In what can only be described as an act of defiance towards the consumption craze surrounding Black Friday, ASKET is closing down their store for the day, encouraging their fans to take care of what they already have instead of buying anything new today.

STOCKHOLM November 23rd – While most brands and retailers are kickstarting the biggest shopping weekend of the year through extensive discounting, Stockholm-based menswear brand ASKET is taking a very different approach: closing down their store for the day and, instead of having you buy new items, launching a garment care portal, helping you to take care of what you already have. Entering their webpage you’re greeted with the following message:

“Compared to only fifteen years ago, we buy twice as many garments but keep them only half as long. Instead of adding to these sad statistics through heavy discounts, designed to induce poor decision making and a false sense of need we're closing down the shop for the day and redirecting to our brand-new garment care portal. Today, you can't buy any new clothing from us, you can only learn how to care for and get the most out of what you already have.”

In addition to the garment care portal, ASKET has opened up a clothing spa and repair shop at their Stockholm showroom on Dalagatan 27, allowing anyone to bring in garments from any brand for free treatments. They will also be hosting a live AMA (ask me anything) on Instagram encouraging anyone to send in their trickiest garment care questions and get them resolved over the weekend.

“Garment care is something of a lost art. We’ve become used to replacing instead of repairing. Many people, myself included, don’t even know how to attach a button these days. While we do our very best to create garments that are - in every aspect - made to last, educating on how to actually care for them and thereby prolong their lifetime is just as integral to our mission of slowing down consumption. By extending the life of a garment by just 9 months, you reduce the environmental impact by one third.” says Dworsky.

This is not the first time ASKET is closing for business on Black Friday, last year all you could access was a picture of an empty chair and the sign “closed for your consideration”, a message that apparently resonated very well with the brands fans.

“We got a lot of love for that and decided that we need to keep making a statement here, encouraging people to really consider their decisions and provide a break from all the consumption propaganda filling social feeds and inboxes today. We really need to slow down, rethink and reduce our consumption. As a brand we feel obliged to act as a voice of reason, reminding you that you really don’t have to buy anything at all today. Twenty years from now we’ll look back at Black Friday the same way we look at smoking today: How could we not have understood how bad it is?” says Dworsky.

About ASKET
ASKET is an independent online-only menswear brand founded in 2015 in Stockholm by August Bard Bringéus and Jakob Dworsky with the mission is to slow down the fashion industry and change the way we manufacture, market, and consume clothing. Based on honest production, transparent pricing and revolutionary sizing, ASKET is creating a single, permanent collection of timeless essentials, so that we can reduce the amount of garments we actually need, and care for them more.

https://www.asket.com/

Ardmore Ceramics, South Africa, is the company founded in 1985 by the artist Fée Halsted when she met the highly talented Bonnie Ntshalinthali whose polio prevented her from working on the fields. Fée with a kind of education and Bonnie quickly found a way to work together and in 1990 they received the prestigious Award Standard Bank Young Artist Awards. After there was a demand for what they created together and Fée offered more and more young women in their vicinity to start with them and get the education they needed for production. It is also this which has always been the success of raising local artists, today both women and men - extraordinary people from KwaZulu-Natals Midlands, who receive training, materials, a studio and a guaranteed market for their work, all under the guidance of Fée Halsted. Today, many of those working with Ardmore's ceramics are relatives and family members of former employees who worked there. An artistry that is inherited.

Ceramics are made entirely by hand and hand painted by the incredibly skilled artists. It is colorful, detailed and joyful. We can honestly say that you will be happy to consider the various pieces ranging from small pieces, candlesticks, pans, vases to big urns of flowers, zebras, cheetahs, elephants and other beautiful in a wonderful mix. Each item is made by two people together, a potter and a painter. The detail of both form and color is incredibly well done on all ceramics and every piece of art is unique.

Today, Ardmore's pottery is well-known and is gathered by many around the world. It can also be seen at the various auction houses such as Christies, Bonhams and Southebys. Also released as state gifts from South Africa. Ardmore also makes textile patterns and has, for example, produced different patterns for Hermès and wallpaper patterns for Cole & Son.

http://bucksandspurs.se/