I have a dilemma, of which i still haven't found the perfect solution, but explaining things in writing sometimes leads to an epiphany, so here goes!...
For years my career ambition has been to start my own ethical festival fashion business, touring the U.K festival circuit selling my designs which i would hand-make all on my lonesome! I figured if it wasn't lucrative i would find a job i could do the rest of the year, that would still give me the summer off to do the festivals (i know very unlikely such a job exists, but that was the plan!).
But since returning from 6 months in Canada and having to thing about things seriously, spending a bit more time with my old quaker friends, and having this mentor through my current job, my career path has started to get a bit cloudy and confused.
I started to think maybe i shouldn't even bother with the festival idea, as its never going to be a steady income, and won't revolutionize the ethics of the fashion industry! I started to think maybe i should be going into ethical fashion promotion, through charity work, or working for a Non-Governmental Organisation, or something along those crusading lines. I also started to think i really want my work, whatever it is, to be benefitting the struggle for better workers rights, employment and trade, in Africa specifically.
But as hard as i try, i cannot ignore my initial ambitions to work the festival circuit selling my designs, as spending time at festivals is the one thing i absolutely love to do, and look forward to all year round! It is very apparent at the moment, as i am off for 2 weeks festivalling on the 13th!
So through all my confusion i started to research possibilites and came up with a few things i would love to do in the not too distant future that may benefit my career plans somehow....
1. Volunteer for the Women in Progress organisation based in Ghana, working with the women of the Global Mama's Fairtrade co-operative to perfect their clothing designs, and learning about all the work the organisation does to help entrepreneurial women start their own small businesses.
2. Attend the Quaker United Nations Office summer school in Geneva, to learn about all the work Quno does in disarmament and peace, human rights and refugees, and global economic issues.
3. Internship at Edun, the ethical clothing company run by Ali Hewson. Edun is a company i admire, as all their work is focussed around provided trade and employment oppurtunities for people in Africa.
4. Internship at Fashioning an Ethical Industry, learning about the promotion of ethical fashion in the U.K, mainly through universities. They are based in bristol, so this could give me the chance to move back for a bit!
5. Possibly make contact with a company to source fairtrade production of my designs in Africa. Global Mama's do this, so could be a good follow on from volunteering. Alternatively a company called Soko started by Lalesso in Kenya could be a possibility. This would mean continuing with my Festival fashion ambition but possibly more effectively!
So here lies my dilemma... all this is alot of things to be getting on with, how do i do everything? Where should i start? And what is most important to me? These are all things i haven't figured out yet, and i am sure it's going to take a while to make any decisions! Any advice would be much appreciated!
My current thinking is that maybe i should still continue with my ethical festival fashion ambition, and source fairtrade production of my designs in Africa, maybe by volunteering with Global Mamas first, to establish those contacts for production. But it would also be helpful to do internships with Edun and Fashioning an Ethical Industry before starting my own business, as i would be more educated on the ethical fashion industry as a whole!
But i cant fit all that in such a short space of time... or afford to do it all without being paid... i need to get my priorities sorted!
hmmmmm what do i do...?
