The fashion industry
Traditionally, the words fashion and ethics haven’t always gone hand in hand. The industry has often faced criticism for worker exploitation and environmental damage, issues particularly prevalent in the fast fashion model, which prioritizes speed and low cost over human and environmental well-being.
Hab Saly and Village Women Dream set out to challenge this culture, proving that fashion can be done differently, where everyone involved benefits.
Ethics and fashion in equal measure
Village Women Dream is a unique fashion brand that places ethics, women, and community at its core while investing in the education and empowerment of local people. However, ethical focus doesn’t come at the expense of style. For both the client and our team, it was essential to express the brand’s philosophy of 50% ethics, 50% fashion, through every aspect of the website and visual identity.
The brand refresh
The brand’s evolution was driven by the desire to create a fashion brand that could confidently stand alongside others in the industry. Ethical shopping is often perceived as a choice between doing good and looking good. To challenge this misconception, we developed brand messaging that breaks this false dichotomy with phrases like “You don’t have to compromise” and “Kind is cool.” Our goal was to show that ethical fashion can be stylish, aspirational, and relevant.
The Logo Journey
Our approach to the VWD brand logo began with a simple question, how do we capture the harmony between fashion and ethics? From the outset, we explored a spectrum of ideas, allowing the brand’s identity to shift between the two worlds. The final logo embodies this balance, using ‘The Silver’ font, it carries an understated sophistication, a nod to the editorial elegance of fashion, while maintaining the integrity and purpose at the heart of VWD.
Three versions of the logo were created to give the brand flexibility and depth:
A stacked version, providing a sense of fluidity and creating a tightly knit mark.
A linear version, primarily intended for use on the website and in restrictive spaces.
A VWD insignia, designed for fashion labels and clothing—an element we hope will, in time, become instantly recognisable.
Imagery and copy working together
We combined strong, evocative copylines with imagery that juxtaposes the fashion products against the environment in which they’re made. This visual storytelling reinforced the brand’s core philosophy, fashion and ethics in perfect balance.
Website concept and brand styling
From the outset, we aimed to give the website a contemporary fashion aesthetic. We researched leading ethical fashion brands, drawing inspiration from their editorial-style presentation.
After extensive experimentation, we chose ‘The Silver ‘font family for its modern, fashion-forward feel. Its versatility, mixing uppercase, lowercase, roman, and italic, allowed us to create visual intrigue and movement reminiscent of high-end fashion magazines.
The photography, featuring elegant fashion imagery paired with insights into the ethical creation process and materials used, further emphasised the brand’s defining 50% fashion, 50% ethics identity.
Emily Ilott had this to say about our collaboration:
“The creative generosity, strategic insight, and genuine care that the tothepoint team offered us throughout this project has been invaluable. We’re so thankful to them for bringing our vision to life and helping us shape the next chapter in the Village Women Dream story.” Emily Ilott