Edgy and Ethical

LAURA VOGT DISCUSSES LUCID8 ETHICALSTREETWEAR AND HER MORAL MISSION

WORDS Rebecca Copeland

PHOTOGRAPHY Dimitra Koriozos

Lucid8 Ethical Streetwear is an online ethical clothing store manifested from the desire to provide alternative streetwear and accessories. Creator of Lucid8, Laura Vogt, was aware of the current clothing production and consumption practices and the growing change towards ethical fashion, and wanted to create something that reflected this. Lucid8 stands against the reliance upon slave labour, animal cruelty, excessive water consumption, product wastage and excessive consumerism, which is also shared by its brands. It stocks high quality labels free from animal skins, mass production and fast-fashion trends. TEO spoke with Laura to hear more about her ethical mission and how she’s achieving it.

Lucid8’s ethical stance is a reflection of Laura’s lifestyle. When it comes to sourcing designers, she makes it her personal responsibility to ensure they don’t work out of factories promoting slave labour or mass production. “I question each designer on how they ethically source their fabrics and whether they use animal products,” Laura explains. “Finally, I ask them to make only what’s needed, so I am not over-buying or encouraging my customers to over-consume.”

People are becoming more conscious of where they buy their products and how they’re made and as this awareness amongst consumers increases, large companies are pushed to fall in line. “I believe businesses have a responsibility to be transparent,” Laura says. “If they hold back information, this may be a sign not to buy from them.” When companies fail to deliver ethically or sustainably, people notice. “I remember a particular brand advertising a rabbit fur coat and the backlash it received from customers,” Laura says. “This sparked some ideas [for me] to focus more on the ethics of clothing.”

Shopping ethically can be a challenge, but it’s not unachievable. We’re all slowly learning that as consumers, we have a responsibility to look for transparency and ownership. If you already own mass produced fast-fashion, Laura recommends doing things like recycling, giving to friends and relatives or donating to local charities. And to make our transition to ethical shopping a little bit easier, she also hopes to introduce some basics to Lucid8 to appeal to a broader range of customers. “This will hopefully give people the option of mixing basics with alternative streetwear, allowing customers to create their entire unique and ethical style in one place,” she says.

As for what’s next for Lucid8? According to Laura, an ethical fashion event is on the cards for 2018. This would feature a fashion show, a raffle and a documentary screening showing the impact of slave labour in Bangladesh and China. Of course, the long term goal is to one day stock some of her dream labels, such as KTZ, Pam Perks and Cassette Playa.

With resources like the internet readily available to consumers, gone are the days when animal cruelty is acceptable. As public awareness and demand for transparency grows, slave labour will no longer be sustainable. And as each store, like Lucid8, and individual, like Laura, question what is ‘normal,’ the norm will change.

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