4 Ways Your Love Of Fashion Can Help Clean Up The Oil Spill
Today is the 79th day oil has been spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. Estimates for how much oil has spilled and how much damage will eventually be done to the region and to our world are incomplete at best, and attempts to do something about the spill have been stalled by bureaucracy, inadequate knowledge and tools, and what is probably a flat out lack of effort from BP.
Like most other industries, the rag trade has been doing what it can to help Gulf Coast communities get back to some semblance of normal. Below, a few examples of how fashion companies and organizations are helping the oil spill.
How Big-Name Labels are Helping
Kenneth Cole‘s customizable “I Clean Up Well” tees were created specifically to raise money for the Deepwater Horizon response. At $35, they’re certainly not the cheapest t-shirt we’ve ever owned, but with 100 percent of the net profits going to Awearness, Kenneth Cole’s foundation, for the relief effort, it’s a price we’re willing to pay.
Independent Brands Lend a Hand
Smaller fashion brands are helping out in big ways, too. Qi New York‘s Holiday 2010 collection features several garments with iridescent feathers on them. In recognition of the number of animals that have died because of the oil spill, the company has pledged to donate $1 from the sale of each feathered garment to the National Wildlife Federation. The money will help the NWF track the impact of the oil spill and coordinate volunteer rescue efforts in the region.
The T-Shirt Solution
Normally, we avoid statement tees, but the ones produced in response to the oil spill have us rethinking that dictum. Threadless Tees‘ peliCAN shirt, for example, makes a pretty powerful statement about the spill’s impact on wildlife. At only $10, they’re a little more affordable than the Kenneth Cole tees mentioned above, but they’ve got the same idea behind them. All of the proceeds will be donated to the Gulf Restoration Network.
Community-Based Fashion Fundraisers
Fashion-centric individuals and organizations all over the country have put together runway presentations to benefit the clean up effort. For example, San Antonio, Texas style blogger Gina Garcia organized The Fever Fashion Show, the proceeds of which will be donated to Oceana, a water preservation charity. Washington, DC’s trenDCity is sponsoring a show for Matter of Trust, a charity that’s helping to get hair boom — boom made out of donated human hair — to the Gulf.
We know that we’re not including all of the fashion-based efforts to help with the spill, so if you can think of any more, please let us know in the comments section. And please do what you can to help out — buy a t-shirt, get a haircut at a salon that’s donating hair boom, or open up your wallet. Every cent, every stitch, every second of time devoted to the clean-up and containment process is one small step toward helping the Gulf get back on its feet.
[Image via NASA]
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