Conscience Collective
Words by Anya Aujla-Jones.
The events of the past year have prompted us all to think afresh about our identity, what is it that makes us unique, characterises us and makes us individual. For me, as founder of Conscience Collective, I realised that making a commitment to my values is critical to a sense of who I am and who I want to be. My sense of self is underpinned by my focus and desire for connectivity and solidarity in response to pressing social and environmental issues.
In 2020, we had to reconsider the communities we are a part of, and how we could connect with those that were important to us. The events of 2020 separated families and friends, colleagues and partners. Finding new ways to connect with people with shared ambition has been a means to renew my sense of self. Identities don't appear from nowhere, they have histories and undergo constant transformation. Finding out ‘who you are’ is a constant step by step process, which takes self-reflection and an active mindset. In this sense I have always been drawn to Stuart Hall, and his definition of cultural identity as a matter of 'becoming' as well as 'being'. For me, this becoming underlines the importance of shared values, an ethic of care and compassion and a need for this to be evidenced rather than simply asserted.
Close up of the edited collection, Questions of Cultural Identity
In November 2020, I founded Conscience Collective. The Collective provides information and options to those who wish to challenge modes of clothes production through the consumer choices that they make. Conscience Collective is helping to grow a community which is prompting a shift to thinking about the costs of fast fashion. Textile production contributes to climate change at every point of production. What we choose to wear is of profound importance. There are heavy environmental costs in sourcing, production, transportation, and disposal of our clothes.
In its 'becoming', Conscience Collective finds that shared growth and renewal is the most effective way to respond to the climate crisis and disrupt multinational fast fashion companies. This part of Conscience Collective’s identity orientates my sense of self towards something interactive and community focussed – where this community is based on shared values and ambition for the planet and its inhabitants.
Conscience Collective aims to remind us all that if something feels ‘too good to be true’ – cheap and readily available – then it is. If by being alert, we can notice implausibly low prices then the shared values and ambition that define Conscience Collective’s identity will have been substantiated, a manifestation rather than a hope.
As a platform, it is designed to create a directory so that visitors can easily find quality activewear from PoC-owned and sustainable brands. In so doing, the Collective facilitates ethical shoppers to find brands that are proactively developing solutions for more sustainable production processes.
Brands such as BAM, Sundried, Reflexone, CONTUR, The Re.Store, Nature Hommage, Jilla Active and LacunaFit are all dedicated to producing activewear in new ways. These brands challenge modes of production and model how to do things differently, more ethically and sustainably.
For me personally, Conscience Collective has afforded me an opportunity for tremendous personal growth through the power that comes from developing a community and working alongside the brands that make up the Collective. Together we are focused on how we can move forward to make the world a better, more equitable, less economically disparate planet.
We believe that women are a force for good in their communities but that to continue to be well-placed to continue in this, there needs to be a focus on building communities as a mode of self-care. I know that I have grown in strength and commitment through my sense of being something much bigger than me as an individual. I feel truly honoured to have met with the remarkable people that I have in the course of Conscience Collective’s journey so far.
At the heart of Conscience Collective’s identity is our gratitude and celebration of each other's successes, be it our brands successes or those of the women at the heart of our community. Together, they inspire and help focus Conscience Collective efforts to create the change that we all need to see.
Conscience Collective
Conscience Collective is a directory designed for women by women to find quality active-wear from ethical and sustainable brands that we showcase. Our Conscience Collective platform aims to showcase ethical brands and support consumer choices so that the women in our community can feel great and look good, doing the things that they love to do without costing the earth. Through our collective success, sustainability and equality can be increasingly prominent on the agenda in active-wear, perhaps even prompting speedier changes in thinking across the clothing sector. We also hope to encourage greater interest in taking small steps towards big changes on the issues of climate change, sustainability and equity around the world.
Anya Aujla-Jones is the founder of Conscience Collective, a women-led organisation. We bring PoC and sustainable brands together on our Conscience Collective website, where we also provide information to our visitors in blogs and interviews. Through our work, we challenge the invisibility of inspirational women and people of colour who push boundaries, and contribute so significantly to their wider communities.
Anya is joined in this by an incredible team at Conscience Collective - Amirkaur, Caitlin and Sofia. As a Collective, we are delighted to be working alongside a growing community determined to challenge climate change, racism and sexism and promote sustainability and equity around the world.
