Fashion with a heart

Fashion with a heart
Article By: Thamar Houliston
Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:02

There's been a wave of 'green' consciousness of late, but what about social consciousness? One German couple was so inspired by South Africa that they found a way to combine the two, in the form of the 'Give-it-Bag'.

Talking at the recent Fashion Exchange +27 event the creators of the bag — Philip Booth and his wife Regina Booth — told the story of how 'Give-it-Bag' came about.

"Our love for this part of the world drew us to Cape Town where a renovation project was our first introduction to rubble bags. Here they're sold in DIY shops to carry construction rubble in, so they're really strong. And they look so cool because the print is always different."

"Seeing as though we were looking for a way to make the world a slightly better place, a bit of a brainstorm lead to the birth of 'Give-it-Bag'. We came up with a design for the bag, bought an old sewing machine and started stitching like crazy, cutting up bags and washing them, and then we began to look for a more experienced production partner."

'Profitable fashion with a heart'

Since Regina had worked as an art director and in the corporate advertising business for several years, she had the know-how to not only create the product but advertise it too.

Their idea soon grew into a flourishing business — "profitable fashion with a heart". Fifty percent of their profits go to disadvantaged people and projects that the couple select themselves.

"We consciously decided not to put the money into already existing charity organisations, we wanted an up-to-date decision on which social activities were most needed in our direct environment," says Philip.

And they have already dedicated their time and money to a number of 'social activities'.

Says Philip, "we gave new footballs to township kids in Khayelitsha; we bought food, clothes, medication and other necessities for a wheelchair-dependant old man on the streets in Cape Town; we supported a local school in Lesotho with stationary books etc.; and we cared for the hundreds of Zimbabwean refugees waiting for their work permits at the harbour at Heerengracht street".

On top of that they bought 12 new eye lenses for cataract operations in a Hospital in Eerste River, near Cape Town, where a couple of local eye surgeons performed day of operations, bringing light into the lives of about 12 people.

Pay it forward

They have added to their thriving business by borrowing from the concept of 'Pay it Foward' and have created a website — www.giveitbag.com — where you can buy one of the bags from anywhere in the world. Each bag has a unique number and you automatically become of member of this good deed society.

The idea is that you tell others about your good deed and inspire them to get involved, or you can post a wish and give someone will have the opportunity to make it come true.

For instance when Regina's phone got stolen she posted a wish and someone in Germany had his old one delivered to her — how's that for social responsibility across the globe?

How the bags are made

Bags full of rice, coffee, tea, sugar, and salt... all make their way to Cape Town from every corner of the world. 'Give-it-Bag' partners who are all locals, collect the empty bags and they then look through the lot to choose the ones that would make great bags. Once this is done, the bags are cut and cleaned. When they're happy with the final cut, they are delivered to their bag-making partner.

No effort is spared to produce the best quality bags. Each piece of rubble bag fabric is cut by hand with a heat cutter to keep the edges from fraying. The fabric and lining change continually so there's no cast-in-stone production process. It would've been cheaper if they were 'made in China', but the couple are completely committed to keeping it local. Not just the bags, but the labels, stickers and packaging, are all made in South Africa.

'Give-it-bag' tries hard to follow their principles of using local production as well as recycled materials.

According to the couple, 'Give-it-Bag' meets the need of a consciously living, globally-aware society — "people want to know what they are buying and where and how it was produced".

This little success story shows that businesses with a heart really can flourish, it's all about finding the right product and creating an idea around it that's hard not to take notice of...