Cyncism

Ok, this isn't about a certain candidate's pick for vice president. Now, that was, to me and other women I know, just about the most cynical thing I can think of. I really can't add any more to the debate over this person than has already been out there.

So, not only was the pick of this governor from a non-contiguous state the very definition of cynicism, but I came upon this in the New York Times last week:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/01/business/worldbusiness/01vogue.html

Here's the opening few paragraphs:

NEW DELHI — An old woman missing her upper front teeth holds a child in rumpled clothes — who is wearing a Fendi bib (retail price, about $100).

A family of three squeezes onto a motorbike for their daily commute, the mother riding without a helmet and sidesaddle in the traditional Indian way — except that she has a Hermès Birkin bag (usually more than $10,000, if you can find one) prominently displayed on her wrist.

Elsewhere, a toothless barefoot man holds a Burberry umbrella (about $200).

Welcome to the new India — at least as Vogue sees it.

Vogue India’s August issue presented a 16-page vision of supple handbags, bejeweled clutches and status-symbol umbrellas, modeled not by runway stars or the wealthiest fraction of Indian society who can actually afford these accessories, but by average Indian people.

So, here we have a baby used as a prop (where have we seen this before?) wearing a $100 bib. I really don't know anyone who would spend this money for this sort of thing, and I live in a developed country. Who knows why Indian Vogue did this. A subtle wink wink, elbow to the ribs for the viewer that people are still in poverty, but getting a job in a developed nation making luxury goods will move one out of poverty? Who is this supposed to appeal to? Do the Indian nouveau riche want to show off their kid's bib by saying, yeah, how clever, the bib was in a shoot with India's poor?

I've not been to India, but I've been to plenty of developing countries in Asia. I can't pretend to know what goes on in the minds of the editors of Vogue, but exploiting poor people to sell luxury goods is just, well, cynical. And, I thought we were moving on to hope these days.

From the better late than never deparment: determining sweatshop-free status when shopping

Since I work at home most of time, I listen to the entire NPR lineup when going through all the daily tasks of owning a small business. I was a bit pleasantly surprised when Talk of the Nation dedicated part of its show to discussing how to determine if the item you want to buy as that oh so perfect gift was made in a sweatshop.

Well, good for you NPR, but wasn't this, coming about a week before people actually exchange presents, a bit too late. And, should people already be aware of where and how their gifts are made?

NPR made this sound like detective work. It isn't. Someone called up and said that they had the National Green Pages before them, which listed items that were not just 'green,' but also sweatshop-free and/or fair trade. You want to know what a stamp of approval from Co-op America looks like? Well, I just so happen to have one right here, on Three Stone Steps' main landing page. (You need to scroll to the bottom.) Businesses how have fair trade logos, which Three Stone Steps also hopes to get for this year, also have their logo. Anyway, what this all means is that someone cared enough and took the time to submit an application to a panel that judges the merits of 'fair trade' thoroughly.

Among the panelists, (I would say taking heads, but this is radio, so I guess it's talking mouths) was Dana Thomas, who wrote a book Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster. I read a review of this book in the NYT book review, and remember it sounding fascinating, yet I don't reading anything about the conditions under which 'luxury' goods are made. Of course, this could just be the reviewer skipping over this point, or my quick read, but I found it interesting that the discussion was more about determining if the Made in America label meant anything, or if something is made in Italy, does it mean its sweatshop free?

So, Three Stone Steps is its own label. No one is going to wear a silk scarf, carry a silk, cotton, or recycled material handbag based on my 'branding.' But, I know under what conditions the items I carry are made, and take pride in only buying from the most just and humane producers.

Now, what luxury brand can say that?