It's about time for fashioning change

By Mary Rose Roberts

I recently stumbled across an online article about changing the way U.S. residents make their fashion choices. Let’s face it. Most Americans buy cheap fashions from retailers including Target, Old Navy and Macy’s. These are often throw-away garments: They don’t wash well, they fall apart and are out of season before they leave your closet. Even worse is that fact tiny little kid hands often make those fashions for you--and every time you buy, you support child labor or outsourced U.S. jobs.

Few of us have the time or the desire to build a proper wardrobe, like our grandma and grandpa had. They went to Marshal Fields, bought the best and something that lasted, and had it tailored to fit. We need to get back to this and reduce the waste created by the fashion industry. That is why I was attracted to Fashioning Change, a beta website that helps users find eco-alternatives to their favorite fashion brands. So I checked it, and then interviewed Adriana Herrera, founder and CEO.

For your time, Adriana is offering the following discount to readers:
Promo Code: StyleWise
Discount: 10% Off
Valid: 8/1/2012 - 8/7/2012

What was the thinking behind starting the business?

LBD from Wear This, Not That section of fashioningchange.com

I grew up with a unique lens on making purchases. My father grew up on Juarez, Mexico, a city that many consumer goods companies outsource to. He had friends and family that worked in many of the factories and knew what it meant for the people and the community to purchase one brand over the other.

He instilled in his children three rules we had to abide by when it came to making purchases:  We weren't allowed to buy things made in Asia; we weren't allowed to wear clothing made of synthetic materials; and we weren't allowed to wear dark clothing because my dad feels that children are the light of the world. From childhood, I was always thinking about where something came from, how it was made, who it was made by, and under what conditions.

I ended up co-founding a product development company and domestically manufactured eco-friendly handbags, opening up connections to designers that also were passionate about socially responsible manufacturing. So many of these designers were incredibly talented in making beautiful products, but they were forgetting the business element of reaching consumers. So to solve the problem, I decided to leverage emerging technology to build a platform that connects shoppers with brands that do fashion better.

Perfect work shirt + guilt-free!

Fashioning Change provides the missing link of providing consumers with sustainable and ethical designs that are direct alternatives to brands they already know they like.

What is Fashioning Change’s mission?

Our vision is simple: to partner with online shoppers and facilitate sustainable positive change to protect health, the earth and human rights. Together, with our partners, our goals are to create applications that help people take steps towards leading authentically sustainable and happy lives and facilitate access to information that creates transparency in what our purchases support. It also is to introduce shoppers to reliable eco-friendly and ethical brands that have the look, quality, and price points of name brands; partner with consumers to drive bottom-up systemic change in the retail and manufacturing industries; and become a partner and resource to social justice organizations that are working on human rights issues and to protect the earth.

What exactly does the site do as far as matching fashion?

Shoppers share price, style, brand and values preferences and Fashioning Change introduces carefully curated alternatives that match preferences and also protect health, the earth, and human rights. Our Wear This, Not That series gives shoppers better alternatives of on trend and essential pieces from top-name brands. We've also launched Share The Goodness, a product recommendation tool that pulls information from your friends on Facebook and provides product matches. So, if your sister loves the beach and motorcycles, you'll be able to easily suggest products that are perfect for her.

What are the challenges? Joys?

Love these socks for winter!

My dad always says, "The number one resource we have in life is time. It's the one thing we can never get back." The toughest thing about running a startup is that there's never enough time to do everything we want to do.  One of the hardest things about my job is to prioritize what we're going to do ensure that I'm creating the shortest path to positive change possible.

It's an indescribable feeling to wake up every day and know that I'm getting to work on something that is creating change and was inspired by the way I grew-up.  Not many people are able to push themselves to take the risk that the Fashioning Change team has taken.  It's amazing to see how far our hard work has gotten us.  We still have a ways to go before we fulfill our vision but it's rewarding nonetheless.

Where can you be found online/social media?

Twitter Handle: @fashion_change

Twitter:  @adriana_herrera

Facebook: Fashioning Change

Pinterest: Adriana Herrera