fashion loves people

Lalesso is a socially aware company to watch — and right now, it’s one to buy from ASAP. The Maridadi Dress above is now just $30 (plus $12 shipping) during the company’s annual end-of-summer sale!

From Lalesso’s site: ”All Lalesso clothing is manufactured under strict and extremely conscious ethical conditions in our self owned workshop in Kenya, East Africa. All our employees are paid well above the average wage and are already benefiting not only their lives but the lives of their families and have been able to increase their standard of living considerably. We also strive to involve other artisians and unemployed locals where ever possible, for example the beaded bracelets are used as the cord on the swing tag and all the crochet is hand made by Zimbabwean refugee nuns.”

The pieces are sewn from traditional silk khangas, giving the line an interesting design challenge: each is made from a rectangular piece of cloth with a large-scale pattern in the middle and contrasting border, as you can see in the sarong below. The sale pieces are made from one of four khanga patterns, and $5 from each sale goes to a fund to support the children of an original Lalesso tailor who recently passed away. Check them all out, and happy shopping!

For more views, check out runway pics from Cape Town Fashion Week or additional Lalesso sale items at Fashion Conscience. All ship from the UK. (Worth it.) The sale at Lalesso.com ends this Friday.