Here at With Bogart ethics, both social and environmental, are high on our agenda and we will do our very best to support, encourage, and apply best practices. One of our unique features is the option for you to shop closer to home, designed to help reduce your carbon footprint when shopping online. And in the future we plan to introduce further options that will help you shop more sustainably.
With Bogart acknowledges and pays respect to the past, present and future traditional custodians, the Yuggera people, of the land we call home and we’re ever grateful for sharing this country.
Within the fashion industry, 'ethical' is an umbrella term to describe fashion that is striving to reduce the negative impact it has on people, animals, and the planet. It recognises vital issues such as working conditions, exploitation, fair trade, sustainable production, the environment, and animal welfare.
At With Bogart we appreciate that we are part of a global community and that it is our responsibility to always pursue best practices relating to ethics and our brand.
Although we are not involved in the production of fashion we still aim to continuously grow our understanding of the global challenge regarding ethics and the world of fashion and what we can do, both on a small and larger scale, to respect and work toward the change that’s required.
We are also committed to helping you, our community, discover more about ethics related to fashion by sharing the insights we gain as well as brands that have pledged to make positive change.
Also, one of the valuable features of With Bogart is that we make it possible for you to shop stores and brands that are local to you. An option that is not available on any other shopping platform.
Shopping locally means lessening the distance your purchases will travel, therefore reducing the carbon footprint associated with shopping.
We also use a process that helps us avoid listing stores and brands who fall below a minimum standard we have committed to. For example, stores listing products at prices that are extremely low cost and suggest poor standards for workers. We are human however, and may make errors, so if you happen to see a store you are concerned about, please let us know.
Fur and it's inhumane processes is another topic we are concerned about and we’ve made considerable effort to ensure that With Bogart lists no stores selling fur products. Again, if you happen to come across one we’ve missed, we'd love to hear from you.
We plan to work towards a future where With Bogart has established a respected position within the industry and the opinion of our customer is valued and sought by those they buy from and is a catalyst for positive industry change.
Our plan is to also help keep our community at With Bogart, you included, informed as to the change that continues around the globe across all fields of ethics regarding fashion.
And we have several valuable plans in the works to offer you further options for shopping ethically and lessening the damage fashion causes people, animals, and the planet. If you’d like to find out when these new ideas are ready for you to enjoy, join our emails and we’ll let you know.
We’re also based on a premise which, on sunny days (of which there are many in Queensland, the Sunshine State), is powered by solar energy during our working hours and where waste is minimised wherever possible using compostable, biodegradable, and recyclable products. And when we're buying everyday necessities to keep things running we make our purchases, wherever possible, from stores and brands with positive ethical standards.
The stores appearing on With Bogart have not been selected because they have achieved an exemplary ethical standard, although, as mentioned above, we do employ a minimum standard when determining stores to include. However, conscious fashion is very significant to us and we are determined to play our part in change.
Tackling ethics related to fashion is not a small challenge, in fact it’s enormous, and we feel that isolating and excluding brands is probably not the right path.
Instead, we believe that for change to occur we need to approach this challenge together, as a global community. We hope that with the right pressure from customers brands will see they must move towards better practices.
We also acknowledge that currently ethical labels can be more expensive due to the processes involved and therefore are not within everyone's price range.
The hope is that over time, as processes are refined and become standard within the industry, it will be more affordable for other labels to pursue conscious practices, and therefore more affordable for you to make the choice to shop ethical labels.
There is also good reason for you to personally show brands that you wish to see positive change; that you expect them to accept this challenge with honesty and integrity. In order to succeed brands must listen to their customers and make the changes that are expected of them. So let them hear you.
We’re in it for the long haul. And we’re in it together.
As Stella McCartney said, 'We can't rely on the fashion industry all making the changes without encouragement. We have to rely on customers insisting'.
You are the key to change.