Ammar Belal knows there can be no sustainable fashion without social justice
It’s not hard to spot a designer Amal Belal In a bustling corner of Chelsea Market, he runs a pop-up store for his clothing brand, ONE432. He has a half-shaved, half-curly hairstyle and wears a Coca-Cola red sweater with bright yellow lightning bolts. He looks like Ziggy Stardust.
Ammar Belal (right) wearing ONE432 outfit
“Have you seen our new patchwork jacket?” he asked, almost before saying hello. “We had to keep these scraps of material for almost two years to make them.” Then he pointed to the railing behind, “Here is my ‘David Bowie’ collection – I’m obsessed with him.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” he said between refolding T-shirts, rearranging a row of traditional South Asian felt Slippers, wipe off the dust that doesn’t exist on the shelf. “You caught me in time, and I’ll be out of town tomorrow.”
The salesperson smiled knowingly, and I thought this kind of pre-departure fuss was commonplace.
Life is manic for the Pakistan-born fashion designer.except for running ONE432the sustainable clothing brand and social enterprise he founded with his brother, Belal, is a professor (or, in his words, troublemaker) at Parsons School of Design and Columbia University’s Sustainability Management Program.
He is passionate about spreading the social and environmental issues In the fashion world, many of their solutions are obvious. I’ve been in the store for ten minutes and Belal has shared his brand story with three customers.
‘ONE432’ It means “I love you too”. For those of you too young to remember the cellular devices that existed before smartphones, the abbreviation for the number on the keyboard that says “I love you too” when you text someone is “1432.” For Berard and his brother, it represents equality and reciprocity in the way they do business; if “I” do well, “you” do well.
In practical terms, this means that 50% of the net profit of every item sold goes back to the artisans who make it and use it to fund the education of children in Pakistan. In the four years the business was in operation, this brought in $92,987.92 to garment workers and sent 5,281 children to school.
In addition to focusing on social issues, the brand sources materials from Pakistan wherever possible, as part of its initiatives to continuously develop the country’s infrastructure.
success ONE432The company’s fundamentally ethical business model is changing the minds and hearts of even the most die-hard skeptics. “I’ve seen people who I thought would never want to eat with me, came out and supported us. It changed my mind about how much we could do,” Berard said.
Photo courtesy of Ammar Belal
“They think I’m absolutely crazy. I tell you. Now I can say it proudly because we survived this pandemic. But I’ve been called all sorts of arrogant terms about how I don’t understand the business, everything. I Accepted a lot of crap, even from people I love. They said it was impossible. I was like, yeah, it can.”
He has come under fire for starting a brand that is also a social enterprise, possibly because Berard chased fame and fortune as a luxury menswear designer in Pakistan earlier in his career.
However, Berard felt that this was always his way. “In the ’80s, my father started one of the largest sportswear textile manufacturers in Pakistan,” he explained. “My first memory as a kid? If you ask me what was the first thing I remember smelling, … I remember the smell of fresh cotton. I remember when I was three or four, running around the factory—in There were mountains of clothes, yarn and fresh cotton running around.”
But Berard isn’t just following in his family’s footsteps. If he ever was, then obviously a mindset shift occurred in the process. ONE432 Seems like a cultural reset; he has a chance to re-empower Pakistan’s garment industry after decades of exploitation and bottom-flight deals.
“Nike, Target, Levi’s, JCPenney…all the big brands from the 80s and 90s were made in Pakistan before 9/11. Then a lot of stuff moved to Bangladesh and China. [I saw] The impact it has on pricing, the impact on the relationship between the brand and the factory.Brands and factories used to have long-term relationships, they became so short-lived because [fashion companies were] Find the fastest and cheapest stuff. All this happened right in front of me. “
Growing up in the “system” of mass production and in the glamorous fantasies of haute couture, Berard now sees it as his duty to do better.
I asked Professor Berard if he believed his business model would work for fashion companies of all sizes. He is like this.
“Look, I’m not saying everyone has to give up 50 percent of their profits. That’s pretty aggressive. ONE432 It’s just showing people what’s possible. It says “expect more”. If we were completely self-reliant and could donate that money and have this level of transparency, other brands could too. “
“Pricing reasonably to attract consumers, I understand that. Everyone loves a good deal. But there has to be a floor. There has to be a minimum that you can’t exceed. Your efficiency doesn’t turn into exploitation, or you’re taking advantage of Your power to control a community that you cannot negotiate with.”
So Berard advocates for a universal living wage so that when big companies go out looking for places to make clothing, they get similar offers everywhere. “We said, ‘Look, you can’t travel the world to find the best deal for yourself and exploit the economy. That’s an opportunity for clothing-producing countries.'”
I’m skeptical that fashion CEOs who are privileged in the global north would think that way. Bella laughed.
“Yeah, but when I wake up in the morning, I need some positive feelings,” he joked.
However, having participated in the excesses of mainstream fashion himself, he believes that if he can change the way he does business, so can others.
“My belly is full of every fashion faux pas you can think of,” Bellard continued. “I come from a family [fast fashion], produced a lot of big box brands. In my twenties, I did all kinds of cultural appropriation because I didn’t know better. I am exotic fashion. I started to create a luxury brand. I did it all. “
He continued, “The reason I think I’m somewhat effective as a teacher is because I tell people all the things I do to get involved in the ‘system.’ I drank Kool-Aid out.”
In an industry notoriously lacking in accountability, Berard’s confession is refreshing.
“The reason I admit this is that shaming people in an opinionated way doesn’t do the sport any good. So I said ‘hey, I’ve done all this and it’s making me feel empty. Everyone is on their journey, but I Your job as an educator is to say, ‘Hey man, if this is where you’re going, let me save you some time.'”
Rebecca Coughlan is a graduate student at Columbia University Master of Sustainability Management program.
