Small, but yet big enough

Having a big apartment in the middle of Paris is for most of us priceless. That’s why we can imagine you would be really happy with a small apartment in this wonderful city. But a small apartment doesn’t mean you wouldn’t have all the amenities you need. This apartment shows, that with a small amount of space, you can have everything you need.

This apartment with a living space of only eight square meters is located in a beautiful building in Haussmann’s style. The room was designed by Kitoko Studio. At first, the room contained only a sink. Kitoko added the other basics, like a sleeping area, bathroom with toilet, kitchen, closet space and a dining area, so the apartment would be totally livable.

By a super handy and creative system of wardrobes and collapsible elements, everything fits perfectly in the tiny apartment.

There’s nothing more to say about this awesome place, you should just have a look at its special interior.

Now, if you have a little more space in your home and you’d like to have some furniture in it that doesn’t take too much space, I have some examples for you. This space-saving furniture are a must for every small household. Each piece of furniture contains other furniture as well, which you can unfold if you need them. An exemplification is a table, which also includes 4 chairs. By merging components, space can be saved so your house wouldn’t be that crowded if you don’t have that much space.

http://roomed.nl/dit-super-kleine-appartement-in-parijs-heeft-alles/

http://www.upcoming.nl/carmoede/9552/kijk-zo-richt-je-je-huis-dus-in-als-je-heel-weinig-ruimte-hebt

Housing for the Homeless

It’s not really uncommon to see homeless people living in shipping containers, but that usually happens in pitiful circumstances. Now, a partnership between developer QED Property and the City of Brighton’s Housing Trust has ensured that these containers can be used in a less miserable way.

Brighton, a town on the south coast of Great Britain, has a solemn hosing problem, because of the high rent and house prices and the low wages. In similar cities in England, homelessness isn’t a big of a problem as it is in Brighton. This also includes street homeless, who sleep wherever possible without having a permanent home.

QED Property has plans to create a block of 36 apartments, each existing of one single shipping container. The block consists of 6 containers high and six wide. Every container is turned into a flat, which includes a living/sleeping space, a kitchen and a bathroom. The flat is equipped with a bad, cabinets and wardrobe.

A company that is willing to cooperate with QED and the Housing Trust, is retailer Homebase. This furnishings selling shop is frequently started to use shipping containers in their advertising campaigns. They want collaborate to provide a ‘starter package’ for this project with furniture and linens for each flat.

The project was originally intended for a project in Amsterdam. Due to  the financial difficulties it was cancelled. Brighton picked the housing project up and completed a block of similar flats at significantly lower prices than planned at the Amsterdam project.

The apartment block was completed past year. A study concluded that 94% of the residents preferred the blocks to comparable housing, which made them a real success. They mentioned the toilet, front door and the kitchen as their favorite aspects.

The apartments isn’t seen as a permanent housing solution for the homeless people who live in it now, but the city authorities are glad to offer a safe, secure living space for the residents, before they could get back into a regular housing situation.

Sources:

http://www.psfk.com/2014/11/shipping-containers-repurposed-brighton-homeless.html

100 years of beauty in 11 pics

1910s

The Gibson Girl, with her luxurious, upswept hair was the ideal of this era. While she wouldn’t dream of wearing makeup, a game of lawn tennis—played by her in a middy blouse and grass-skimming skirt—might bring a natural flush to her cheeks.

1920s

Short hair defined the Roaring Twenties. Flappers like Clara Bow and Louise Brooks wore their shingled hair with scarlet red lips and heads capped by cloche hats over streamlined tubular silhouettes that ended at the knee.

1930s

The garçonne made way for the bias-dress-wearing siren in the thirties. The severity of the bob was softened by waves, and the perfectly lit silver-screen stars, with their perfectly matte complexions provided inspiration to women everywhere.

1940s

Lauren Bacall’s face-framing waves represented one variation of the era’s beauty ideal, while the look proved positively dangerous for Rosie the Riveter types who pulled their hair away from their face to work in factories during wartime. Woman worn tailored suits or feminine party frocks, to communicate strength and purpose.

1950s

The fifties ushered in more than a sinuous sweater line and the reign of the fit-and-flare silhouette (first introduced by Christian Dior’s New Look in 1947). It also established an idealized, formal ideal of womanhood that demanded arched-brow perfection and a perfectly drawn lip.

1960s

Youthquake divided the decade, which progressed from helmet-like bouffants to hippie hair. As the decade wore on, makeup became a means of artistic expression. Pale lips contrasted with a dramatic eye and eyelashes reached unparalleled lengths.

1970s

Ushering in a more expansive definition of beauty, American model Beverly Johnson became the magazine’s first black cover star in 1974. When it came to hair and makeup, the decade’s most famous faces preferred artfully sculpted cheeks and frosted eye shadow.

1980s

The eighties just screamed “more, more, more.” Big hair and shoulders formed the top of an inverted triangle silhouette that exposed perfectly trained legs. Trained  bodies and healthy complexions came in shades of terracotta, as embodied by supermodel Cindy Crawford, whose full brows and trademark mole would become her signature.

1990s

Grunge defined the nineties, the era in which supermodels ceded ground to Kate Moss.. A natural documentary-style unpolished beauty was beauty’s idea of nirvana.

2000s

The best way to play up a perfectly sculpted body? With subtle, perfectionist beauty touches. Flat-ironed hair, fresh skin, and a new kind of clipped down ease ruled with celebrities and models like Liya Kebede.

2010s

In a world when everything and anything is directly available on Instagram, the faces that stand out are those with distinction, like Joan Small’s chiseled cheekbones, Cara Delevingne’s solid brows, and the symmetry of Kendall Jenner’s dark, harmonious, “Goya”-like good looks.

I think this insight in the history of beauty over the years, will show how beauty has changed. Every decade has its own characteristics and its own personality. But does that mean that, for instance, the look of the twenties is out of sight? Of course not. Small parts of these looks our mothers and grandmothers used to wear, will make its return in the fashion industry. So, we could talk about the history of fashion, but it also might be the future of fashion back again.

Sources:

http://www.vogue.com/5842219/100-years-of-beauty-in-vogue/

http://expiredbeanz.com/100-years-of-beauty-in-11-pics

The Ugly side of Beauty

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all? From Snow White’s mirror to the very first Selfie, people have been trying to objectify beauty. And now, a 1,000,000 ‘ like ‘ years later, we still stare breathlessly to our own reflection, while we are pondering over the larger mysteries of true beauty. Model and photographer Coco Young challenges the traditional ideas and appointments. She uses her past as a model to the underlying being obsessed with himself to expose this generation.

What interests you most about the myths of beauty and the self-obsession of a generation?
The beauty ideals are -of course- skewed, but what interests me, is the structure of these standards and how the crowd reacts to them. This isn’t necessarily about people, but also about products and about the world itself. Why does everyone want the iPhone 6 so bad? Why do we think sunsets are so pretty? And why does J.M.W Turner paint the sea time after time?
Vanity is a human trait, but our generation has the technological tools to make vanity public, with which it has become socially acceptable.

Vanity dates back to ancient times, like the search for ideal beauty. Are things changed over the years, do you think?
As we all know, the ideals changed and they also seem to differ per culture. I question the idea of beauty and why we continue to stick to this arbitrary standards. The scale of the “catwalk model” for example is the new golden ratio of beauty. These images are created to be posted as small ‘thumbnails’ that are only intended for the internet. I wanted them to get rid of their original function and blow them up as a life size format. It’s weird, because the original purpose of these images does not work on this new scale. This idea of “perfection” that is prescribed, will not translate to beyond the digital world …

Do you think that vanity is something typically feminine?
I think vanity is unisex, since it is part of the human being. Yet this question interesting indeed, because we are seeing more women who are curating their identity on social media with revealing selfies and such. I do not really know what to think… On the one hand, a woman can feel more powerful by that, but it can also be seen as humiliating.

How has social media affected our ideas of beauty?
Social media has made beauty irrelevant. The illusion of beauty is a collective secret: we all know that it’s a lie, but we all play the game all along.

Does social media show better versions of ourselves?
I don’t think so. I see social media as a perfect tranquilizer for the fear we all have for death. By posting a picture, we let publicly know that we live. The image provides the illusion of immortality.

I think Coco has a really realistic view on beauty. Because she’s a photographer, she has more than one perspectives on beauty, which she can spread to the world. This short interview with her, fits perfectly in the sector Appearance. At first you’d think Appearance is all about make-up, beauty and pretty people and products. By posting a blog about the ugly side of beauty, and how it’s find its way to society, others would also get a realistic view about appearance over all.

Sources:

www.coco-young.com

http://i-d.vice.com/nl/article/fotografe-coco-young-onderzoekt-de-lelijke-kant-van-schoonheid

Moving wash & dry

“Two friends turned their van into a mobile laundromat to wash clothes for the homeless.” It sounds almost too good to be true, but actually, they really did! Homelessness is extremely difficult to deal with. It is the condition and social category of people who lack housing, because they cannot afford, or are otherwise unable to maintain, a regular and safe shelter. Besides having to battle the elements every day and constantly wondering where your next meal will come from, the homeless tend to have a very difficult time maintaining personal hygiene.

Lucas Patchett and Nicholas Marchesi, two 20-year-old boys from Australia, noticed that not enough was being done to help the homeless with their hygiene needs.

They created a very convenient way to help the homeless: they’ve outfitted a van as a mobile laundromat to give the homeless the opportunity to clean their clothes safely and called it the Orange Sky Laundry Project.

Why Orange Sky?

The song, Orange Sky by Alexi Murdoch has been a major inspiration behind this project. “In your love, my salvation lies” and “I had a dream I stood beneath an orange sky, with my brother standing by” are lyrics from the song. The entire message of the song is about helping your brothers and sisters. These values are imperative to us and central to our project.

The two inventor of the project started with a generator and an old. They put two washing machines and two driers in the van, which could process 20 kg of laundry an hour! This all was possible by the many donations they got.

When the boys started with Orange Sky Laundry, they had three goals in mind. The first one was to raise health standards. The second one was to restore respect, and the third one was to reduce stain on resources. They have seven board members working on the project, which all have diverse ranges of skills and life experiences. They all share the same goal: seeing Orange Sky Laundry running the streets of Australia. The project runs on volunteers, and they want to stimulate especially younger people to find simple ways to help people in need.

The project is also partnering with a few charity food vans in Australia. Their corporation makes it possible for the homeless to have a meal while their waiting for their laundry to be done.

At the moment, the Orange Sky Laundry Project is in its early stage, but the two boys and their team have the drive to take it to the next level. Their vision is to provide the laundry services all across Australia by the end of 2015.

This project fits the trends Socialization and Sharing Society. The two guys are helping the ones in need by creating a meeting place for them, while they share their experiences and supplies and help to wash their laundry.

Sources:

http://www.orangeskylaundry.com.au/#!aboutus/csgz

http://www.boredpanda.com/homeless-moving-laundromat-orange-sky-laundry-australia/

http://thehigherlearning.com/2014/10/26/these-20-year-olds-started-a-free-mobile-laundry-service-for-the-homeless/

Colorfull Mycoocoon

The energy colors transmit, have a huge effect on us. They can help us to balance our energy and to live in harmony within the environment around us, but most importantly, within ourselves. With this theory, created Mycoocoon it’s concept: mycocoon immersion. The concept is literally an organic color light immersion, which is based on research in chromotherapy, aromatherapy, lighting, furniture design, and music. This idea is based on the belief that each individual is drawn to a certain color they need to bring balance in their energy and the emerging of their senses.

To bring the balance from the customer’s color energy back, designers Lazavecchia and Wai and Marine Peyre developed special coocoons to provide a “light bath” or a “bain de lumière”. You can find the coocoons located in airports, hotels, corporate offices and spas. The color immersion pod contains a lounge seat for one, a set of non-harmful frequency LEDs, a large shade suspended over the lounge seat, a tablet that’s running the Mycoocoon chromatests application and headphones which are connected to the Mycoocoon system via Bluetooth.

The cocoon immerses the body in main colors in a predetermined order and rhythm. Customers can receive chromatests in the Mycoocoon immersion spaces. These tests establish their personal chromatic profiles and define their energy balance, color and needs.

It all starts with the color that’s missing from the chromatic profile of the customer. Following are the complementary colors. Every color is connected with a specific role, but together they create the ultimate moment of relaxation. In combination with certain aromas and sounds, the Mycoocoon creates a whole new experience.

A part of Mycoocoon is Mycoloremotion. It’s an online community of individuals, which is based on their own emotional and chromatic profiles. It offers a real-time indicator of people’s connection with each other and sharing their color-emotion with people all around the world.

Mycoocoon organizes events, exhibitions with all kinds of artists, designers, chefs and musicians and all kind of people which has to do a lot with color. Together they offer services to businesses on Color Team Building to increase the well-being of the employees of the company at work.

Mycoocoon consists of two variants. Mycoocoon nomade are impermanent installations. They are set up as practical furniture during events, while Mycoocoon immersion are more permanent type of spaces established in buildings and business locations.

To give you an idea of how color could affect your emotions, I’ll show you the meanings of some main colors. In this way, you’ll understand how certain colors can give you a positive feeling, and other colors can make you feel down. The color wheel is a tool for understanding color and color relationships.

Yellow

Yellow shines with optimism, enlightenment and happiness. Shades of golden yellow carry the promise of a positive future. Yellow will advance from surrounding colors and instill optimism and energy, as well as spark creative thoughts.

• Effects: stimulates mental processes, stimulates the nervous system, activates memory, encourages communication

Green

Green occupies more space in the spectrum visible to the human eye than most colors, and is second only to blue as a favorite color.               Green is the pervasive color in the natural world, making it an ideal backdrop in interior design because we’re so used to seeing it everywhere.

• Effects: soothes, relaxes mentally, as well as psychically, helps alleviate depression, nervousness and anxiety, offers a sense of renewal, self-control and harmony

Blue

Blue is seen as trustworthy, dependable and committed. The color of ocean and sky, blue is perceived as a constant in our lives. As the collective color of the spirit, it invokes rest and can cause the body to produce chemicals that are calming.

• Effects: calm and sedates, cools

Purple

Purple embodies the balance of red’s stimulation and blue’s calm. With a sense of mystic and royal qualities, purple is a color often well liked by very creative or eccentric types and is the favorite color of adolescent girls.

• Effects: uplifts, calms the mind and nerves, offers a sense of spirituality, encourages creativity

Pink

Brighter pinks are youthful, fun and exciting, while vibrant pinks have the same high energy as red; they are sensual and passionate, without being too aggressive. Toning down the passion of red with the purity of white results in the softer pinks that are associated with romance and the blush of a young woman’s cheeks.

• Bright pinks, like the color red, stimulate energy and can increase the blood pressure, respiration, heartbeat and pulse rate. They also encourage action and confidence. Pink has been used in prison holding cells to effectively reduce erratic behavior

Red

Red has more personal associations than any other color. Recognizes as a stimulant, red is inherently exciting and the amount of red is directly related to the level of energy perceived. Red draws attention and a keen use of red as an accent can immediately focus attention on a particular element.

• Effects: increases enthusiasm, stimulates energy and can increase the blood pressure, respiration, heartbeat and pulse rate, encourages action and confidence, provides a sense of protection from fear and anxiety

Orange

Orange, a close relative of red, sparks more controversy than any other hue. There is usually strong positive or negative association to orange and true orange generally elicits a stronger “love it” or “hate it” response than other colors. Fun and flamboyant orange radiates warmth and energy.

• Effects: stimulates activity, stimulates appetite, encourages socializations

White

White projects purity, cleanliness and neutrality. Doctors don white coats, brides traditionally wear white gowns and a white picket fence surrounds a safe and happy home.

• Effects: aids mental clarity, encourages us to clear clutter or obstacles, evokes purification of thoughts or actions, enables fresh beginnings

Gray

Gray is the color of intellect, knowledge and wisdom. It is perceived as long-lasting, classic and often as sleek or refined. It is a color that is dignified, conservative and carries authority. Gray is a perfect neutral, which is why designers often use it as background color.

• Effects: unsettles, creates expectations

Black

Black is authoritative and powerful, because black can evoke strong emotions, too much can be overwhelming. Black represents a lack of color, the primordial void, emptiness. It is a classic color for clothing, possibly because it makes the wearer appear thinner and more sophisticated.

• Effects: make one feel inconspicuous, provides a restful emptiness, is mysterious by evoking a sense of potential and possibility

This concept fits the trend individualization. It adapts the activity of the Mycoocoon to each individual to optimize its effect. The cocoon is also developed to take care of one person at the time, so each person gets the personal attention they need. This example also fits he trend technology, because today’s, newest technology is needed to make this concept happen.

Sources:
http://www.mycoocoon.com/

http://www.psfk.com/2014/10/chromatic-lighting-experience-awakens-senses.html

http://positivemed.com/2013/03/07/the-psychology-of-color/

Stereotyping violent masculinity

In most places in the world, violent and sexual crimes are most often committed by the male sex. This also happens in Africa. There are way too much examples of individual gendered aggression and the association between masculinity and violence. This contributes to the problem, which Dr. Jackson Kats calls, ‘violent masculinity as a cultural norm’. This dangerous affiliation makes violence seem normal, while there are many men who do not fit the stereotype. The men who are husbands, fathers and inspirations to many people.

That’s why the South African photographer Jodi Bieber has been fighting the relation between violence and masculinity for the past three years. She photographs men who do not fit the stereotype. The photo report is called “Quiet”, and shows powerful masculinity, but without its brute force and its machismo. The photos show us the soft debility which every human being possesses, regardless of gender.

“For this project, I asked everyone I knew to get me in touch with men they might know, who would help me with my project. Finally, I found a few men from all walks of life who would collaborate with me. Together we created a quiet portrait of themselves. I did this by asking them to ‘take of their uniform’, by only wearing their underwear. To make them feel comfortable anyways, I photographed them in their safe spaces, like their home,” Jodi said.

She spends one to three hours with every man who wanted to pose for her. This would be enough time for each man to literally strip his clothes, as well as his ‘invisible clothes’. By invisible clothes, is meant the threshold the men need to pass before they’re comfortable within only their underwear. As a result, the images show a calm and soft side of manhood, which isn’t often broadcasted in mainstream culture. This piece of art should open up the space for boys and men to see themselves in another way then society forces them to. They don’t need to be the traditional stereotype we are used to seeing anymore. If we keep seeing men as the aggressive types we see them now, it will still be the cultural norm.

To strengthening the message, Bieber asked each of her models the question: “Who are you in the world?” Every single man gave their own answer, ranging from their familial roles to more abstract position they see themselves in the world, like “one in a million.” Those different types of responses, show that masculinity is not just one thing.

Jodi’s artwork creates a space for the coexistence of masculinity and susceptibility. She hopes that she can make people aware of the fact that men don’t have to struggle anymore to fit a certain gender stereotype. She wants her images to serve as an example for this awareness. If more and more men can be themselves without pressure from society telling them what a men should be like, it’s possible that the cycle of violence can be broken before it reaches the next generation.

This piece of artwork fits the trend Masculinity & Femininity, because it gives us a new perspective on what a men really should be. Does everybody have to fit the stereotype to be a man, or can everybody just be themselves? Society has a certain look of what a man should be, but does that mean that, if you don’t fit the standard, you aren’t a man? This project shows us the contrary of society’s view.

Sources:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/14/jodi-bieber_n_5949036.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063

No-Poo

Nothing feels as good as a nice, fresh taken shower. All of your make-up removed, your hair freshly washed and the lovely smell of shampoo. For lots of people, one of the best parts of a beauty routine. Or.. maybe not.  I’ve read that more and more women hadn’t washed their hair with shampoo for a few months, or even a few years. I was shocked. How do they clean their hair? This phenomenon is called No-Poo. I’m going to explain to you in this post what it exactly means and why it’s so popular.

The big question, of course, is why? We have been looking for that one shampoo which is perfect for our hair and allows us to feel like we belong in a L’Oreal advertising. But maybe, that’s the answer though; we don’t have the hair we want, because shampoos are chock full of sulfates, bleaches and chemicals. Even natural shampoos aren’t as good for our hair as they seem, because our scalp is going to dependent on the product after a while. Thereby, the head no longer cleans itself. This does make sense actually, because the more often we wash our hair, the more often we must wash it. Women who don’t wash their hair with shampoo anymore, say that their hair is less frizzy and less greasy and that their hair is softer and shinier than before.
If you’re already happy that you survive three days without washing your hair and swear by your dry shampoo, you’d probably ask yourself how it’s even possible not to wash your hair even on day four. And, eventually maybe 4 months without washing your hair!

This is because you need to pass a threshold. Hair that’s washed a lot is often overproducing oils. If you stop washing your hair, the overproducing will also stop and the hair will balance itself again. But, it takes time. If you have thick hair, it doesn’t take so long. Maybe, about two weeks. Thin hair takes a little longer, about four to five weeks. The first thing you can try if you would like to make this transition, is to stretch your hair washing days. For example, start with every four days and then every five days to wash your hair. Reduce it even more after that. But what after that?

There are a few options for this No-Poo trend. The first one is called “Cold Turkey”.  One option to regard is to use no more products for your hair at all. You can wash your hair every few days with water, without using shampoo or any other hair products. This is an option where you haven’t reached the result in about a weak, but in the end it’s worth it!
The second option is the combination of baking soda and vinegar. This is the option most women choose within their No-Poo lifestyle. They wash their hair with baking soda or apple cider vinegar. Baking powder is a subtle cleanser which removes dead skin cells and impurities without chemical ingredients. Appel cider vinegar cleanses the scalp and softens the hair. Use one tablespoon of the baking soda or vinegar and mix it with one cup op water. You could also use the baking soda on the top of your head and the vinegar at the length. If you want to wash your hair only with water after a while, this intermediate step is the perfect solution.

The last option is to replace your shampoo by a cleansing cream. And no, “cleansing cream” is not just a label which companies stuck on a shampoo bottle to make it sell better. It is a cleansing cream without foam or other shampoo-characterizes. If you use it for the first time, there is a chance you use way too much of it. You need the same amount of cleansing cream like shampoo, sometimes even less. The cleanser cleans the hair in a gently way and is definitely worth a try!

Maybe it sounds a little weird to follow the No-Poo trend, but if it’s working for other women, why wouldn’t it work for you? So, pass the boundary and leave your shampoo aside.

The No-Poo trend is a small example of the 24/7 economy. Most people don’t want to spend their leisure on external care. They love going to a spa or al wellness center, but don’t have time to put on a skin care mask and a hair mask every night after a long workday, while doing their nails. This lack of time ensures the rise of trends like No-Poo. With a little touch of Feminization and individualization, this trend fits in today’s society.

Sources:

http://mens-en-gezondheid.infonu.nl/lifestyle/126477-de-no-poo-methode-was-je-haar-schoon-zonder-shampoo.html

http://www.groenenchic.nl/beauty/no-poo-was-zonder-shampoo/

Sportswear designs

Formerly, people wore sportswear purely for the practice of sport. It didn’t have to be beautiful, as long as it was functional. The blurring between fashion and sportswear began in the 1980s. One went to the gym more often. They wanted to move to the next point on their to do list, without having to change after going to the gym. More and more people went for comfort, but it still had to look good. Lifestyle choices and an increasing level of informality in society had their repercussions in fashion. Sportswear and fashion were more similar to each other.

When sports became a lifestyle choice, sportswear got a new meaning. We saw that women went to the gym or the yoga studio more and more often in the 1980s, but they didn’t want to sacrifice their sense of style do to this. Top model Christy Turlington launched the new yoga line Nuala for Puma in 2000. The line was intended for women with a busy life, who didn’t had time to dress up over and over again. The comfortable garments by Nuala could be combined to be worn to yoga class likewise to lunch.

Collaborations between big fashion and sports brands is a combination that’s seen a lot nowadays. Co-branding is a fashion phenomenon, but also a useful marketing tool. Think of Puma and Alexander McQueen, Adidas and Stella McCartney, Commes des Garcons en Speedo or Yohji Yamamoto and Adidas. Connecting these big names with each other, creates a cross-pollination, where both can get their benefit from. The brand awareness of the sports company as well the designer get a new impulse within a new target group.

A less formal lifestyle has also played a large role in the way we look at sportswear. The journalist Oliver Hornton called it the ‘ democratization of fashion ‘. One is more relaxed about fashion and wearing couture from head to toe is a thing of the past. Nowadays, people are free in making their own fashion choices. Successfully combining different styles is precisely what they aspire to. Now, it’s really modern when someone wears sporty shoes with a nice suit, without appearing as if he put much thought in it.

It started with the Internet boom in Silicon Valley. Employees of Internet start-ups started to dressed less formal. With the success of these companies, our society became aware of this phenomenon. Between 1992 and 1999, more and more companies entered the casual Friday. Meanwhile, the need for a certain formality in offices is coming back a little. But, this doesn’t mean that the rules are again as they used to. With the casual Friday, a certain freedom has won.

Not all fashion designers who are willing to develop in the fashion of sports are asking a sports giant for help. When luxury brand Prada wanted to broach a new target group, it launched Prada Sport in 1997. The brand created a whole new kind of fashion with technically advanced fabrics and easy fits. Fashion houses recognized that the development of a sporty line would attract more customers. Designer clothes has, partly due to the influence of hip hop, become wildly popular, and sportswear hadn’t lost its popularity yet. By combining designer clothes and sportswear, the positive effect wasn’t only for the fashion designers, but also for the customers as well. More affordable clothing that was comfortable and yet luxurious; a classic win-win situation.

One thing is for sure; the need for designer clothes in the sporting goods sector seems to persist. As long as fashion is fashionable, sports remain popular, and comfort and status are important to consumers, fashion designers and sports giants will collaborate just fine.

This modification in the fashion of sportswear shows that people have the ability to improve clothes. We’re not only making them prettier, but we also make them better. With technology we can create certain kinds of fabrics, which can improves our sports accomplishments. But also, fashion brands have the chance to work with new kinds of fabric. This idea of improvement will fit the trends Technology and Individualization. Technology to improve the clothes, and Individualization, because people want to express their own styles in wearing the clothes they like. Therefore, all kinds of clothing has to be designed. By adding technology to the designs, the collaboration of fashion brands and sports brands are more useful than ever.

Sources:

http://www.ehow.com/about_5708716_history-gym-wear.html

wear.htmlhttp://www.fashionunited.nl/Content_by_Mail/Received_content/Sportkleding%3A_van_functioneel_tot_modieus_2005110112503/

People, Planet, Profit: Kahawabags!

Kahawabags are fashionable ladies bags made out of jute, coffee beanbags and leather. The merits of the brand return to the coffee farmers and the makers of the bags. Hereby, Kahawabags contributes to corporate social responsibility. It sounds almost too good to be true, but there is much more behind it.

Sylvia Kalia is the founder of Kahawabags. During her travels through Africa, she became fascinated by the colors, the smells, the materials and especially by the people of this continent. When she came back home and saw the coffee bags at the coffee roasting house Peeze, her thoughts went back to her African journey. She wanted to bring the experience, the whole atmosphere she felt in Africa, back to the Netherlands.

But what is Kahawa? Kahawa means “coffee” in Swahili. So, the jute bags, in which the beans come from Eastern Africa to the Netherlands, are called Kahawabags. The coffee roasting house Peeze delivers the jute bags to Kahawabags, in which they supplied the raw coffee for their business from all over the world.

The company Peeze is a coffee roasting company in Arnhem which stands for durability. All coffee beans are purchased on plantations which aspire the ‘ 10 principles of the United Nations Global Compact ‘. This provides fair working conditions and a responsible use of the environment. The most important aspects the company focuses on, are international human rights, prohibition of discrimination, prohibition of child labour, responsible use of the environment and a ban on forced labor.

Peeze stands for coffee with a good story. All coffee is 100% certified with the Max Havelaar/BIO-or the Rainforest Alliance certification. In addition, Peeze is going to compensate the CO2 emissions in Ethiopia in exchange with the organic Fairtrade coffee beans. The result is new and unique: climate neutral Fairtrade coffee with compensation at the source.

Sylvia collaborated with this company to start with the design of Kahawabags in a sustainable, fair way. A special balance between people, planet and profit.

Kahawabags is a commercial enterprise, with an eye for the social environment. The company recycles, creates employment and supports coffee and tea farmers all over the world. They work together with suppliers who are socially involved and who have sustainability also on a high standard. A part of the yield of the sold bags return to the Peeze Foundation, thus to various coffee projects in the countries of origin. In fact, not only the coffee farmers are having benefit because part of the profit flows back to the Peeze Foundation, they also collaborate with the studios of ‘Mode met een Missie’ of Kommak Foundation to help migrants to integrate in the Netherlands.

The Government also has its opinion on Kahawabags. Minister Plasterk of Binnenlandse zaken spoke highly of the initiative. ‘ The re-use of material is already beautiful. But certainly the approach, in which women are active who haven’t got any direct access to the labour market yet. That’s a very nice project. ‘

That the coffee bags of coffee roasting Peeze are being processed into fashionable bags by Kahawabags nowadays, doesn’t only ensure a social statement, but also a fashion statement. The stylish, authentic bags that are fully hand-made. This exclusivity, combined with the feeling of yields its beneficial effects, ensure that you help the world a little bit in a sustainable, fair way by buying a fashionable Kahawabag.

Kahawabags is a nice example within the sustainability trend in the sectors Appearance and Living. They combine fashion with durability, a combination that is been appreciated more and more nowadays. By showing such initiatives, people get the feeling that they can help to make the world a better place by making a small contribute (in this case, buying a bag). This enables them to contribute to the social well-being of farmers in poor countries, which enhances nog only the Quality of Life of the farmers, but also their own, by helping other people.

 

sources:

http://www.kahawabags.com/waarom/

http://www.lifestyle.nl/kahawabags-stoere-tassen-van-stoere-materialen/

http://addictions.nl/creatie/kahawabags-geeft-ze-van-jute