A beautifully bright idea

A couple of years ago, I was wowed by an idea from the fashion industry - Manufactum's sustainable fashion, which included the beautiful silks from Johanna Riplinger, dyed using flower petals from Indian temples.

I was reminded of that when I saw this stunning idea from JAT Holdings and Leo Burnett Sri Lanka. Petal Paint is made from the flowers left in buddhist shrines and temples, which would otherwise go to waste.

There are 5 shades to reflect the Buddha halo - Lotus Red, Pigeonwing Blue, Marigold Orange, Temple Flower White and my favourite, Trunpet Yellow.

The paint is sold through JAT's normal channels, and also donated to local artists to restore murals in temples.

If that's not circular economy at its best, what is?

Slow Fashion

Image: Richard Pflaume for Manufactum

The fashion industry and sustainability is not exactly a marriage made in heaven, and the juxtaposition of 'fashion' and 'responsibility' is one that throws up a mass of contradictions. There's the whole ethos of the fashion world, with its ever-changing collections, trends, fads and must-haves. There are the horror stories from Asia associated with the cheap mass-production of fashion items. And then the throwaway mentality and problem of landfill - where does yesterday's fashion end up?  

I was delighted to attend an evening event last week put on by Manufactum in Frankfurt. One of my favourite retailers, Manufactum is known for quality household and garden products produced as they were in the good old days - 'the good things in life still exist.' Manufactum has always offered clothing, too, but it has to be said that this has had little to do with fashion. Rather, it's been the epitome of the high quality and sensible - the kind of thing Miss Marple would wear.

That has all changed now as Manufactum introduces a number of new designers to their range of women's clothing. The question posed is:

How can fashion and sustainability work in harmony, rather than at odds?

Last Thursday evening, we took part in a journey to meet 5 different designers, who have answered that question in different ways with their collections, available at Manufactum. From the Goodsociety  jeans, produced with minimum use of water and chemicals, to the striking Japanese-inspired designs of twins Anja and Sandra Umann (Umasan) to the beautiful silks of Johanna Riplinger, dyed using flower petals left over from Indian temples, there were fashions that not just look good, but feel good in every way, too.

Image: Richard Pflaume for Manufactum

Emporium of saudade

When I first visited Portugal, in the 1980s, a friend of mine had an old phrasebook with her that had belonged to her father as a young man. It contained such useful phrases as "Where can I have my moustache waxed?" Younger readers, please note that this was something a man would have asked in order to achieve the Salvador Dali or pantomime villain look, rather than something a woman would ask in order to get rid of unwanted facial hair.

A Vida Portuguesa, which has two bricks-and-mortar branches so far, could probably cater for that request. A quick look at their website revealed that they do indeed stock wax, although it may be more suited to shining floors than twirling moustaches. As well as wax, the store specialises in all manner of original Portuguese brands, many of these handcrafted and all offered in gorgeously nostalgic original packaging.

There are shaving brushes and soaps, sardines and sweets - and the website uses the Portuguese word saudade (which is untranslatable but approximates to a deep emotional state of nostalgic longing) to describe the power of these brands.

It's a smilar feeling to that evoked by looking through what Manufactum has to offer, and tickles the same the nerves that get all warm and fuzzy when I see an English shop or market stall here stocking Colman's Mustard, HP Sauce, Marmite and Lyle's Golden Syrup.

Whether you're Portuguese, German or British, these sorts of stores are a welcome antidote to all those Global Brands with their drearily consistent bland pack designs.

A Vida Portuguesa probably won't rescue the Portuguese economy single-handedly, but if the store can instill pride back into Portuguese produce, it's a step in the right direction.

The good things in life still exist

One welcome sound at this time of year is the thud of a good old-fashioned catalogue in the post box. It all starts with IKEA, of course, while the leaves are still green if a little dusty.


Another retailer who operates via the catalogue as main purchase channel and who, like IKEA, have a well-defined brand and philosophy is Manufactum. This retail brand has been going for 21 years now in Germany and was originally started by a politician from the Green Party.


The Manufactum catalogue is a 400 page delightful traditional emporium. The company seeks out products that are made to high quality standards, with excellent design and usually made from classic materials. These are objects built to last. There is everything you could want from bakelite phones, to Swiss Army blankets to copper saucepans to Florentine paper to deer-leather jackets to wild boar pate. In addition, there are charming traditional toys such as the "bulldog" tractor above.


Manufactum is now owned by the Otto/Heine group but the retailer's brand voice and philosophy remains firmly intact. There are stores, too - seven so far and a new one opening here in Frankfurt on 19th November.


For my UK friends, I was also interested to see that Manufactum is now operating in the UK, out of Bedford. As they say in the english translation of their slogan, "The good things in life still exist". And that's a Good Thing.