Help By Laura Ella Fight Fast Fashion

The global COVID-19 pandemic has created a very uncertain landscape for  millions of British small businesses, which is going to make it very challenging for businesses to survive, one of them being By Laura Ella, my sustainable, anti fast fashion, female empowerment clothing brand. I made By Laura Ella my sole income at the start of the year after I decided to peruse my dream of having my own clothing brand which makes a difference. I love to make people feel great, so it was a no brainer to support female empowerment through my designs.

Since launching the brand I have been exposed to the horrendous industry of fast fashion. It is described as current trends sold at low prices for consumers. High Street brands are able to sell their products cheaply as they use factories in India and China which charge very little to manufacture the clothing. These manufacturers provide no living wage or a safe place for their staff to work, meaning that the staff are living in poverty despite working long gruelling hours in unsanitary, unsafe factories.

Fashion is responsible for 10% of the the worlds emissions. It can take 200 years to break down clothing in landfil and it takes 700 gallons of water to create one single cotton t-shirt.

As someone who is passionate about fashion but equally as passionate about our planet, I wanted to do my part and reduce fast fashion but also provide clothing that women would be proud to wear.

I want to be able to reduce my footprint by reusing t-shirts which companies no longer want or use, but this can be expensive. If I can source t-shirts from recycling companies, wholesale graders or pretty much anywhere else and redesign them into fun, powerful and sustainable pieces, they can then find a new home instead of landfill. 

I have contacted local charities to help source the clothing and in return I have offered to donate more profit than the retail price, but sadly I have not had any luck. Without the clothing, the only option is to buy stock from manufacturers (Which is something I'm not willing to do) and risk putting more women at risk in sweatshops and more clothing in landfill. 

The money donated will be used to keep the website up and running through the pandemic, stock up on materials needed to create the motivational designs, source the fabric and clothing and of course create clothing to continue to inspire women. Thank you for taking your time to read this. Every penny helps and is hugely appreciated. Stay sustainable and stay safe.

Laura 

Lauraella.co.uk