The holidays are a time for reflection. An opportunity to give thanks while keeping in mind those who are less fortunate. It should be about spending time together with our families and friends and celebrating what we have.
Yet it seems we've lost our way. We've been inundated by a consumerist culture pushing hugely discounted Black Friday sales from big box retailers.
We all love sales, but there's something wrong with the indiscriminate price-slashing that has come to define Black Friday. The value of what you buy gets lost when we just focus on slashed prices. As Oscar Wilde famously said, "nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing."
While we may save a few dollars, we pay for these sales in other ways. As consumers, we pay because big box retailers offset big sales by using lesser quality materials specifically made for overstock and Black Friday.
Designers and small businesses pay as they are forced to slash their margins to keep up. And our society pays because we've become overwhelmed by a mass consumerist frenzy instead of valuing what is important and supporting high quality craftsmanship and small businesses that benefit our local economies.
That's why this holiday weekend, my site Modavanti won't be participating in a heavily discounted storewide Black Friday sale. We will match the sale prices our designer's individually set, but are not offering additional discounts.
Instead we want to celebrate what's important and give back. Starting tonight and running through the weekend, we will be donating 10 percent of each sale to our incredible charity partners: Nest and Charity: Water.
Modavanti was born out of a recognition that when it comes to fashion, we can do better. That we should value and cherish our clothing. That profit and style don't need to come at the expense of people and progress. We value our designers, artisans and brands and all the others committed to making clothing that is not only stylish but good for us, good for the earth and good for others.
Over the past two years we've had the incredible pleasure to work with brands like Indigo Handloom who, through their beautiful scarves, empower women artisans in rural India by providing them a living wage, safe working conditions and a chance to improve their own communities. Designers like EcoAlf, who are working to save our oceans by making their jackets out of recycled water bottles and fishing net from the sea. Or the team at Amour Vert who employ a zero waste philosophy and only use sustainable materials; and the many designers, like Heidi Merrick, Line Dry Apparel, Nettie Kent and others, who are committed to keeping manufacturing here in the USA.
These are brands who deserve to be valued. By slashing prices, we are slashing their work and devaluing their craft. So this Black Friday join us in voting with your wallets and value what you wear.