By Binky Pitogo
At some point in our careers, we may become too comfortable and become complacent. Being too comfortable with what one is doing isn’t always a good thing, especially for designers/artists like me. We should constantly live and work with passion. I make a living out of “hard work” and built my business from scratch. I’m used to being pressured and challenged. These two dictums have kept me driven and passionate about what I have been developing since I started. My brand.
This passion led me to ask more questions and I started to seek answers. It was July 23, 2019 when I suddenly thought of taking up a short course. I turned to Google using keywords – Sustainable Fashion Short Course. The outcome surprised me – a short course with the exact same words was being offered in one of the world’s best fashion schools, Central Saint Martins under the University of the Arts London. This is it, I thought! Completing all the necessary documents and processing my UK visa all went smoothly given that I only submitted all the required documents on July 30. By the middle of August, my visa was approved! Thus, my pursuit of a dream started; something I never thought would immediately happen.
I arrived in London with a shallow understanding of what sustainable fashion is and taking it up made me realize how much more complicated the fashion industry really was and that I am but a small part of a huge problem. When I introduced myself to the class I told them I wanted to take the course to improve the way we do things. I have become a strong believer of sustainable, inclusive growth. Finishing the course made me feel like I’ve unlocked another level of mysteries and problems to solve. If you ask me if the course was able to answer my questions, I’d say I got caught up with even more questions. But i guess that’s really how it should be and the whole experience tells me that even though I was part of the problem, I could also be part of the solution.
It’s been 6 years since I opened my shop and it’s been 12 years down the road from where I started. I am now taking on the next level to create more solutions to the problems we are currently facing and we will be facing in the next few years. To reducing carbon emissions, waste management, circular design, finding better alternatives, collaborating with local communities, preserving traditional crafts and cultures, there’s always a way to address different issues if we have the will to make sustainable innovations to make things better for the future.
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