Jennifer’s Blog

The charity organisation TRAID is now fast becoming the most popular way to purchase and recycle clothes, with its new range unveiled last friday it shows that the organisation if flurishing in the credit crunch.

TRAID or Textile Recycle for Aid and International Development, since its launch in 1999 it has donated more than $2 million to projects in underdeveloped regions around the globe, including Darfur, Sudan. Photo: Pablo Tosco/Oxfam. The organisation helps to tackle the 900,000 tons of textile waste produced in Britain every year! Traidremade is slowly becoming one of the biggest fashion labels to have, using old materials to create fantastic new original pieces. Though the organisation manages to through all its eliments into one big basket with Traid, Traidremade and Traid Second hand to create a wounderfly appealing clothes shop.

The Traid logo is most recognisable to most people from the recycling banks that it has placed in local communities, though unlike most clothes recyling facilities you can enquire on their website for one to be placed somewhere close to your local community.

The organisation is such that it’s donations are able to be used for providing clean water and sanitation facilities, distributing essential items (blankets, utensils and clean clothing) and the movement to reduce the people’s dependency on aid through training schemes and providing animals and farming tools in 3rd world countries. This link with charity work has given it a large attractioin by the fashion community because you can be seen to be buying a fashionable  brand whilst also doing something good for the developing countries and the environment.  Its not only charitable and environmentaly friendly but its quite cheap and at this point in the credit crunch that makes these charity shops even more apealing to the every day person.  Though celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan have been seen to be supporting this new and exciting brand which has recently become even more established in London by opening yet another store to mark their 10th anniversary. It is to be their  flagship store in retro mecca, Camden  and it will be opened on Thursday 7th May. Because of the central location of this new store it is expected to find la crème de la crème of designer, vintage as well as the company’s Traidremade label.

There Traidremade label has had its own success in the past week with their catwalkshow Traidremade collection featuring new hand crafted asymmetric dresses, bags which are customised from old leathers, signature hand-printed tee shirts and dresses. Paul Kirkwood, head of design at Traidremade said,

“Every Traidremade garment is made using clothes and textiles that would otherwise go to landfill, and all the profits raised support international development projects to fight poverty. Truly fashion with a conscience.”

So in our credit crunch time, were people are spending drastic amounts of money on cheap clothes that will get worn once, has Traid found the perfect way to help people spend less and make them think more of what happens with their clothes after they have worn it. Whilst also creating a brand name that people are feeling is fashionable enough to be up there with Burbery and Gap! This brand is deffinatly going from strength to strength through its unique marketing and identity it is slowly becoming the clothing brand of the credit crunch.