Fashion has given us many exciting terms, most derived from odd combinations of already existing discrete words – skort (skirt/short); murse (man/purse); jeggings (jean/leggings) – that have made their way out of the closet and into the public lexicon, but today I heard another combo term I actually think deserves to become part of all of our conversation: “Causesumerism.” It’s a pretty succinct way of describing a growing trend.
As coined by authors Lisa Ann Rochey and Stefano Ponte in their new book Brand Aid (University of Minnesota press), it refers to the increasing tendency of luxury and fashion brands to help consumers justify purchases by injecting a note of do-goodism into the selling of the product. See, for example, product (RED), which is the actual focus of the book. (Product (RED) is the Bono-brainchild launched to great brouhaha at Davos in 2006, which aims to stop the spread of AIDS in Africa by using the sales of western branded goods by names like Armani, GAP, and Converse to support the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.) See also any of a growing number of other brands, from the anti-guns in Africa brand Fonderie47 (which makes high-end jewellery out of AK-47s) to Lauren Bush’s FEED accessory company, which provides school meals with every product sold.
The authors are (you probably guessed this given the title) rather skeptical about this trend, but whether you agree with their conclusions or not, I think their word deserves all of our approval.
Vanessa has been the FT’s fashion editor since 2003, and is based in New York, though she lived in London for 12 years.