The Canvas
An ethical fashion lover’s fairy tale…
As a shopaholic myself, it feels like it’s almost every other day in which I find yet another of my go-to stores has been exposed for its avaricious morals. Walking through the streets of Soho and the Meatpacking District, I find it difficult to find just one store that doesn’t discriminate against certain sizes, support corrupt agencies, mistreat their employees, or any of the many other unethical campaigns that big corporations partake in. The abject morals of these businesses are a product of the competition that New York's booming fashion industry provokes. In order to produce clothes exceeding in quantity or quality, companies have been pitted against each other and forced to choose between morality and profit. This is why I was so shocked to find a company founded on its refusal to participate in this choice. The Canvas is a clothing store that unites various ethical clothing brands and provides them with access to global markets, technology, and services.
Shoppers can find a variety of aesthetically curated retail in Canvas’ two stores, located at the Westfield World Trade Center and at 93 South Street in the Financial District. At the South Street location, clothes of multitudes of different fabrics and aesthetics hang from racks lining the perimeter of the store. On the tags attached to these clothes are not just a price and brand name, but also a summary of Canvas’ overarching objective and a list of sustainable development goals that the brand of the item works towards. If questions still remain after reviewing the synopsis of a chosen article, the store’s employees are always more than happy to answer any questions that arise. Alongside clothes are also a variety of beautifully selected jewelry, home decor, and candles with the same kind of “multipurpose” tags attached to them.
One of my favorite brands supported by Canvas is one that exclusively sells candles called A Candle For:. A Candle For: is a company that designs candles with the intent of helping people slow down and get in touch with their senses. Each candle includes a freshly calming scent and a corresponding playlist in hopes of engaging not only a person's sense of smell, but also simultaneously their auditory sense. Like all Canvas supported brands, A Candle For: was chosen by Canvas not only for its beauty, but also because of its creative process. In point of fact, every brand supported by Canvas is chosen if and only if it supports at least one of Canvas’ goals, which uncoincidentally line up with the United Nations sustainable development goals. Through their scents and correlating curated playlists, A Candle For: has supported the third and twelfth sustainability goals of Canvas; good health and well-being and responsible consumption and production. Compared to most popular brands and companies, A Candle For: stands out from the crowd with its morals and drive for sustainability. But within the community that Canvas has created, A Candle For: merely blends into the collection of ethical retail.
Regardless of the success of the ethical fashion community Canvas has established within its own walls, the Canvas stores are only two small steps towards the company's principal mission: a global ethical fashion community. As explained on their website, Canvas hopes to encourage the downfall of fast fashion “through a connected network of sustainability-focused businesses working together to stimulate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.” This network, however, is unachievable on its own. As is with any economic system, Canvas’ “sustainability-focused” network is entirely dependent on how customers interact with the retail produced. Even if directly supporting such high-end businesses like the ones in the Canvas stores is too expensive, engagement with the sustainable fashion network can also come from sharing knowledge and spreading awareness on how to shop sustainably. As engagement with companies like Canvas increases, popularity and affordability will increase with it.
It is crucial at a time as urgent as this, when the ignominy of the fashion industry is snowballing more rapidly than ever, that shopaholics like myself take responsibility for redesigning the community in a way that is sustainable and manageable. For shoppers interested in taking a fashionable stance, The Canvas stores are a great place to start.