Spring time in The Netherlands is a consensual synonymous of beauty. Flowers everywhere, with special attention to the colorful tulips fields all across the country. And is only during these very special three months that one of the most important planned gardens in the world - The Keukenhof is open to the public, offering a delightful and bucolic visual experience.



Every year the garden is designed according a chosen theme. This year Poland was honored, and traces of Polish tradition was displayed in several ways in between the tulips disposition. However, for the 2012 season another good surprise was also welcoming the most alert visitors. Themes related with sustainability and recycling were being featured and incorporated to the landscape. Of course, gardens themselves are intrinsically related with sustainability, but in this case the gardners and architects seemed to be explicitly calling the attention for different uses of materials either in terms of re utilization as in terms of a broader use of natural resources.

Plastic bottles composing upcycled vases and natural fibers "hammocks"  with cocoon shapes are just examples of what could be found.



But for the fashion lovers the tour climax was represented by an astonishing exposition placed in the orchids room showcasing mannequins wearing dresses made out of diversified natural materials such as wood fibers,  sea shells, eggshells, remnants of threads, tires, ect...All of them, bringig fashion within an immersed natural context.

This is the first of a series of articles dedicated to take a close look into our brands. Therefore, we introduce you Mammu!

MAMMU  is more than just a scarf, it's a movement. As a blend of fashion and arts, MAMMU has been brought to life to change the Latvian community helping mothers in need. It is a high quality fashion label working with atypical artists and designers to create unique and ever-changing collections.

MAMMU is a social business fashion company following Grameen principles. It closely cooperates with young Latvian mothers in need. Many of them are less mobile in the job market due to their inability to work fixed working hours. Rather often these women cannot enroll their children into a kindergarten, as the number of places available is limited. If they cannot afford to hire a nanny, a full time job is not an option for them. State social benefit is so small that these women virtually have to survive on an income way below a minimum subsistence level. Involvement of these mothers in the business of MAMMU providing them with flexible working hours is both ends and means* of the activities by this social business company. MAMMU organizes their training, teaches them skills required for production of MAMMU fashion wares and provides them with information needed for setting up their own micro-enterprises. After accomplishing the training stage MAMMU provides these women with materials needed for production. Once the work is done, MAMMU buys these wares from mothers. Being a social business, MAMMU is rather a cause than a profit driven company, and the aim of the MAMMU team is the provision of social benefits for mothers, meanwhile producing creative and high-quality fashion products.

MAMMU by Liva Saule

The first MAMMU creation is a scarf collection by fashion designer Liva Kauke-Saule. Her handmade scarves combine the natural fiber of linen with pastel coloured accents. "When the wildness meets tenderness there is something unspeakably sensual about that. It always fascinates me how two different
things collapse and supplement each other, whether its sun and shadows, rough linen and pastel coloured lycra or young mothers and fashion. It is exhaustingly amazing. At least that is how I see it..."

(L. Kauke-Saule)

MAMMU By HAYDA

Inspired by the color scheme of the national sport costumes of the olympic teams in the 80s the Riga based designer HAYDA created a scarf made from tracksuit textiles in which the orthography of the MAMMU brand creates the design, the scarf consist of the five letters merging into each others trough carefully and unique picked colors.

Thus, here they are, some of our favorite environmental artists:

• Nils Udo - The Earth Artist

• Susan Field - From stones to fur, the connection between unlike things

For some weeks I have been distant from the blog. The last preparations for the launch of Hegedus Style boutique kept me very busy and without enough energy to write. Now I am back and full of satisfaction for being ready to deliver quality services and beautiful items to our dear clients.

I am going to write in details about all our brands in future posts. In this moment, I would like to share a little bit of my experiences and impressions about what I usually call the new role of the retailers compromised with sustainability and ethical principles.

The commerce itself  being one of the ancientest human activities was transformed and adapted through the centuries according to the civilizations development and needs. Thus, again in the current times, where climate changes, economic and political crises, scarcity of resources, are reality a complete restructuring in commercial activities as well as in all other levels of society is required and imminent.

But what are exactly these changes in the case of  retailers behavior? The concept of sustainability is intrinsically related with conscious choices and taking responsibility for actions beyond personal or profit interests. Opting for being ethical is deciding to make choices that are believed being consistent with an enduring and abundant future (for humans, animals and the planet).

Either in the case of multi brands or own brand retailers these decisions go much beyond sourcing for the right suppliers and trading to the right consumers. The ethical retailer is also sort of responsible for the "quality assurance" of  items and manufacturers, besides being in charge to transmit the correct message to the final costumers. The ethical retailers must them have an accurate knowledge about all the production procedure, making sure that they are dealing with engaged suppliers, having as much information as possible with respect to the raw materials, the producers, the techniques, the brands philosophy, in order to finally transfer all this awareness in a very transparent conversation with their clients.

In other words, the ethical retailers are much more involved in the supply chain, they are not only the link between producers and consumers, but they are instead the true connectors and the responsible for spreading ideas and concepts. Their decisions and actions can truly speed up all the process through a sustainable and more compassionate future.

According Valerie Steele in her book Shoes - A Lexicon of Style "shoes say more about the wearer than almost any other item of apparel". Indeed there is a whole imaginary encompassing the footwear universe that goes much beyond the simple functionality of protecting our feet. Shoes by themselves can externalize important traces of one's personality in aspects such as status, sensuality, femininity,  and so forth. Therefore, it is natural some concern when we think in these pieces within the context of ethical fashion.

To conciliate our willing for ethical products with the endless search for the perfect shoes can sometimes be a tough task, mainly if our perfect shoes are synonymous of heels. In this way, I would like to mention some brands that besides being committed with ethical principles present stunning collections of heels.

If your ethics is related with animal friendly items, you have plenty of options of vegan shoes, naming the gorgeous Olsenhaus, Cri de Coeur and Beyond Skin.

 

The traditional techniques of lace making brought from Europe to Brazil centuries ago were maintained in its pure essence trough generations of women in the northwest of the country. The area is characterized as the Brazilian poorest region and is where artcraft mastery can be found. The designer and entrepreneur Martha Medeiros, assumed handwork passionate, met in the lace the precious row material for her designs and in the local artisans her ideal collaborators.

By means of structured pieces, Martha unifies contemporary designs with the heritage couture. "For each item, hours of manual work are spent, thread by thread."  Approximately 250 women from cooperatives in small villages around Sao Francisco river work in the ranges confection. The results are highly sophisticated models with extremely delicate textures within feminine shapes.