The best way to describe Sophie Zembra, our first style + substance powerhouse of the year is "veni, vidi, vici".

She moved from Paris to Miami "con furore" opened ANTIDOTE in Wynwood because it felt right and conquering our hearts with the perfect equilibrium of "sustainable chic" and acquired the title of "the girl of Wynwood" (according to her Instagram).

Sophie is the embodiment of chic and young and fresh and happy, the store is the impeccable mirror of her personality and taste, but, as usual, it all happens when someone is motivated by a purpose, a passion, there's no style without substance.

Style + substance = empowerment. Are you on board?

SZ - Totally 100% percent

Your personal style in three words

SZ - I don’t really have one style: it depends on the day, it depends on my mood. But in three words: freestyle; Parisian; chic/casual

I find it extraordinary in how little time you moved to Miami and opened one of the best stores in town: what drives your entrepreneurship?

SZ - Thank you for one of the best store in town J

My boosts are the meetings, the people!! Entrepreneurship it s an human adventure and in conscious fashion even more. My passion drive me in the good as in the bad times. I believe in life and dreams, I'm a dreamer that's why I am an entrepreneur. And to be an entrepreneur you need a bit of unconsciousness.

Do you feel like sharing one secret?

SZ - Buy only what you like and what you feel good about. Never follow the trend follow only your feelings!!!

Your relationship with fashion: single, married, it’s complicated or …

SZ – It’s complicated by time I love fashion and by time I hate fashion!!!

What’s the one thing a woman should do to feel powerful?

SZ - Be yourself, listen to yourself. Women are raised without taking their word into account. So you have to listen to yourself and believe in your own power !

When did you find your confidence?

SZ – I’m still not confident enough in myself, but entrepreneurship helps me a lot.

How do we get rid of the princess/cute/pretty/pink stereotype?

SZ - By creating new princesses: without stereotype!!!

You look at your closet holding your morning coffee ready to get dressed: personal uniform or outburst of creativity?

SZ - I like a personal uniform with a touch of creativity.

Which irritates you more and why: “Sustainable fashion is boring” or “Fashion is frivolous”?

SZ - “Sustainable fashion is boring” I have heard this too many times, and it’s not true. People aren’t being curious and just follow big brands/company but now we have a new wave of designer who mix esthetic and sustainability with brio. SUSTAINABLE FASHION IS DEFINITELY NOT BORING!

April is the month in which the activities around slow fashion and sustainable practices take center stage and culminates with Fashion Revolution day on the 24th.

It's also the month of Vivienne Westwood's birthday whose quote became a motto of any sustainable aficionado.

“
Buy less,
choose well,
make it last
”

— Dame Vivienne

Why a revolution?

Because we all love fashion but has come the time when looking good also has to mean feel good about what you are wearing.

It means knowing that what you have purchased has been imagined, designed, cut, sewn, steamed, embroidered, produced and finished in fair and transparent conditions. Fashion is still an industry that values ideas, people, without forgetting about the environment and profit.

The production chain of the fashion industry has reached that far exceeds the limit: one of the heaviest environmental impact in the world after oil industry. And this is because coal mining is almost at its extinction.

#whomademyclothes

It’s a campaign launched in the UK three years ago and its worldwide impact has prompted the creation of a Transparency Index, that is, a list of global fashion brands that disclose name and address of all the facilities where their garments are produced. It’s an empowerment movement for garment workers, sustainable companies, for designers and creatives, students, who have an extra chance to become visible.

Why did all this start?

Do you remember in 2013 the collapse of a building in Bangladesh that killed 1134 people and left 2500 injured remained in history as the Rana Plaza tragedy? They were garment workers left to work in conditions so inhumane that could be compared to slavery, forced to live in the same unhealthy establishments. Those were the guys that would sew the $10 H&M jeans or $15 Zara T-shirts.

Why us?

It’s our duty, it’s not “them” anymore, we can’t allow blind ignorance “they are all the same, they all pollute, I go for the cheapest, I won’t make a difference alone”. The same way we need to know where our food comes from, that it’s not injected with poisonous ingredients to make it look uniform, shiny and plump, we have the right to know who made our clothes, if the materials are produced under best practice rules, if labor laws are respected and fair trade applied.

I strongly believe that in 2017 we ought to be active citizens, not just citizens that are governed by some out there entity, responsible consumers and conscientious entrepreneurs. Community builders, if we really need to label ourselves, is another of those roles that we ought to take as parents, if we want to hand our children a healthy future.

In my vision, it’s a revolution to bring things back to how they were.

We have too much, we don’t need to produce more, we must waste less.

The parameters of the affluent society are o v e r . Economic growth has created a need for more with less, less time, less creativity, less money, less protection, and less quality. Fast, everything is fast, shopping compulsion leaves you craving for more, you cannot just be, you have to have, own, throw and buy. We are led by the carrot like donkeys and what loses in the game is the environment, because economic growth and environmental protection are two opposite forces.

The Fashion Revolution has its ways of leading towards transparency, there are events all through the week of April 24th and one in Miami too. Take it to the comments if you will be attending. I will.

To see how sustainable is sexy and chic, GO HERE.