Designing Do Gooders
Blake Mycoskie, founder of Tom’s shoes in Venice, CA, and a former contestant on The Amazing Race, gives away a pair of shoes for every pair his company sells. He’s now donated over 115,000 pairs through a series of Shoe-Drop tours around the world.
Why?
To give children the opportunity to wear shoes through his One For One program of course, but also because an explosive trend in conscious consumerism is upon us. We want to know who we’re buying from, the size of their carbon footprint and yes, if the people who made it were paid a reasonable amount to do the work.
Giving product and money to causes is part of the new distribution of designer wealth and it’s what’s we want to see. Designers big and small see the benefits of this.
EDUN founders, Bono of U2 and Ali Hewson founded their company in 2005 featuring organic clothing, graphic tees and eco-clothing with a mission to drive sustainable employment in developing economies.
Other designers like Betsey Johnson, Iman, Tory Burch and Nicole Miller have done everything from support the environment to donate to AIDS awareness, breast cancer research and school nutrition programs.
Maybe they do it because they realize how good it feels to give.
Maybe they do it because the numbers add up better if they do it, but maybe, just maybe they do it so that when their kids ask them in ten years: “Mommy, what did you do to help the world?”
Mommy can then look them straight in the eye and say, “A lot.”
Image: Garry Knight
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
Win One Give One – the TOMS Vegan Shoe Giveaway
XHello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic. Listen closely, because this might
How to Preserve Your Designer Shoes
XHello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic. If you’re anything like me,
Beyond Skin: Summer Shoe Sale
XHello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic. Some people dream of great
Get in Line? Rogan Gregory's Green Garb Comes to Target
XHello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic. lsaac Mizrahi is ditching Target
|
Bookmark |
2 Comments
February 2nd, 2009 at 11:27 am
It’s always nice to feel good about rampant consumerism, and some designers/merchants do make a concerted effort to support a cause. But I think others *cough, Gap, *cough* tend to use causes like HIV/AIDS as a marketing tool to draw people into their stores, while the real impact of their donations is minimal.
February 2nd, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Hi Theresa, we agree with you that some (many) companies unfortunately have ulterior motives. That’s why we do our best to focus on those who are genuine. I, too, get angry at companies that are clearly being mercenary. The only thing to do is to be proactive; personally, I try to channel my anger positively and write the company a constructive letter. As for those who are earnestly working to shed light on authentic and ethical designers such as those featured in this piece, I offer them my support.
Welcome! The comment box is all yours to say what you like. Just make sure you use a real name, not a site or company, so you don't get sent to the spam bin. (That makes us sad.)