Our latest collection comes in partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), in support of their vital conservation efforts including Oceans, Fresh Water and Forestry projects and featuring archival NASA imagery of the earth printed onto 100% fine silk twill. Rather than observing these projects from afar, we wanted to support them in a unique and stylish way, using fashion as a medium to inspire change, both behaviorally and ecologically. In order to have the greatest impact we can while supporting initiatives that drive us, we’re focusing on three major efforts that, though incredibly important, can be rather intimidating in their scale. While we all have some understanding of issues like degrading natural resources and global climate change, it can be tough to truly connect and figure out how to drive change in small but impactful ways. Why not with a utilitarian statement, wrapping yourself in sustainably sourced silk, printed with the places of the earth that contribute to our well being? We asked, we created.
Luckily we’re in good company, and the industry is making strides in support of conscious fashion without compromising style. As a result, more people demand to know where their things come from and people like us decide to give them good answers. Trends are meaningless and sustainability is meaningful, so we work hard to manufacture sustainably, understanding where our collections are made and how they affect the stunning, precious earth that they portrayed. The devil’s in the details, and we’ve broken them down to shed a little light on what inspires our work, and the realities that drive us to create a beautiful yet impactful product.
The Global Ocean Program: Oceans sustain life. They cover 71% of our planet’s surface, make up 95% of all the space available to life, produce 70% of our oxygen, absorb heat and re-distribute it around the world, and dominate the world's weather systems. From the freezing Polar Regions to the warm waters of the tropics they are home to incredible iconic marine species such as sharks, turtles, whales and more. Oceans are also critical for people, as a source of food, culture, and history. They support 1 billion people who rely on fish as an important part of their diet and more than 520 million livelihoods who rely on fishing and fishing related activities for income and food.
WWF’s oceans work focuses on healthy and resilient marine ecosystems that support abundant biodiversity, sustainable livelihoods, and thriving economies.
The Global Freshwater Program: This can sometimes seem abstract, but the reality is that nearly half the world’s population will be living under severe water scarcity by 2030 if no new policies are introduced. This makes sense considering just 3% of water on the planet is freshwater, and only 1% is readily available for human use. With just under 1 billion people still without access to clean and safe drinking water, there’s a lot we can do.
The Forest Conservation Program: The focus of WWF’s work for half a century, conserving forests is the single largest and relatively cheapest thing we can do to limit the impact of climate change—one of the greatest threats to humankind ever known. The Ecological Footprint, which tracks humanity’s competing demands on resources, currently exceeds, meaning our lifestyles are unsustainable. If we maintain current resource use, we will need the equivalent of two planets by 2030.
To interpret and highlight these programs, we’ve depicted NASA images curated by Slow Factory founder, Celine Semaan, of regions of the earth unique in their offerings of both endangered wildlife and natural land formations. Ten percent of the proceeds of your purchase will go towards World Wildlife Fund’s vital global conservation efforts that require major attention. There’s nothing more stylish than teaming together to make great change.
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Written by Emilie Hawtin for Slow Factory™
*10% of the retail purchase price of this limited edition scarf will be donated to WWF’s global conservation efforts between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2016. Slow Factory is proud to make a minimum contribution of $15,000 to WWF through this effort.
© 1986 Panda symbol WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature (also known as World Wildlife Fund).
® “WWF” is a WWF Registered Trademark.
© 1986 WWF-Fonds mondial pour la nature (aussi connu sous le nom de World Wildlife Fund), symbole du panda.
® « WWF » est une marque déposée du WWF.