Vote today on Yoxi for team FOREVERMORE and see how a serious fashion issue can be made digestible.

Yoxi was created last year as a way to get as many people to care about social issues as possible. Their current hot topic is the sustainability of the fashion industry and getting designers, marketers, filmmakers and hard core creatives to consider solutions. With their Trim The Waste Of Fashion competition in full swing and with round two staring us all down the barrel of a loaded social media gun, six teams are now competing for a cash prize to make their solution come into fruition. Those same six teams will be reduced to two by tomorrow. My team is one of the six (that’s me on the left in this above image).

Read here to learn more about how Yoxi works.

As EcoSalon’s Managing and Fashion Editor, I’m involved with many things in the fashion industry, from coaching and writing about designers to providing you with valuable industry news, trends and ideas I hope keep you challenging yourself and the way you perceive fashion.

Today I’m asking for your help as one of the competitors in the contest under the team FOREVERMORE to watch a totally entertaining 60 second video with prolific designer Eliza Starbuck and New York city based filmmaker Ace Salisbury and I on how we propose curbing the fashion waste stream.

Our team believes that it takes more than just a good idea to alter the perception within the fashion industry about textile waste. It takes action, marketing and a a talented designer to lead the way. Yes, the industry needs to re-use pre-existing clothing and materials. Yes, fashion industry workers need to be educated on how they too can trim the waste of fashion. Yes, it will take more than just one contest to alter anything but every step we take is genuine progress.

This is exactly what FOREVERMORE intends to do. How? Education X3. Our designer Eliza Starbuck, a seasoned and celebrated  fashion industry professional has the vision of how we will assemble our sewing centers, how we can actually upcycle old clothing and even create monthly patterns that people can buy or learn how to make. (After watching the video please note she has never made a pair of pants for an owl.)

My intent is to support Eliza and make sure the FOREVERMORE message comes across clearly and in an authentic way to the public so that regardless of how serious the fashion industry’s waste stream, with the right message and lots of hard work and collaborating, we can move mountains. (I half-heartedly pledge I didn’t write the swearing in this video.)

Our team’s expert filmmaker, Ace Salisbury continues to make our videos that encourage people to think of the alternatives to buying fast fashion, and not to mention, adds a heavy dose of humor. (All the swearing in the video is completely his fault.)

Will you be part of our solution? We’d love to have you cast a vote our way. Please go here to sign up and vote (or at the very least, be entertained).

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Yoxi’s Trim the Waste Of Fashion competition aims to play an active role in changing the fashion industry.

Yoxi is a creative competition and a social game that challenges team players to tackle social issues with a sense of style and playfulness. Their first competition asked people to rethink fast food and produce a 90-second video to express their opinion about the challenge. This time around, the challenge is something equally important – the fashion industry and the winner stand a chance at winning $40,000.

Yoxi says: “In the nearly $1 trillion clothing industry, waste abounds from the estimated 15-20% of fabric trashed on the cutting room floor, unsustainable material sourcing, massive carbon emissions when transporting products from manufacturing centers, gallons upon gallons of wasted and polluted water during washing and dyeing, as well as wildly excessive packaging, tagging, and storage. Fashion choices matter to everybody, not just models, magazine and style mavens.”

Watch the Yoxi video that looks at the manufacturing of one pair of jeans.

Yoxi founder, Sharon Chang, says the idea of play and competition to solve social problems like waste from the fashion industry is somewhat of a cultural shift – moving the “do good” space from guilt-driven to fun-driven.

“We know that games have existed for as long as human societies have existed, and we all love to play, whether it’s a collaborative or competitive game. The idea of play brings people together and makes problem-solving more engaging and rewarding,” she says. “We also want to add a bit more glamor to the social innovation space. Style and substance are equally important.”

Influenced by a Kickstarter format, people vote for their favorite Yoxi team creating the most innovative fashion waste tools, which forwards teams to future rounds. “Promoters” can even pledge monetary donations should the team they are backing win.

Chang says one of the most interesting lessons from their last competition was how diverse the teams were in regards to geographic location, backgrounds, perspectives, and demographics. The big question is, do we have the time to play like this, or is it easier for people just to write a check for a cause and be done with it? Chang says that while funding is a key component in delivering solutions to pressing social issues, we have to recognize that the problems we face today are far too daunting to be resolved by conventional practices.

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