Tales of Things – The Future of Fashion & Sustainable Shopping

I am always saying that ethical fashion is all about the stories. You know, thinking of how the item of clothing came to be, what it might have meant to different people along the journey, and then of course all our stories as the wearer, the memories that we have attached to each thing we own. Well yesterday I discovered Tales of Things, and it is literally the piece of tech that I have been waiting for. I was at the Oxfam Curiosity Shop in Selfridges, it’s a pop up shop there for a week, which brings together fashion donations from celebrities, that anyone can go and snap up. The money raised goes to the Oxfam Circle projects around the world that empower women.

Dresses donated by Livia Firth and Stella McCartney

I wanted to pop in and show some support as well as have a gander through all the beautiful pieces to see if anything was dying to jump into my wardrobe. Then I popped into the Celeb Donations little shop and met Angelina Karpovich, who works for Tales of Things. I was just looking around, asking a few questions, when she showed me this clever little wand that you could put over these black dots, and a video story about that piece of clothing would appear on the screen. I was hooked, it really is what I have been waiting for. Imagine every charity shop that you go in, you can find out about the item, the history, who had it, what it meant to them. This piece of technology can make everything that bit more special. Of course I was in there for a good hour, watching the story of any piece of clothing I could find.

The Magic Wand!

The Unsuspecting Black Dot that unlocks the videos!

As we got talking more, Angelina revealed that there was an app that you could download for the iphone/android called Tales of Things, which turns your phone into a scanner, and brings up video stories on your phones about the pieces. I downloaded it straight away, and for this, you look for the slightly bigger black and white labels.

The Tales of Things Scannable Barcodes

Tales of Things Barcodes!

I am so excited about what this means for ethical fashion. No more awkward conversations when you try and ask a store not known for it’s ethics if they have any idea where something was sourced or who made it. How amazing if you can just quietly scan the item and make up your own mind. It also means for us ethical designers that we will have a new way to share our stories of all the thought and energy that goes into creating something ‘ethically’ I really think that this is the future of fashion!

The Oxfam Curiosity Shop

If you just have to see Tales of Things in action now, do head down to Selfridges, where the Oxfam Curiosity Shop is running until the 11th April. You might also pick up an amazing new addition for your wardrobe too!

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