Why we don’t do Black Friday
Black Friday is one of those American exports that, let’s be honest, the world really could do without. The entire point of Black Friday is to create a false sense of urgency, encouraging you to buy things you don’t need, half the time don’t want and most of the time will go out of use by the time the next year rolls around. Sometimes brands even RAISE their prices just to add a discount to make their "sales" look more appealing when you end up paying near the original full price.
When it comes to fashion, the heart of our philosophy is that you should truly LOVE what you wear, feel like a star walking down the street. So much so that you want to wear it again and again. Clothing shouldn’t be disposable and it shouldn’t be cheap, great clothes should be made to last.
We don’t do Black Friday. At Erebus, our designers are not multimillionaire CEO’s of major corporations. They are artisans who charge a fair price for their hard work without inflating the cost just so they can offer massive discounts once a year. Sure, we’ll do a small discount every once in a while, as we like to give special treats to our loyal tribe. When you shop with our designers, all of the money they make goes back into their communities, to local bars and cafes, local shops, all of those places that make a community a home. When you spend your hard-earned money with large companies, how much of it goes to those at the top? How much goes to support local businesses? How much goes to the average workers throughout their supply chains?
Nearly all of the pieces you purchase from one of our designers are made to order, no excess stock to mark down throughout the year, using no more natural resources than is necessary. While this means it takes longer to get to your doorstep, we know in the end your special piece is well worth the wait. With your order coming directly from our designers, we cut down on our carbon footprint by cutting out one journey.
In the past, in lieu of discounts, we have donated a portion of our sales from Black Friday weekend to charities supporting environmental justice and equality. For this Black Friday, perhaps you can consider donating or selling some of your unwanted clothes? Or perhaps recycling, upcycling or repairing that piece you love but haven’t worn in a while. Shopping responsibly is not easy. One not only needs to be educated in what constitutes “conscious” fashion, but also where to find it especially with a style that matches your own. And we also cannot let the perfect get in the way of progress; your entire wardrobe doesn’t have to be organic, handmade, non-toxic dyes and the like all at once, small steps still make a difference. With the greater global focus on the horrendous impact of climate change, though, we hope that more people are starting to take notice on how their shopping habits are contributing to the climate crisis. Invented holidays like Black Friday only exacerbate the issue, so we hope this year you will take at least one small step to stem the tide and perhaps give someone special a gift they won’t forget.
What will you do this Black Friday to reduce your impact on our one shared planet?