Fashion for a cause

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

Vintage Vision, a store in Abergavenny, Wales is working towards womens empowerment through fashion. They teach women new skills, so that they can earn a livelihood on their own. It gives opportunities in terms of work experience and volunteering to women, many of whom are not financially well off. They recently held a fashion show, the organisation of which provided employment to several women.

According to Amanda Peters, one of the founders, Vintage Vision initiated their work because of a general lack of social enterprises catering to women and their skills. But they were also concerned about the way people just throw their clothes away, and thus came up with an innovative way to recycle them- by transforming them into pieces of high fashion.

Vintage Vision started its work in 2009, and has successfully carried out a number of sewing workshops since then. An inspired Rosie Bell, owner of Vintage Vision has recently started an online vintage fashion site, which features different types of clothing ranging from the dominant styles of the 1920s to current day fashion. Many of these are made out of recycled clothes.

These clothes portray all the classiness expected out of a designer label, while at the same time benefitting several hard working women. It is the perfect unity of fashion and social development. A coming together of like minded women with similar interests and goals in mind. In a world where one cannot count on one's fellow beings, Vintage Vision portrays a type of Utopian vision.