I wrote a post on ASOS Africa and their collaboration with SOKO Kenya back in March (see post HERE). I decided to write that post because it required a bit do of digging to find SOKO, the fair trade manufacturer for the ASOS Africa line, since there was no description of how the ASOS Africa line was made on the ASOS site.
This is what ASOS Africa items looked like before, just one month ago.
P.S. this jacket is still available ($37 USD!):
My post in March, thanks to the beautiful Vahni, also made IFB’s Links a la Mode and I was so happy for it because my post received so much more attention than it could have with my little blog alone. In fact it STILL gets traffic from Links a la Mode and is the MOST visited post on my blog.
WELL! I wrote SOKO forwarding my post with the note that I had to dig to find them and I also expressed that I thought it would be really beneficial for people to know ASOS Africa is a fair trade line providing essential opportunities for people in Kenya.
The lovely Jo from SOKO Kenya wrote me back saying:
“…have forwarded your email and blog to ASOS in the hope that they’ll include something about SOKO on their site so that when you buy you know what you’re buying and where it’s from!”
ASOS Africa Spring/Summer ’11 dropped earlier this month and all the items include a description of SOKO! How amazing is that?!
THIS is how ASOS Africa items look like now, friends :D.
I can not adequately express my happiness! REALLY REALLY CAN NOT! ASOS is a giant retailer, actually one of the FASTEST growing and the 2nd LARGEST online retailers in the UK (source). So having such a huge mass market retailer who is also very modern and fresh promoting this kind of ethical fashion makes many, many of my days (BIG BIG SMILE).
Here are some of my favorite pieces from ASOS Africa S/S ’11. All images are linked directly to items on the ASOS site, for easy purchase :).
I honestly think just the mention of how ASOS Africa utilizes fair trade through SOKO can inspire designers and consumers alike and I can not believe my little blog is a small part of this. I think ASOS deserves a HUGE round of applause for recognizing the opportunity in fair trade fashion and for continuing to promote it best they can.
Thank you to Independent Fashion Bloggers (IFB)– for fostering a huge community of fashion bloggers and providing a platform for my post to be shared.
Also BIG thank you to Vahni from Grit & Glamor-for choosing my post for IFB’s Links a la Mode. Having my post featured there garnered so many more views than I could have ever done.
And thank you to everyone who read my post, who clicked on pictures, posted comments, and went to visit SOKO Kenya, ASOS Africa and ASOS’ Green Room. Really every click, comment and visit meant so much to me. THANK YOU!
If you’re interested in seeing the other ethical fashion that have been highlighted on this blog you can click “LINKS! Ethical Fashion” at the top of the page or click on “MORE than Style” under categories on the right sidebar.
I am AMAZED at what a little blogging can do.
P.S. – Fancy screen shots are courtesy of the BF- Thank you honey, you’re the best!
Amazing, well done you!
Love the new collection too.
♥ Please vote for me in Westfield London’s blogger style competition!
You are a remarkable! An amazing soul! I love you, dear, dear friend!!! Thank you so much for sharing amazingness =D
Well done! I can bet that so many more people (including me) know much more about the ASOS Africa line – especially after the addition of all that information on the site. 🙂
Kudos on being recognized and causing change! 🙂 that’s very encouraging.. thanks for teaching me about ASOS;)
-m
I’m starting to think blogging can change the world! omg! how awesome =)
Ahhhh! That is so amazing! Congrats friend! Soo proud of you! So sorry I’m such a sped with twitter, I’ve been working again lately 🙁 Man I loved being unemployed. Back to reality I guess, I’m hoping next week wont bee so crazy.
Amazing! Freaking awesome. You always have a way of inspiring others with your combination of thorough knowledge and enthusiasm. Truly remarkable.
That’s so freaking cool! Isn’t it nice to know somebody’s paying attention to you?
Internet changed every aspect of the world of fashion! It’s amazing how much the influence of blogging is evolving! It unbelievable!!!
XoXo
Plami
http://fashion-thrill.blogspot.com/
Prime example of how Fashion Bloggers are making an impact in the fashion industry. We mean well, and have a lot to offer. This is great, I have to check it out .. i love ASOS website. Thanks for posting this!
http://www.lifesobsessions.com
xo
Tee
You know I like Asos they have a great diverse collection and offer plus sizes that are cute (Forever 21 and H&M could learn from this) anyway I was so happy the other day I bought something from them and I live in Cali and there shipping is from Torrance YAY…so quick and free shipping. The weird part was during tracking it said yesterday it was in Nevada and I’m not sure why I asked, but they said it would be there by the 5th. Even with cheap shipping if it’s coming from Torrance it should only take a day so not sure what that was about, but I got my items today, which was relatively fast compared to others who have ordered all in all the packaging was nice and I love the pieces I got. They really have a great business plan and have gotten so large in so little of time that it’s quite amazing really.
This is really wonderful. Fair play to you for creating the post and the resulting improvement of the ASOS Africa line! You must be so proud, and deservedly so! x
That’s great – congrats! I love Asos and didn’t even realize they practice fair trade on some of their clothes.
Sweetheart, you made it EASY for me to pick your post…so well-done! Thank you for the mention and congratulations on the response from ASOS. This post is just more proof that bloggers have an incredible amount of power in social media and fashion too. It’s fantastic!
What a great story! Congratulations! It’s always great to throw the spotlight on fair trade and shopping responsibly. I am a big fan of ASOS and so glad that they are partnering with fair trade organizations.
Isn’t it amazing what the impact of an online community can do?
I never seen this line, but will be checking it out for sure.
Way to go blogging community!
Amazing!! well done you for pointing out the issue! It only goes to show the power of blogging, the power of an influential community. Beautiful how we can shape the industry, don’t you think 😉
xxx
wow well done!