I'm currently working right now as I write this blog. So I got to thinking about what I can talk about in my final entry. And as I gazed to my right I saw a new brand in my store called Alo, pronounced aloe. The company's motto is "Define your GREEN". Their mission, according to their website is to "Create high performance, stylish lifestyle wear with outstanding function, designed and produced with minimal impact on the environmental elements alo stands for: Air. Land. Ocean. We provide customers with a choice that is respectable of the environment with out sacrificing fashion" (About Alo).
Considering the existence of this brand is brings up a whole range of topics I've read about in Kawamura's Fashion-ology, the one idea that pops out the most is that "production influences consumption, and consumption influences production" (Kawamura). Being green and creating this cultural where prioritizing the planet's future is not only a genuinely nice gesture, it's one great marketing scheme. We live in a world of recyclables, Priuses and repurposing. The goal is to avoid wasting as much as possible. The fact that they are creating their clothes through a green strategy makes them that much more appealing. That is production influencing consumption. People don't feel bad about buying the clothing because there is no guilt. The old way of being overly lavish and wasteful is gone. That kind of consumption has influenced production of goods. This, in turn, is the basis for the Alo brand.
Alo is a solid brand with a great upside, but nontheless, to buy their clothing may be going against the compact challenge. I'm not hating on their purpose or completely think it's a clever scheme. But everything has a niche. Alo is lucky that their niche also ensures success, at least in theory.
Cyril Torado #6
"About Alo" Alo.com. 3 June 2009.
Kawamura, Yuniya. Fashion-ology An Introduction to Fashion Studies (Dress, Body, Culture). New York: Berg, 2005.
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