Fade Market owner Amanda McCandless has always had a love for design and fashion, and she knew that she was destined to own a boutique. She didn’t know how or when, just that it was meant to be.
After studying Fashion Merchandising in college, Amanda was a retail store manager at several different junior apparel stores. She didn’t know about ethically made fashion at this point, but something about the clothing these stores were selling just didn’t feel right to her. She knew that she didn’t want to be selling cheaply made, fast fashion (generally known as cheap, poor quality, disposable clothing) and pressuring people to buy more and more stuff. After much research and learning of the horrors of human trafficking, child labor, unsafe working conditions, and unfair pay wages that happen in this fast fashion industry; Amanda knew that she didn’t want to just sell clothes, she wanted to make a difference.
Learning about, and practicing, minimalism (living with only the things that you need, free from the desire to buy and accumulate more) also changed Amanda’s life. She began to simplify her home, her life, and her mind and became much more intentional about everything in her life. She began questioning where her purchases were coming from and who was making them. Amanda was inspired to open a boutique that would help to make a difference, support fair trade workshops, empower women, and help us help each other to make an impact on global poverty and hunger. Amanda’s goal with Fade Market is to provide her customers with the best quality, socially responsible products while raising awareness of what happens in fast fashion.
With many of the products in her boutique being made in fair trade workshops and coming from women-owned, US businesses; Amanda is always looking for businesses to support that share her values. While focusing on ethical fashion, Amanda’s priority is always quality. The quality of the products she sells, and the quality of life of the workers that make the products. She insists on knowing where the products were made, who made them, and if they were working in a safe environment and paid fairly. Not only does Amanda want her customers to invest in quality pieces that they can love for years to come, but also for them to know who is making their clothes and how they are treated. The more awareness that can be brought to ethical fashion, the better!
Creating an ethical fashion boutique that supports and empowers women around the world is a noble cause. For Amanda, it is completely worth it. She believes in empowering women so that our children and community can thrive; making us crucial to ending global poverty, hunger, human trafficking, and child labor. Please check out this amazing company at Fade Market. Use code MaturingMama for 15% off!
