Fashion-based social enterprises are nothing new. Back in 2006 American company Toms pioneered the then-revolutionary one-for-one concept, giving a pair of shoes away for every pair bought, and since then, purpose-driven brands the world over have adopted similar concepts, pledging portions of their proceeds to charitable and environmental causes.

To Southeast Asians, some of these charitable causes can seem physically distant and foreign in purpose, but local brands are beginning to change the way the region looks at purpose-driven fashion and what it can do – by serving causes nearer to consumers’ hearts.

Social enterprises such as Earth Heir and Tanoti Crafts work with underserved Malaysian artisan and refugee communities; Real Material channels a set portion of the proceeds from sales of its natural, sustainable fabrics to reforestation in Malaysia. These brands are gaining a foothold among a more aware, activist youth who want to know that the money they spend on new clothes is going to a good cause.

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South China Morning Post