‘Everything we do is from a feminist, idealistic perspective. We're a fashion label but we're outsiders, we're always looking for ways to do things differently and positively’, explains Birdsong’s co-founder Sophie Slater. Since 2014, Slater, along with two other women have been creating a new way of conscious shopping. With the mantra, ‘no sweatshops and no photoshops’, they are launching a pop-up shop in London’s Hoxton tonight.
The ethos is simple; Birdsong would like to champion women and nonbinary people. ‘Whether that's by manufacturing our clothes with highly skilled women's charities, collaborating more than competing, providing what clothes up to a size 22, or truly believing that all bodies are good bodies, we want that to come across when you enter the store’, Slater clarifies. ‘A lot of brands are preaching feminist ideals or slapping "empowering" slogans onto t-shirts, but you can be sure with ours that your money is doing real good. It's travelling down the road to keep women's services running, or to support up and coming artists and designers, and that's something we can all feel good about.’
The physical shop, which will be open from 27th of July until 1st of August will be stocking young designers, publications like Riposte, Gentlewoman, Polyester Zine, Ladybeard, Birdsong’s own zine, The Nest, and sustainable period pants company Thinx. ‘All our other brands that we stock are a result of the whole team being obsessive about finding beautiful, ethical brands or amazing publications, (usually for ourselves!) that we then wholesale buy for the shop’, Slater adds.
Highlights include Auria, which is a swimwear label favoured by Rihanna that makes its pieces from recycled fishing nets, Birdsong's in-house collection, which is made by migrant, low-income women in Shoreditch, Poplar and Limehouse for living wages, and a limited-edition collaboration between Birdsong and Clio Peppiatt. Slater says to look out for the, ‘embroidered pants on sale, sassy slogan socks, and perfect summer sandals.’ She puts it as, 'basically we have everything for head-to-toe, empowering, ethical dressing this time around. We hope that it’s a taste of what to expect from our brand as our aesthetics and values continue to grow and challenge the rest of the industry.’
Birdsong’s ‘Summer of Sisterhood’ store runs 27th July - 1st August
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.