Johari – Ethical Fashion at it’s Finest

Social Change Room found a team of fashion designers doing amazing things. UK based label, Johari, kindly share with us a little on how they managed to make fashion that is not only beautiful, but changes lives for the better.

——————————————————————————————————————-

For a truly inspirational range of clothing and a heart-warming story behind the label look no further than fashion brand Johari.

Many companies are increasingly coming under fire for their unethical labour practises, as more consumers are being educated on the malpractice of their favourite fashion brand. Consumers are KING and educating them on how their clothing is made is the only way to force a universal change to stop exploitive behaviour of some organisations. However having ethically produced clothes is not enough to capture the general consumer pool; for ethical clothing to compete and be a viable choice for the mass consumer it has to be fashionable!

This is where the philosophy for Johari began; we passionately believe that fashion should be ethical, stylish and beautiful. Johari, which means ‘something precious’ in Swahili, makes stylish beautiful clothing and accessories. Every item is handmade in Kenya by a not for profit Social Enterprise Johari Designs and our Johari UK base is here in Scotland. Our ranges include woman’s dresses and tops, including our Julia Smith collaboration, Johari jewellery, our recently launched Seedlings collection for children and our brand new Johari at home range.

Johari Designs is a social enterprise and ethical clothing manufacturer created to give opportunities to vulnerable young adults leading to on-going employment and a positive future. The team have been trained through the Miale Apprenticeship programme which is run by independent charity, Johari Foundation.

After completion of an 18 month programme in tailoring, jewellery making and business skills the girls are offered employment by Johari Designs. 100% of the profit from all sales of Johari clothing and Johari Designs is invested in the Miale Programmes; a set of community programmes which help vulnerable children and young adults in Kibera and Kandara in Kenya with education, social care and help with basic needs to help them towards a brighter future. The children receive an education, life-skills, counselling and food assistance. This support helps in creating an economic future for the young people we work with through long term economic opportunities and the creation of social enterprise, micro-credit and tertiary education programmes. Buying Johari products helps to empower vulnerable young adults to build a living for themselves and their families.

This isn’t a philosophy we just pay lip service to – we live it in everything we do. From our Design Council that combines talents from diverse backgrounds and skills, to our material sourcing, tailoring and production – we make every effort to ensure our fashion is beautiful inside out.

And it works; we have been trading for just over 4 years, have had zero staff turnover and are just about to debut our second designer collaboration collection with Julia Smith. Ethical and fashionable products are viable options in the competitive business world; companies just have to invest the time and effort into analysing their company and identifying where they can be more ethical.

*To visit the Johari shop and find out more please go to www.johari.co.uk and to see how the Miale programmes help children in Kenya visit www.joharifoundation.org

Like us on Facebook @ Johari

Morvern and the Team at Johari