culture & community
In my role as a brand/marketing director, i spent a lot of my time researching the political discourse surrounding the fashion industry and its ramifications on the natural world. i was responsible for conceptualising, creating, and communicating campaigns which spoke to the brand's ethos, values and business roadmap, whilst addressing community needs. each ensured the public was given substantial promise through explicit, passionate action.
to believe in what the brand was doing, we couldn’t simply tell you WHY, we had to show you WHY.
break tradition, not the planet / merchants’ black friday campaign
involvement: created the marketing campaign & wrote all copy
everything we create takes something from this earth that we cannot give back - but if humanity can commit to something good, we ought to do it. merchants of the sun are planet, people, progress. we are not environmental radicals or global climate leaders; we wish we were, but we still run a business, an alternative business of collective change makers reimagining relationships with the fashion world by breaking tradition, not the planet.
purpose over profit, make few, design well - always. We are inviting our community and customers to prioritise purpose over purchase. we called on our customers, community, and industry to Break Tradition, Not The Planet. we rejected Black Friday and instead donated 50% of profits from every purchase to Action Aid Australia.
i assisted in organising the shutdown of the merchants’ website for the entirety of Black Friday, as well as the closing of our showroom. we took over billboards around Australia, the streets of sydney, gold coast, brisbane and melbourne; creating positive noise that would be hard to ignore.
closing the loop & neutralising our impact
involvement: copywriting & marketing campaign
close the Loop is named for the function of the program itself, taking unused jewellery and using already existing materials for future collections.
picture the lifecycle of what you wear as a timeline from sourcing to wearing to disposal. first, the item is born out of raw materials, which are sourced, mined or harvested in the case of fibre. from there, those materials are manufactured into the item itself. you will then purchase the item in that form, wear and care for it. when you no longer have use for the item, you will dispose of it and likely send it to landfill. this process is linear, from birth to death or ‘cradle to grave’ as we know it, yet it is also malleable. one piece of jewellery contributes over 5kg of carbon dioxide equivalent to the atmosphere, from material sourcing to end-of-life disposal.
we want to bring the two ends of the timeline together to form a circle, closing the loop of consumption of Merchants and the Sun adornments.
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sam corlett x mindfull aus / v-day campaign
love, four letters, one syllable - adopted by the heart and carried through compassion - love is the warmth in the rain, the stillness in a storm...and every heavy rumble of thunder that follows. love is where tenderness freely provides, and feelings of darkness seldom hide.
over the years, I have found that love is not always flowers.
championing love, loss, and everything in between, Merchants of the Sun is committed to recognising the value in kindness and connection not only on February 14th but every day. this Valentines Day, Merchants and Sam Corlett will be donating all profits received from our 'Always Flowers' Collection to Mindfull Aus - a not-for-profit organisation galvanising individuals in high-risk areas to place wellness back into their own hands.
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a tomorrow you can depend on; in the name of sustainability
we believe that fashion, art and expression do not need to come at the expense of our people and planet.
as a key player in our industry, both local and abroad, we can’t underestimate our role in raising the standard of ethical practice in the fashion landscape, and we don’t take that position lightly.
merchants of the Sun operates as an ethical business, understanding that absolute sustainability has no consequential definition in the balance of art and impact. In the interests of maintaining both expression and climate cognisance, we are developing a network of principles that guide and enforce our pragmatic definition of sustainability across three pillars: social, environmental, and economic. each pillar is then broken down into various categories, including manufacturing, supply chain, retail, people, transparency, education, and our slow business model.
our immediate plan requires retracing, retouching, recycling, repurposing, and smoothing over any impact we create.
so here is what we are working towards —
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