Holiday Open House

We're cohosting a Holiday Open House with our non-profit partner, Helping Hand Partners, at our new office on Friday, November 21st from 3:00 to 8:00 PM. Stop by to eat, drink, mingle & shop! 

About Helping Hand Partners

Helping Hand Partners (HHP) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that helps businesses source socially responsible products for their clients. HHP works with over 15 social enterprises and fair trade organizations all over the world that make and sell products to support social and environmental sustainability.

About Our Partnership

Through our partnership, we've been given the opportunity to expand our business into the promotional product, incentive, and recognition and rewards markets. We've collaborated with multinational corporations, consulting firms, and local philanthropic organizations to brand some of our most popular items. Our collaborations elevate the environmental and social sustainability of these brands by providing fresh accessories that are innovative and fairly traded. Our portfolio of exclusive collaborations includes: Google, FILONI, Misericordia, Insight Advisors, BioStrategics Consulting Ltd, Vision Capital, The Vault, and Arris Group.

THANK YOU!

A big thank you to all of our terrific retail partners for making Smateria's free preschool and daycare possible!

Come see us at NY NOW

Visit us at STYLEMAX!

Visit our rep, Bennye Seide, at STYLEMAX this weekend - booth 3030-B!

PHOTO CONTEST

Enter the five ACCESSORIES photo contest! Here's how:

1. Take a photo of you and your beloved five ACCESSORIES bag
2. Post your photo on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (be sure to tag us!) OR email your photo to allyson@fiveaccessories.com
3. Winner receives a FREE BAG of her/his choice

five ACCESSORIES Brand Ambassador Program

five ACCESSORIES is recruiting individuals who are genuinely interested in our brand to represent us as brand ambassadors. We want to embrace and empower you as advocates for five ACCESSORIES, while giving you direct access to our brand and recognition on our website and social media platforms. This is a 3-month commitment.

As a brand ambassador, your job will be to help us post relevant content to our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Blogger accounts, as well as your social media accounts. By doing so, you will be promoting our brand to new and existing customers, which will enable you to provide us feedback on what our customer think about our brand.

The benefits of becoming a brand ambassador for five ACCESSORIES are:

1.    Boosts your resume

2.    You receive recognition on our website and social media platforms

3.    Allows you to learn the ins and outs of a fair trade social enterprise

4.    Leads to other opportunities to work with other brands

5.    For every month you’re active, you earn a free product of your choice

During this 3-month period as a brand ambassador five ACCESSORIES, we ask that you:

1.    Create 2 posts per month: 1 for our Facebook account and 1 for your Facebook account

2.    Create 2 tweets per week for our Twitter account

3.    Re-tweet 1 five ACCESSORIES tweet per week

4.    Create 1 image per week for our Instagram account

5.    Post at least five pins per week on our Pinterest account

6.    Write 2 blog posts per month: 1 for our blog and 1 for your blog

7.    Create a following of 30 people on our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Blogger accounts

If you are interested in becoming a brand ambassador, please email Allyson at allyson@fiveaccessories.com. 

#SPRINGSALE

SHOP ONLINE > 

World Fair Trade Day in Daley Plaza

A couple of weeks ago, Chicagoans united in Daley Plaza to celebrate World Fair Trade Day, and we were so lucky to be a part of this celebration. The event, co-sponsored by Chicago Fair Trade and the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, focused this year on ethical apparel as the campaign for sweat-free Chicago has moved forward in City Council that would govern public procurement of apparel. The disaster in Bangladesh last year heightened awareness of the dangerous conditions for the majority of apparel workers.

To contrast worker conditions of ethical and mainstream apparel, a fashion installation called “Going Sweat-free” was set up in Daley Plaza. The installation was flawless. Scattered mannequins wearing hangtags describing sweat-free vs. sweatshop labor practices drew crowds. Passersby were intrigued to learn more about fair trade and join the celebration.

WBEZ’s Worldview host, Jerome McDonnell, also joined the fair trade fun. He interviewed various fair trade vendors represented in Daley Plaza including our founder, Christine Hutchison! Listen to this podcast or jump to 24 minutes to hear her short interview with Jerome: https://soundcloud.com/wbez-worldview/worldview-heads-to-world-fair-trade-day.

Free Gift + World Fair Trade Day

Chicago’s World Fair Trade Day event will not only celebrate the growth of Fair Trade, but also Chicago becoming a fair trade city. Chicago will be 22^nd in the US and the largest in North America. Congrats to all fair trade Chicagoans! We couldn’t be prouder to be based out of Chicago!

World Fair Trade Day will feature a global marketplace with more than 20 fair trade vendors, including five ACCESSORIES. Join us on May 7^th and 8^th in Daley Plaza to spread the word about the many ways fair trade is helping to sustain our planet!

#INSIDEOUT

The five ACCESSORIES team went #insideout for Fashion Revolution Day today to show our support for better connections and transparency across the fashion supply chain. If everyone starts to question the way we consume, we can put an end to the era of disposability and celebrate the faces of our makers. Go #insideout and be a part of the fashion revolution!

Our graphic designer, Allyson, and marketing manager, Diana.

Our founder, Christine.

7 Reasons Why Our Hip Bag is the Ultimate Festival Accessory

The Hip Bag

After years of taking a beating in the fashion world, fanny packs still don't get the widespread appreciation they deserve. Whether you're for them or strongly against, a handy little hip pocket is the perfect festival accessory, and we've got 7 reasons to prove it.

1. Expedient entry. Save yourself a headache when going through security. When they call out, "Ladies and gents without bags, over here!" you can cruise on up to the front of the line,.
2. The Hip Bag is small. It ensures that you will bring only what you need to survive. Carrying a bunch of "just in case" stuff is a bad idea.
3. The Hip Bag eliminates the need to bring a backpack, purse, etc. Ten minutes after you get through the gates, you'll be so hot, you'll wish you left it back at the campsite.
4. The Hip Bag doubles as a carryall. When it's nightfall and the temperature drops, you can throw on the light sweatshirt you conveniently looped through the strap of the bag.
5. The Hip Bag has a removable strap, allowing you to clip the bag onto your belt loops. Now that’s nifty.
6. Whether you're jumping around, dancing like a crazy person, or taking a mid-day recharge nap, you know your phone cash and belongings are safe with you.
7. The Hip Bag comes in seven vibrant colors. Enough said. 

Source: http://www.craveonline.com/music/articles/671537-5-reasons-why-the-fanny-pack-is-the-perfect-festival-accessory

Celeb Spotlight: Emma Watson & Ethical Fashion

Sustainability never goes out of style! That's why we're still excited to spread the news about Emma Watson's partnership with the fashion company People Tree back in 2010 and 2011.

People Tree is a sustainable and fair trade fashion brand, and beginning in 2010 they teamed up with Emma Watson to create their first ever youth fashion collection.  It was a pretty big deal!  Check out what people were saying about it:

"Emma Watson brings her glam touch to ethical fashion" -Teen Vogue

"These clothes transcend their worthy beginnings and just became cool... this is a great capsule collection" - The Times 

It's always awesome to see people supporting fair trade, especially someone like Emma Watson, who is a role model for many girls.  Sustainability and the importance of fair trade are at the core of five ACCESSORIES's company values, and we love that Emma shares our views.  Here's what Emma stated about the collection:

 

I don’t want to wear something on my body that hurts the environment or the people in it. It’s hard to know what is good and what is bad on the high street and equally hard to find fashionable or youthful ethical clothing. It shocks me that even today only 1% of cotton produced in the world is Fair Trade and organic. I decided to work with People Tree to put together a collection I could be proud of in terms of both ethics and design.

 

Way to go Emma! Congrats on a great collection and thanks for helping to spread the word about ethical fashion.   

 

Sources: http://www.peopletree.co.uk/about-us/collaborations/emma-watson

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ashleybaccam/emma-watson-endorsed-fair-trade-fashion