What does responsibility look like?

Today is a perfect day to start my blog in which I share my thoughts on sustainability, or responsibility.

I live quite near to the Helsinki city central, and today just down the corner from my home a new grill stand was opened for business. It is called Jänö (Bunny), but more importantly it is run by a co-operative called Sipsikaljavegaanit (Crispsbeervegans). Their business idea is to serve unhealthy vegan food. I think it is just brilliant.

I have a long history in fashion business, and fashion is a funny business. In fashion it is most important how things appear. In fashion the sustainable clothing must look sustainable. I have no idea why. Personally I prefer anything sustainably produced: clothing, food, travel. However I do not wish to look like an environmentalist. I do not believe much in uniforms.

In the nineties, while studying at InstitutFrançais de la Mode, I made a study on the role of a designer on the environmental impact of a collection. In the nineties white was very fashionable, it deceitfully symbolized purity and goodness. And it all started with one unfortunate collection in Paris in early 90's. It was not predictable that this one not very well known designer would have this big impact on the industry – and maybe he did not, as we know people seem to invent things more or less at the same time – but he was the first. And I believe he had no idea on how his decisions impacted the earth. Designers have huge impact on what we manufacture and consume, but sad to say they often have way too little information and understanding on the choices they make for us.

Another unfortunate white fashion was the off-white era. Especially off-white sheets represented environmentally friendly textile business. However, this choice was not made by mistake or ignorance. Off-white sheets were first bleached and the dyed to make the color stay, but they were marketed to us as being more natural than other colors.

Living sustainably is a very difficult thing to do. Living responsibly may be a bit easier, but still very hard. It is hard to get information, it is hard to compare the info we get, and it is hard to understand the impacts. This is why I started this blog. I will try to collect info and compare it. However I will not try to tell anyone how to live their lives, even if especially social responsibility often goes hand in hand with local culture and for me as a Finn understanding the values and morals of other cultures may sometimes be difficult.

I try to live my life responsibly, but I make a lot of mistakes. Still I hope I will pass this world to my son as wonderful as I got it from my parents, if not even better.