks by Simon Sinek as well as his book, this concept of businesses that start with the “Why” became a “backbone” of my master thesis and I can only warmly suggest you check it out if you don’t know it yet.
Sinek explains his concept based on a simple model, called “the golden circle”, pictured below. According to him, every single organisation in the world knows what they are doing (outer circle), and most define how (middle circle), but few are those that focus on the “why” (inside circle). According to him, all the greatest and most inspiring leaders of this world, on the other hand, have one thing in common - they all think, act and communicate from the inside-out, starting with the “Why”. Having said that, check out the 10 badass women that have put the “Why” in the core of their organisations and are thus changing the fashion industry one beautiful piece of ethical clothing at a time.
Stella McCartney, Stella McCartney
51.1k Likes, 522 Comments - Stella McCartney (@stellamccartney) on Instagram: ""I'm in a business world, and I think what I've been trying to do is show that you can have ethics...."
Stella McCartney’s been born and raised in London and the English countryside. After graduating from Central St Martins in 1995, she’s quickly managed to established her own style and soon was appointed the Creative Director of Chloe in Paris in 1997, where she enjoyed great success. She launched her own brand in 2001 and being a lifelong vegetarian herself, she was the first fully vegetarian high fashion brand that has never used leather or fur in their production.
Stella McCartney is one of the first high fashion designers to break down the barrier between high fashion and ethical fashion. Her commitment to sustainability is evident throughout all her collections and is part of the brand’s ethos to being a responsible, honest, and modern company that creates beautiful products that are also sustainable. The designer shot one of her recent ad campaign in a Scottish landfill to encourage a debate about the wastefulness in the fashion industry, and is partnering with the second-hand website TheRealReal to encourage a circular economy - fashion lovers, that one is a real must-visit if you are into designer brands. By pioneering alternative materials, using cutting edge technology and partnering with organisations such as Canopy, COTY, Ethical Trading Initiative and Centre for Sustainable Fashion among others, Stella McCartney make sure they push towards circularity and sustainability with each step of their value chain.
“By choosing vegetarian leather, we are demonstrating how a luxury fashion brand can push the boundaries to make products that are beautiful, sustainable and cruelty-free. No compromises.”
2. Hang Osment-Le, All The Wild Roses
108 Likes, 5 Comments - All The Wild Roses (@all_the_wild_roses) on Instagram: ""To change is to learn and to learn is to change." ------------⠀ And there is always something new..."
Hang Osment-Le, the founders of All The Wild Roses was one of my interviewees at the time I was writing my master thesis about sustainable and ethical fashion a year and a half back. We had a scheduled 1-hour Skype call that turned into an absolutely inspiring more than 1,5-hour-conversation that I am forever thankful for.
All The Wild Roses is a brand that creates quality clothes and timeless designs in celebration of empowerment of women and “the connection to a spirit within all of us”. The founder gets inspired by timeless style and vintage clothing, and the pieces are created by artisans with the aspiration to provide opportunity and prosperity for underserved communities. Being born and raised in Australia, Hang made a trip to her native Vietnam at the age of 19, which had a very profound effect on her life, experiencing a culture shock discovering the lifestyle of her extended family and their community. This life-changing experience made Hang feel very fortunate and inspired her “to do something to share her good fortune with her extended family and anyone else that needed some luck and opportunity to improve their lives.” And so she did - soon after she founded the company in a quest to make a difference in the community of her family and beyond, creating an atmosphere where the community can grow, support each other and talent can be unleashed. For Hang, the makers of the clothes are part of all decisions from design, logistics, delivery and price that they are getting for the work. She wants to create products that create a win-win situation for everyone along the value chain and products that everyone is proud of.
According to Hang, in business school the “last thing that you did was ethics, when it should be the very, very first thing.” For her, ethics is the glue that sticks everything together, that is in the core of her business. With that in mind, today she empowers women through thoughtfully sourcing materials, collaborating with artisans across the globe and organisations such as Opportunity International Australia, that provides micro loans to help women start their own business. They are also the 5th apparel brand in Australia to become a Certified B Corporation. And Hang’s love and dedication to what she is doing totally sparks through each and every word she says.
“I believe in conscious capitalism, that as businesses or people we make conscious decisions that consider more than profit/gain but the impact on people and the planet”
3 & 4. Adriana Cachay Anardo and Lærke Skyum Blichfeldt, AYNI
472 Likes, 20 Comments - AYNI (@ayniuniverse) on Instagram: "AYNI is a fashion company with a deeper purpose of social responsibility by giving knowledge and..."
AYNI is another brand I was lucky enough to interview for my master thesis at the end of 2017. They were founded in 2009 by Laerke Skyum, a Dane, and Adriana Cachay, a Peruvean. The two women come from different cultures, but according to their own words share the same passions and personal values. They met in Peru and out of the combination of Laerke’s passion for sewing and fascination with Peruvian culture, colours and diversity, and Adriana’s knowledge on textile, combined with both women’s passion for fashion design, AYNI was born. The two founders have made social impact the core of their business from the very beginning, stating that their aim is to “show how fashion and social development can go hand in hand and encourage a more conscious lifestyle and consumption”. The motivation for creating the company is the “common love for high quality products, nature’s finest materials and strong social, economic and environmental engagement”. Furthermore, the founders empower local Peruvian women through micro-entrepreneurship, paying fair wages, building strong long-term relationships and using sustainable materials, and having created their own “AYNI CERTIFY” program, that certifies artisans and thus helps them improve their living standards and find employment opportunities.
5 & 6. Karin Bjørneboe and Ida Anesdatter Schmidt, Tricotage
116 Likes, 2 Comments - Tricotage (@tricotage.dk) on Instagram: "This week is Fashion Revolution Week. It's a movement kickstarted by the horrible disaster at Rana..."
Karin Bjørneboe and Ida Anesdatter Schmidt founded Tricotage in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2010 with the mission to create a wardrobe that is at the same time meaningful and beautiful. Karin was also kind enough to take her time to talk to me about Tricotage in order to help the research of my master thesis. Karin and Ida were driven by their passion for craft, the environment and the beauty of everyday life to create designs for the modern woman. Their collections are a mix of knitted, basic and elevated everyday pieces, and as Karin explains: “We don’t go by trends... for us, it is about creating organic, sustainable fashion that is not monochrome or boring.” On the contrary, they develop unique and hand-made prints “providing a modern, yet timeless expression in the fusion of ecological and sustainable materials for the woman who wants to create her own style.” The collections consist of printed dresses, shirts, made of bio cotton, and knits that focus on interesting techniques and craft.
The company owns a GOTS certification and works with other GOTS certified suppliers, but one of the most important values of the brand is the timelessness of their pieces - high quality items that look just as good now as in several years. And what is more sustainable than clothes that are created to pass the test of time? Also, a big thank you to Linda Ekström for taking her time to talk to me and share more about Kerber as part of my master thesis project.
7. Joanna Dai, DAI Wear
232 Likes, 41 Comments - Dai (@dai) on Instagram: "So proud to see our founder @joannadai on the cover of homeWORK Magazine, the publication of..."
Johanna Dai founded DAI Wear in 2017 and was also one of the founders I was lucky enough to interview shortly after - in the first days of 2018. The brand creates effortless, comfortable pieces for high-performing business women. Joanna’s 8-year investment banking career in New York and London gave her the best basis for starting her own business - teaching her to negotiate, work with people and work long hours. The long hours also made her recognise there is a gap in the market for women’s workwear that was functional, effortless and of high quality. She had the vision of a brand that empowered professional women to success by delivering elegantly tailored, functional pieces in a premium quality. The brand uses activewear fabrics that are stretchable, machine washable, comfortable and do not wrinkle to create professional, tailored workwear pieces that are also sustainable.
The founder wants to give back to society by partnering with different oganizations that support women, such as her current cooperation with Dress for Success, that helps disadvantaged women get professional clothing, find job opportunities and build a professional network. Furthermore, their partnerships with Positive Luxury - a platform that connects luxury brands with consumers that care about sustainability, helps Dai “hold the brand by the standards which it demands.” and helps bring in even more standards, such as the UN Global standards for ethical practices for employees, for treating people and making sure they are paid well and work in a healthy environment.” From choosing suppliers with the OEKO-Tex, EPD and REACH certifications, making sure their Portuguese factories meet the highest standards, to offsetting their shipping, recycling their packaging and educating customers on how to care for their items, DAI makes sure they incorporate sustainability through all steps of the value chain and continue to seek partnerships around the message of empowering women.
8. Marielle Kerber, Kerber
73 Likes, 2 Comments - Kerber (@atelierkerber) on Instagram: "Hoi An❤️Vietnam - our production site - a color and pattern inspiration. And then we didn't mention..."
Marielle Kerber had been a fashion designer for many years already, but she only founded Kerber in 2010 after travelling to Vietnam as a volunteers, with the mission to help individuals she had met on her journey. This way she saw an opportunity to combine her passion for fashion with the wish for helping others. She formed close partnerships with skilled tailors in the Vietnamese town Hoi An and consequently set her own production there under fair conditions.
At the beginning, the brand’s production was in a house the designer had bought with a couple of tailors, where the first “must haves” collection was created. What was important for her was providing tailors with employment and a sustainable income. “Sustainability was not so much a strategy, as coming from the heart.”
Today, Kerber’s tailors are not only their long-term partners and employees, but also their friends. The company constantly works to ensure they have favourable working conditions, living wages and employment benefits, as Marielle intended from the start. Kerber’s purpose is to provide them with a secure and sustainable form of employment while also strengthening the local community through their long-term business relations and support of charitable organizations. Furthermore, Kerber takes responsibility for the natural environment by committing to minimise harmful impacts of their production in the choice of textiles and the organisation of their supply chain and logistics.
Kerber works with different organizations to spread their message and increase their impact, such as “The Love School” - a school for disabled children, which they helped build a library for and continue working with, since they “feel it has more of an impact, than picking a different one.”
“Sustainability was not so much a strategy, as coming from the heart.”
9. Sophie Wirth, Fitco Sportswear
129 Likes, 3 Comments - Active. Without Compromise. (@fiticosportswear) on Instagram: "It's Fashion Revolution week! Look who's found the fishing nets for our beautiful sportswear 💙..."
Sophie founded Fitco Sportswear in Austria in 2016, combining her two big passions - doing sports and the wish to create something on her own, that is sustainable and is going to make the world a better place. Sophie says she also wished to fight the unethical sports industry and show that a different way of producing sports apparel is possible, without exploiting people and nature. Being an Austrian brand, of course I couldn’t not approach Sophie for an interview for my master thesis, and I thank her so much for her contribution.
The first Fitco Sportswear collection was launched in 2017 and made exclusively out of Econyl - a recycled nylon Italian fibre regenerated from old fishing nets. The used, very often torn and ragged fishing nets would normally be thrown away and end up in the oceans or in landfills but this way, they are regenerated in a recycling plant in Slovenia and being put to use again and the final products are produced under fair working conditions in Portugal.
Today Sophie is selling her sportswear across multiple channels online and in stores, always continuing her efforts to ensure compliance with social standards.
“You cannot stop at a certain point in time - you have to check again and again and constantly try to get better and better.”
10. Ayel Aflalo, Reformation
1,483 Likes, 61 Comments - Yael Aflalo (@yaya_aflalo) on Instagram: "75% of the @reformation team are women. More women for #morewomen #ellefeminism #jointhereformation"
Yael Aflalo has completely revolutionised the fast fashion industry as we know it. While on a work trip to China, she saw the unfairness and overwhelming amount of pollution created by the fashion industry, which has motivated her to make a change and break the cycle. She wanted to fill the void of intersection between design and sustainability, and create beautiful products first, which happen to also be sustainable. Thus, she founded Reformation in 2009 and from the very beginning has made sustainability a core tenant of the brand, opening a factory in downtown LA to better manage her own supply chain.
The brand incorporates sustainability in every aspect of the business - from the design and production to fulfillment and operations under one roof at their headquarters in Downtown LA, everything from the pens, to cleaning products, to lighting is eco-friendly.
As a passionate environment defender, Yael believes that there are many aspects of the fashion industry that the right technology can improve. She believes that the entire fashion supply chain should be scrutinized since fashion is, after all, the third most polluting industry in the world. In a thoroughly data-driven way, their RefScale feature quantifies how much waste items create at every point in the manufacturing process, and then finds ways to offset pollution.
“The path to the CEO’s office should not be through the CFO’s office, and it should not be through the marketing department. It needs to be through engineering and design.”
In the context of these inspiring stories, I think it is important to mention that there is no perfect brand or person, but there is real, genuine, purposeful effort and drive to bring about change. And in times where revolutionising the fashion industry value chain is so necessary, that effort has never been more important.
xx,
D
Mara Hoffman - from the eye-catching vibrant prints to a pioneer in sustainable and ethical fashion
With international women’s day being celebrated on March 8., we are dedicating a series of articles introducing the women whose work is changing the fashion industry for the better. We are starting with a woman who is a strong advocate for human rights and environmental causes, and doing incredibly lots to change the fashion industry towards more sustainable and ethical practices - Mara Hoffmann. At an exclusive New York Fashion Week (NYFW) reception this February, the designer has received the Repreve Champions of Sustainability Leading the Change Award. The Award recognises Mara Hoffman's long-time commitment to reducing environmental impact through conscious fashion. But Mara Hoffmann didn’t start off as a sustainable fashion brand.
“For a long time, sustainable fashion felt like a different industry. It wasn’t taught in fashion school, the industry at large wasn’t talking about it, and it often had one singular Mother Earth, hippie-kid look. The biggest players in fashion never mentioned their environmental impact, and sustainability remained on the fringe.”
11.3k Likes, 128 Comments - Mara Hoffman 🐪 (@marahoffman) on Instagram: "Got no words for this one. 🌺😐🌺"
So here is a little bit of a back story. Mara Hoffman graduated from Parsons School of design in New York and founded her company in the year 1999. A few internships during her studies have helped the designer learn to quickly sew her own clothes and repurpose old clothing, and had a strong impact on her work as a designer in the future. 15 years later Mara Hoffman had 30 employees and her eye-catching and vibrant designs are sold to more than 500 accounts. As a Creative Director of the company, the designer’s own lifestyle, femininity and worldwide travels, especially to South America, strongly affect the brand’s aesthetics. The designer states she takes one big trip a year, that fills her with impressions and creative inspiration for the year to come. While she is historically known for her eye-catching prints and vibrant colours, she’s been recently focusing on more simple, textural pieces which highlight the feminine aesthetics.
3,097 Likes, 60 Comments - Mara Hoffman 🐪 (@marahoffman) on Instagram: "I love this photo so much @madelynnfurlong ❤️ thank you for capturing the details of my favorite..."
For the past few years, the designer has been more and more aware of the shift happening in the fashion industry and according to her own words “realized she is a part of something that is not the greatest thing to be part of” (Mara Hoffman on Conscious Chatter, 2017). Naturally, for a while she put it out of her head because she didn’t feel part of it - after all she didn’t start off as a sustainable brand, and therefore she thought that one day when she is not busy with the current business she will eventually think about it. Nevertheless, somewhere in 2015, the designer says, “this voice got so loud in my head, that I didn’t want to be a part of the wrong practices in the industry anymore.”
“My business was financially thriving and the idea of shifting course felt unimaginable, but the idea of feeding this thing that no longer existed authentically felt just as paralyzing.”
At the time Mara started having this strong feeling of questioning her role - what was the part she was playing in society and what was gonna be the effect on the lives of future generations? She went to her Production Director (now Director of Production and Sustainability), saying they were at a “change-or-die moment” - that the company needs to either close shop completely, or they needed to change everything. The designer didn’t know how to change and didn’t even know where to begin at the time, but she knew they needed a new system, one more responsible and less harmful, kinder and worthy of working for - a system that was better. Together the two women started looking for alternatives, and looking for places to begin (Mara Hoffman on Conscious Chatter, 2017).
7,716 Likes, 96 Comments - Mara Hoffman 🐪 (@marahoffman) on Instagram: "Forever @lalanana7 🥀 Wearing the Tulay skirt and Lily top in Perennial photographed by @naafianaah"
The designer first implemented a strategy for ethical, effective change within the value chain of her label in 2015.
“When I made the choice to transition the brand into sustainability, I made it wholeheartedly. I had to decide between working towards sustainability and closing our doors; I chose the former. The fashion industry’s impact on the environment is detrimental. Once we acknowledged our role in that, it became clear that sustainability would not only be important to the company, but a core part of our approach, a necessary facet of the existence of Mara Hoffman, the brand, moving forward. Since then, there’s been no turning back.”
7,916 Likes, 55 Comments - Mara Hoffman 🐪 (@marahoffman) on Instagram: "Lexie on the beach. 🍋 Wearing Spring Swim which lands this Thursday... Photographed by me...."
As one can easily imagine, being sustainable is not an A to B undertaking - it is rather a constant work in progress. Nevertheless, taking responsibility for your actions is an enormous step forward. How did the approach this journey? First they started observing and learning from what other sustainable companies (e.g. Eileen Fisher) were doing. Furthermore, they started partnering with organisations that helped them and companies like them become more sustainable, such as Nest - an organisation that helps them better connect with and support artisan partners especially in India. They also partnered with Canopy - an organisation which helps companies form a policy for not sourcing raw materials for their fabrics from endangered forests. The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) is another organisation partnering with brand like Mara Hoffman to help them develop sustainability guidelines for their brand. Also, as a member of the Fashion Positive PLUS Member Collaborative, the brand is committed to the development of Cradle to Cradle certified materials that are free of harmful substances.
Further steps the brand has taken to produce more ethically and sustainably include printing digitally, which reduces water and chemical waste, using fabrics made from sustainable fibre as often as possible, starting to map their own supply chain in order to control it better, and encouraging consumers to use garments for longer in order to conserve natural resources and keep garments out of landfill by buying less, washing less and caring for things for longer.
1,384 Likes, 16 Comments - Mara Hoffman 🐪 (@marahoffman) on Instagram: "Perspective on the same subject. 🐚"
“I try to hold myself accountable for everything we put out into the world, and I ask that all brands and consumers do the same.”
11.2k Likes, 98 Comments - Mara Hoffman 🐪 (@marahoffman) on Instagram: "UNITE WITH LOVE, RESIST WITH LOVE. 1/21/2017 Washington D.C. #WOMENSMARCH"
4,931 Likes, 91 Comments - Mara Hoffman 🐪 (@marahoffman) on Instagram: "Throwback to Philly 11/8/16, explaining what this sign that was taped to the floor meant to my son...."
We simply love Mara Hoffman’s aesthetic and the work she is putting in every day to make sure she leaves this place better than it was yesterday. If you do too, you can follow it here:
DGH's 6 Favourite Vintage Stores in Vienna
Since a very young age I’ve absolutely loved vintage shopping because there is nothing else that gives an outfit that extra edge that a vintage piece in the mix does. The fact that it it also the most sustainable and ethical way to buy clothes really just makes it a no-brainer (vintage dress in the cover photo from my latest trip to Barcelona btw. Mirror, chair and tables second hand from willhaben.at :) . Therefore, it was about time for me to share with you my 6 favourite vintage stores in beautiful Vienna that I can go to again and again, and know that I can always find something beautiful and special.
These are actually two stores next to each other in the very artistic Neubaugasse in the 7th district. The one is full of reworked Levi’s jeans and cut-off shorts, as well as cool graphic hoodies and accessories. The other one has a nice selection of reworked denim skirts, shirts and vintage dresses, plus plenty of band t-shirts, so make sure to check both of them out.
118 Likes, 0 Comments - Www.bootik54.com (@bootik54) on Instagram: "Denim...what else ? 🙏🏾 @susannawurz 🔥🔥🔥..."
2. Burggasse 24
This is a concept store located in the 7th district as well, next to one of the most picturesque little squares in the hood - Sankt-Ulrichs-Platz. Here you can find a wide variety of designer pieces as well as cool vintage designer-less ones, vintage designer sunglasses, and the occasional really fancy pair of vintage designer shoes or a dress.In any case there are no fast fashion second hand items to be found here. Another cool thing is that they buy clothing anytime, so you can just drop by with a bag of clothes, they will look through it on the spot and buy whatever fits the concept of the store (unfortunately, or well fortunately, they are quite picky!). And last but not least, there is a wonderful little cafe inside with homemade cakes (partly vegan) and a very cosy living room-like atmosphere.
186 Likes, 0 Comments - Burggasse24 (@burggasse24) on Instagram: "Shop & Café snaps by @thedailydose__ 🌷 thank you for visiting loves ! #vintagestore #café..."
This one is a special one. I discovered it on Instagram probably two years ago, and couldn’t wait to check it out in person, nice the feed was already quite promising. What I found there was not only an amazing selection of super wearable handpicked vintage dresses, shirts, pants, skirts and accessories, but also this super cool and stylish lady, who is the owner and curator of the store, and gives the place that little extra something. I would say a must visit if you are a vintage lover and are around town.
100 Likes, 1 Comments - Kleider gehen um (@kleidergehenum) on Instagram: "#vintagefashion #kleidergehenum #vienna #wien photo @apolloniabitzan styling @noushin.redjaian"
4. Polyklamott
This store recently moved into a new, bigger and nicer location in the 6th district. What impresses me most here are always the sunglasses, optical glasses frames and accessories. Apart from the women’s and men’s main clothing sections, there is always a special pair of vintage Chanel earrings or a show-stopping pair of vintage cat-eye sunglasses to steal your heart to be found here. Also, at my last visit I found out they produce their own recycled kashmere pieces - there was a number of crop-tops and bodysuits - a little bit pricey but quite nice.
42 Likes, 0 Comments - Poly Klamott (@polyklamott) on Instagram: "✨Treat yourself with our beautiful 90s vintage Chanel clip on earrings embellished with Swarovski..."
5. Secondi
Secondi is located in the 8th Vienna district, which is a little bit more sophisticated than the 6th and 7th. And this little store is somehow giving you this vibe as well. This one is a little more messy than the previously mentioned stores and you can find a mixture of designer and not so sophisticated second-hand pieces here, but every time there are some real treasures to be found. Also, the owners are really nice and offer to make adjustments to the clothes when necessary. Unfortunately no Instagram.
Another cool little concept store down the Burggasse in the 7th district, offering very unusual, carefully selected dresses, blouses and jackets. Also, I have to say I’ve always found the prices very reasonable for the quality of the pieces they offer - a must visit.
Let me know how your next trip to the local vintage shops goes and happy to hear your suggestions for extending this list!
xx, D
1. November - World Vegan Day or why vegan though?
In November 1944, Donald Watson, an English animal rights advocate, coined the term vegan by founding the first ever Vegan Society in England, with the philosophy to object any harm to living creatures. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Vegan Society, on 1. November 1994 the World Vegan Day was established. It is the first year for me to actually acknowledge this day, so in celebration, here are 5 reasons I’m living a vegan lifestyle and why it’s been one of the best decisions in my life:
1. Never felt more in sync with my inner voice and beliefs. I remember being a child and any time I’d see any animal suffer or being slaughtered (yes, I did happen to see that since my grandparents had a little farm), I’d experience an immense pain. Fast forward a few years, I was taught that this is just the way things are and where food comes from, so I “grew up” and somehow became numb and got used to suppressing my feelings and ignore this inner conflict. I still throughout my whole non-vegan life until the age of 27 had issues touching and cooking raw meat myself though. Therefore, I’ve never lived more in harmony and true to my beliefs than for the last around year and a half since I became vegan.
2. It is healthier. A plant-based diet contains all the nutrition our body needs. It is proven to reduce the risks of heart disease, blood pressure and cholesterol and significantly reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. And there is really no reason, other than cultural and habitual, for us humans to consume animal products. The diary, meat and drug industries pay a lot of money to get those animal products into the education system and convince us they are an essential part of our diet, while providing us the drugs to cure the disease they cause.
3. It is better for the environment. A plant-based diet is the single biggest thing one person can do to reduce their impact on the environment. According to United Nations reports, animal agriculture is the leading cause of climate change, soil erosion and water depletion. In fact, it is responsible for more greenhouse emissions than all the world’s transportation systems combined, including cars and airplanes. Isn’t that a crazy thought?
1. It can end world hunger. Currently, about 1/2 of the whole habitable area on earth, or the size of North, Central and South America combined, is used for raising livestock and growing crops for their food. In comparison, crops for humans currently use 1/4 of that amount of land. Furthermore, the water used for growing crops for feeding animals and their drinking water results in approximately 9.000 kg of water to produce 1/2 a kg of beef, which is 10 times the amount of water for producing a kilo of tofu. Think about the possibilities.
5. Vegan food is amazingly delicious. In fact, vegan food was always my favourite food to eat, I was just taught by society it was a side dish that I am supposed to eat only in combination with my chicken breast. I’ve had the time of my life since I realised it’s not true.
Btw, the second photo is me just before biting on a 600 kcal almond butter and jam toast in San Francisco, on a #whatveganseat note. And yes, do not always manage to avoid non-reusable coffee cups as I would like to.
"Don't worry" organic cotton tee
Worry is such a funny thing, isn’t it? We sometimes allow it to enter our lives and hearts and take decisions for us, when 99,9% of the things we worry about only ever happen in our minds. Do-not-wory. Also, wearing this soft certicied organic cotton tee with a silk “Don’t worry” embroidery will always be there to remind you.
100% organic cotton
Embroidery
Medium fit
Earth Overshoot Day
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
Albert Einstein was a wise man, so an organisation called Global Footprint Network decided to look and found out that Earth Overshoot Day comes earlier each year and it is not good. But what is Earth Overshoot Day?
It marks the date each year then we - all of humanity - have used more from nature that our planet Earth can renew in an entire year. This year the day came on August 1 as opposed to August 2 in 2017. How is that calculated though?
The day is determined by calculating humanity's total yearly consumption, or ecological footprint, and comparing it to Earth's biocapacity, or its capacity to regenerate renewable natural resources. Basically, we have used up Earth's full budget, and for the rest of the year we are maintaining our deficit by drawing down resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Or said otherwise, we are operating on overshoot.
Global Footprint Network calculates nations' ecological footprint and Earth's biocapacity with the goal to make ecological limits central to decision-making by raising awareness and providing the necessary analytics, insights and tools to make this happen. To come up with the numbers they use National Footprint Accounts, which are based on UN statistics and measure the ecological resource use and resource capacity of nations over time.
Source: Earth Overshoot Day
The Global Footprint Network has furthermore undertaken the #MoveTheDate initiative to raise awareness about the topic and drive people to take action in four main areas: food - by sourcing foods locally, avoiding highly processed foods and focusing on a more plant-based diet, cities - by implementing city planning and urban development strategies that balance natural resources, population - by addressing population growth through empowering and educating people, and energy, by taking steps to reduce our carbon footprint by increasing the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.
Source: Earth Overshoot Day
Check out the graph above for the Earth Overshoot Day per country (Vietnam holding the lead), and guess what? Of course there is a calculator where you can calculate your personal Earth overshoot day. So go check it out here and see what you can do to #MoveTheDate. :)
Inspiration: Harvard Graduation Speech
While checking LinkedIn tonight I stumbled upon a video from this year's Harvard commencement ceremony, and the speech of one of the graduates in particular - Pete Davis. It starts with a short story about a guy browsing through Netflix on a long weekday's night, after half an hour of which he gets tired from all the available options and falls asleep. I couldn't help but think how on point and in sync this story was with the age we're living in right now - the age of countless options, where everything and anything is possible, really. And don't get me wrong - I think we are absolutely blessed to be able to do that. The thing is, this endless choice so often makes it that much harder to commit to one thing - be it a career, a cause, or a person and sustain that commitment over the long term. Because turning values into practices, visions into projects, and strangers into neighbours takes real commitment, says Pete Davis. And while I am by no means saying we should ever settle for anything less than we can achieve, I believe that remembering every day to give our full attention to the thing we are doing right now and being the best we can be every day trains the awareness in us needed to find the way we are determined to go (sorry not sorry for little too much spirituality:).
““In the age of infinite browsing mode, we should pick a damn movie and see it all through... before we fall asleep. Let’s get to work!””
Thanks for the reminder Pete!
Girl crush: Miley Cyrus
Apart from having a badass voice, Miley Cyrus is an ambassador for veganism and sustainable fashion to no less than her 75 million instagram followers as starters. Thus, there is something about Miley that I relate to very very strongly. Maybe is has to do with my newfound commitment to a vegan lifestyle, maybe with her commitment for spreading the message that making clothes does not need to cause suffering in order for you to look stunning, or maybe with the fact she had to break it off with her finance Liam Hemsworth in order for them both to grow as individuals and truly find themselves. Any similarities with people and events not intended. They got back together by the way.
I must have first followed Miley in 2013 around the time Wrecking Ball came out to see what the fuss is all about, after she was proclaimed one of the most followed people on Instagram. I didn't take me long to unfollow though because shortly after I had enough of all the tongue sticking out going on. The truth of the matter is, seems at the time Miley was trying by all means to get away from the Disney character image she became poplilar for, looking to find her own voice, and meanwhile heavily smoking weed in her own words. She has gone a long way since though.
Miley has now undergone a massive transformation to come to a place where she is more real than ever and more than ever herself and "solid as her own being", which she couldn't have done growing up and being attached to another person. I find it amazing that she uses her reach on social media and any chance she gets to talk about the problems in the fashion industry, sustainable fashion and being kind to animals and the planet by leading a vegan lifestyle. Last year she also tied the knot with veganism by getting the V for vegan-shaped tattoo pictured below.
461.8k Likes, 4,860 Comments - Miley Cyrus (@mileycyrus) on Instagram: "Vegan for life! 💚"
Sustainable fashion still has a rather low popularity on the red carpet, but with people using their voices to spread the message that you can be stylish and sustainable all at the same time, like Miley Cyrus and fashion designer Stella McCartney, whose stunning dress (pictured below) Miley wore at the 2018 MET Gala, we are getting there. Thank you Miley!
2m Likes, 8,716 Comments - Miley Cyrus (@mileycyrus) on Instagram
And don't even get me started on her love for animals and the bunch of pups she has at home, her promoting the #adoptdontshop initiative and organisations such as @beaglefreedom, that save animals from inhumane animal testing labs.
890.2k Likes, 4,146 Comments - Miley Cyrus (@mileycyrus) on Instagram: "🌺🌸🌹🌸🌺🌹"
681k Likes, 2,021 Comments - Liam Hemsworth (@liamhemsworth) on Instagram: "My dog posse and I (not all pictured here) are supporting young Aussies living with cancer by..."
473.9k Likes, 2,242 Comments - Miley Cyrus (@mileycyrus) on Instagram: "dora so cute 💜💜💜💜"
667.3k Likes, 2,677 Comments - Miley Cyrus (@mileycyrus) on Instagram: "Thankful for @beaglefreedom and their mission to free captive pups from inhumane animal testing..."
351.6k Likes, 1,366 Comments - Miley Cyrus (@mileycyrus) on Instagram
And to finish with, here is one of my favourite Miley Cyrus performances (song by Miley's aunt Dolly Parton). I don't know about you but as for me, don't need any more reasons to be heavily girl-crushing here.
Fashion Revolution Week: what it is and five ways to get involved
“Fast fashion isn’t free. Somewhere someone is paying the price.”
Exactly five years ago, the question who makes the clothes we wear became from a matter of curiosity to a very urgent issue. On April 24th 2013, in the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, the Rana Plaza garment factory collapsed, killing more than 1100 people that were making clothes for major western brands, leaving thousands more injured. The heart-breaking disaster has since become a sign of global inequality and has sparked demands for greater transparency and safety in the fashion industry supply chain. This tragedy is also what motivated Carry Somers and Orsola de Castro, co-founders of Fashion Revolution, to take instant action. Their movement has grown into the largest initiative for ethical and sustainable fashion, with more than two-and-a-half million people having taken part in Fashion Revolution week last year. In more than 100 countries people asked the question “Who made my clothes?” on social media and followed or took part in talks, film screenings and events on the subject.
The campaign is simple. It urges fashion brands to take responsibility for their production and show greater transparency in their supply chain. The lack of ownership of the factories producing the clothing is one of the main issues that has led to the current state of unfair and unsafe working conditions in the fashion industry. When brands do not own the production and often do not keep track of their long and complicated value chain, it is very hard to keep them accountable for the safety and well-being of their garment workers. Therefore, practices such as mistreatment and suppressing of workers, adapting residential buildings with lack of protective equipment and outdated wiring into factories are common in the largest clothing-producing countries in the world. Thus, Fashion Revolution is asking one simple question: "Who made my clothes?"
This Fashion Revolution week, here are five simple ways how you can get involved and contribute to greater transparency in the fashion industry:
1. Ask "Who made my clothes?"
It is as simple as that. It has never been easier for your voice to be heard by using social media. Take a picture of your favourite piece, tag the brand and ask #whomademyclothes. The more we ask, the more the industry will listen.
2. Take an alternative
There are so many fun ways to update your wardrobe without actually shopping for new clothes. For example, checking your local vintage store. One of my favourites in Vienna and currently conveniently located just across the street is Bootik 54, which is full of pretty reworked vintage Levi's jeans, shorts and skirts. Extra points: at the next brunch, organise a swapping party. The rules are simple - everybody brings three pieces of clothing and is not allowed to go home with the same pieces they brought.
3. Buy less, choose well, make it last
The last few decades have been marked by a rise in consumer culture that has had an immense impact on the way we live. This culture of frequent trendy and cheap, mostly emotional purchases comes at an environmental and human cost - fashion is as of today the second most polluting industry in the world after oil. This scary statistic can be changed, and each small step counts. Here is a beginning - when you see an item you'd like to buy, leave it, give it 24 hours and come back if you still think you need it. Extra points: love your clothes. When you lose a button, sew it back. When it breaks, mend it. Also if you haven't, you can check out the movie The True Cost, showing the reality of the fashion industry supply chain. This movie pretty much changed my life forever. Also, this 3-minute-short movie Loved Clothes Last, directed by Balthazar Klarwein, who has worked with Mario Testino.
4. Shop for ethics and sustainability
In recent years so many fashion startups have emerged, that approach the business of fashion in an ethical and sustainable way, ensuring fare wages and safe working conditions for their markers while also minimising the environmental impact of their business. Nevertheless, gone are the times when sustainable and ethical fashion was basic and boring. Seek out brands that create beautiful clothing while being dedicated to ethical and sustainable practices. Here is a list to help you.
5. Sign the Fashion Revolution Manifesto
The Fashion Revolution manifesto is a statement by designers, producers, makers, workers and consumers that believe that fashion does not need to exploit workers and destroy the planet and therefore demand a radical, revolutionary change of the industry. By signing the Manifesto on their website you can declare your wish to support this vision for a better industry, make it even stronger and share it with others.
Personal Diary: A moment of truth
It was one of those nights I was on my own and quite emotional, then felt the need to write in my diary again. That old one, paper one, right. So I took it out and I started. It struck me though, I opened it and saw that goals entry from exactly three years ago, listing my goals, big and small, and realised nothing changed. It is still the same things I want, on first place it's always be healthy, fit, inspire people to be better, to be good, to be healthy and successful. Of course there were also my work and money goals that need to be achieved in order to do the rest. The point is, they are still the same and I have been struggling to achieve them to the extent that I want, because I haven't found my own path, my own voice yet. And then while I was writing there it just hit me and I stopped everything, and almost started crying, breathing heavily, because I think I really figured where exactly I want to put my energy. I figured I wanted to go in a new direction for d Golden Hour and it was sustainability and a lifestyle and street style that harms our environment as little as possible, and this is so right, and this is so what I always wanted to do. I thought about what stopped me of doing this by now, because it's not like I haven't had the idea before, but if I can be very honest, it was always my love for fashion and style and the urge to buy fashionable finds that represent that passion at prices that have been affordable for me at the time. And this worked great while I was in high school living in Bulgaria, as there were not so many fast fashion brands around, so in order to look good and be stylish without spending a lot of money you would need to look (and I mean look a lot) for hidden gems at small stores. But the thing is, I've been having this problem lately, I love this, and I love that, and I buy a beautiful top at H&M for 10 euros, and it bothers me - I love the look of it, but I have all these thoughts in my head, like how many years is this plastic bag going to take to degrade when it ends up somewhere in the landfills, and who and under what working conditions produced this piece, did they have water, food or a break that day? What are all the chemicals it's been treated with that are going to end up on my body and have ended up in our waters during the production process? I ended up thinking Gosh, we need to stop buying so crazy loads and think more carefully about our buying decisions. And if we all change our habits just a little bit there is so much we can achieve to preserve our environment for next generations, but there is just really not enough awareness in society about that. Because it's not comfortable, it's not sexy. Yet.
So what am I planning to do? Do I wanna be a weirdo walking around in fairly produced fashion with my fabric shopping bags and mason jars? Hell yeah. As if I am not considered a weirdo by most of my surroundings already. But see, here is the deal - weird is good. Weird is great and if you ask me, no better thing to do then be weirdly yourself. So, here we go, I definitely think I will need to go through this that I just wrote now at 1 am tomorrow morning, but I think it all makes sense now. I feel like the dots start connecting and I feel like I make sense. Like this is what I wanted to be.
Inspirational Quote: Steve Jobs
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”
This quote is part of Steve Jobs' Stanford commencement speech 2005, which I've listened to a lot of times and find so true and inspiring. One thing I would point out though is that I definitely think that whatever you are doing at the moment, even if you might not particularly love the job, it is very important that you commit and give it the best you can with the resources that you have. And with that in mind, I believe there is always room for taking a little bit of time every day for something that you really truly love, regardless of a busy schedule. And trust that one day the dots will connect :)
MQ Vienna Fashion Week Vintage Closing Show
Wearing vintage is one of the best ways to spice up your look, give it a unique touch and be good to the environment by giving a new life to an old piece. And plus, how cool is it to know that nobody can be wearing the exact same piece as you? The Vienna Fashion Week this year ended with a Vintage Fashion show powered by Humana People to People, and it was amazing! Humana is an organisation that uses the proceeds of the collected and sold clothing to raise awareness and work on projects that fight poverty and inequality around the world.
The vintage lover that I am, when I heard about a vintage fashion show I was already really excited, but boy I could not have expected such an spectacle full of music, colour and laughs. Each and every model on the catwalk was super fun and fully into their role, plus I loved the fact that most of the people were not professional models but people from all ages and body types, which really added to the authenticity and feel of the show. It showed fashion from the last 60 years, divided into different decades, every one accompanied by the coolest music choices and most of the times also by live performances and dancing acts. Mario Soldo, the director of the show even dressed up and got into the role of a model a couple of times as well! I definitely could not stop laughing and admiring the outfits they put together, which seriously served as a new inspiration for more vintage in my life. Here are some impressions that have hopefully captured the atmosphere of the show.
My favourite part was the this sassy lady singing 'I'm every woman' - she was so cool and had so much character, still not sure if it was her or the guys in speedos walking around her though.
Here are some of my favourite addresses in Vienna and online where you can shop some great vintage finds:
Humana Wien 7. Lerchenfelder Str. 45-47
My personal favourite where you find also reworked vintage and there is always a pair of vintage Levi's cutoffs for everyone:
The Blonde Salad since recently has a tiny but lovely vintage section on their website:
Hope you enjoy thrifting through these as much as me <3
Why September is the best month to start over
There is something so charming about September. On the one hand, summer is not yet over and you can still enjoy the one or the other day/week at the beach, without the crowds and burning summer sun. On the other hand, the weather is cooling off, which, after the couple of months of living in shorts, makes me enjoy layering clothes and crave cosy sweaters and pumpkin spice lattes. But despite the charm and colourful fairytale-like tree leaves and all, there is something that for me really makes September the best month to start things over, whether it is a new work project, a new job, a workout plan or diet.
It's back to school time! OK, I know you're probably not going to school anymore. Anyways, whether you're going back to school, university or work after a nice summer vacation, don't we all keep that back to school feeling pretty much for the rest of our lives when September hits? Temperatures drop and the mornings start smelling like wet fall leaves. Some kind of melancholy for earlier days wakes up in me at that time every year, but also the inner motivation to be better, to work harder, to tirelessly pursue my passion. That's why I like setting new goals at this time of the year. Because let's face it, those new year's resolutions are so overrated and the whole year ahead is such a long time period, that we never actually get them done and they are super hard to track. That's why 90-day-goals have proven to be much more effective and trackable. So what better time to set goals that you want to accomplish until the rest of the year than now :D
So, if you are reading this, and there is something you think about every day, go and start working towards that dream, start working on the new project, find the job you love or create it yourself, and get rid of the negative in your life. And even though I am in no way some sort of a guru, I do have a recipe for achieving that goal, which I borrowed from Jordan Belfort (a.k.a. the real Wolf of Wallstreet). I sincerely hope this is not plagiarism in some way but the recipe is as follows: Write down your goal on a piece of paper, write exactly what you want to achieve and describe it. Then write down how you are going to feel when you do achieve your goal, to really be able to visualise your success. Next step is pick a person that is more important to you than yourself, and write down what you would do for them when you achieve your goal. Only thing that you have left is putting your goal in a bag/pocket to carry it around everywhere with you and take a picture of it to put it on your phone's screensaver. Et voila! - bulletproof. This way it's gonna be in front of your eyes at all times. Now you are unstoppable towards achieving your 90-day goal :)
Style Inspiration: Rachel Green
Anyone else who has watched every single Friends episode multiple times? Let's face it, we're all guilty, and not even sorry. I, personally, can't help but laugh at the same jokes, even when I know they're coming, every-single-time. But also, right from the beginning we knew there was something about that Rachel Green style. From that moment when she stumbled into the coffee house in a wedding dress, it was clear she could make a statement. She has proven it, after all, by scoring jobs at Bloomingdales and Ralph Lauren, so we can shamelessly admit that we got some style inspiration from Rachel one time or another, from that timeless 90s slip dress, to all the different kinds of dungarees, belted and fold-down, short or long. Every now and then she was giving lessons on layering like a pro. If there was a Rachel Green emoji though, it would probably be wearing her signature denim waistcoat. And finally, whether it's the colours of that olive green flowered dress that go so well with Rachel's complexion, or the cut, or the excitement because in this episode Rachel made out with Joey - but this dress is just perfection <3
Scroll down to remember our favourite show and have a look at these favourite Rachel outfits.
Inspirational Quote: Don't stop
““If you can’t stop thinking about it, don’t stop working for it.” ”
Inspiration: Paris
Paris is love and above all love for life, and this, I believe, will never change. It's been in my thoughts a lot lately since I had to take some life decisions, so here is a little inspiration from vintage Paris :)
Recently I read this quote by John Berger about cities and sex and age, which went something like that: 'Every city has sex and age which has nothing to do with demography. Rome is feminine, so is Odessa. London is a teenager, an urchin, and in this, hasn't changed since the time of Dickens. Paris, I believe, is a man in his twenties in love with an older woman.' You agree? :)
Inspirational Quote: You aren't here to be perfect
“Live through the grace of stumbling. Through the beauty of messing up. Often. You aren’t here to be perfect. You already are. You came here to be gorgeously human. ”
Stumbled upon these words of wisdom on Insta today :)
The last weeks have been really tough at uni, there was so much going on, so I'm really happy to finally be flying home tomorrow for a week. Looking forward to some relaxing time with those that always love you no matter the stumbling and messing up and never judge (a.k.a. family) ;)) So happy to have them!
Try something new for 30 days challenge
Thanks to the lovely Polina I stumbled across this TED talk and it was just the reminder I needed of how important it is to take our time every day for fun, creative things that really bring us joy. And guess what, according to this TED talk 30 days seems to be enough to form a habit, so I decided to take the challenge and blog every day for 30 days, starting Saturday :) I created D Golden Hour as my own little place for creativity and beauty, but the crazy schedule since I started my master program and, let's face it, the way I set my priorities, has been keeping me away from it. Honestly, I believe that everything you set your mind to you can achieve, regardless of a crazy schedule, so here it goes, I'm taking this challenge to blog about things that excite me for 30 days straight :D
As me and my Entrepreneurship Avenue team were brainstorming marketing campaigns about our conference the other day and thinking about people walking down roads, I came to realise I actually always liked roads and particularly taking pictures on dusty straight roads, cause well, I don't know, to me they kind of symbolise that idea of taking a chance, going after your wishes and dreams and well, just pursuing whatever it is you want to pursue :) So here are my road photos that I found somewhere deep down the Bonaire photos folders ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnfBXjWm7hc