Islington Contemporary Art and Design Fair

Attention Please! This Fri/Sat/Sun the Midomo Bracelet will be on sale at the fabulous Islington Contemporary Art and Design Fair!

Our bracelet is designed by the well-established Alex Monroe, and so well suited to being exhibited at one of the largest contemporary art spaces in London.

Most importantly, every piece we sell will of course fund the donation of a Midomo water-purifier to a family in sub-Saharan Africa. If you type in the unique serial number into our website, you can track your donated unit and see where it is helping.

Catch us at CANDID ARTS TRUST, 3 Torrens St, London, EC1V 1NQ
between 21-23 October and at the preview evening Thursday 20 Oct (6.30-9pm)

Download the ICADF Flyer

Art for Freedom

Last Tuesday the Red Button Design team attended the very glamorous Art 4 Freedom auction at Notting Hill’s 20th Century Theatre in our capacity as ‘Gold Sponsors’ of the Row for Freedom. The art auction was put on by the Row for Freedom girls as another opportunity to raise money for charities campaigning to end human trafficking, and they did themselves proud; raising thousands of pounds with this enjoyable evening.

We have explained in a previous post why human trafficking is a cause closely linked to Red Button Design, as it is often the long and arduous walk to collect potentially unsafe drinking water that leaves young African girls vulnerable to abduction by sex traffickers. Julia Immonen, Debbie Beadle and the rest of the Row team recognise this connection too, and along with star presenter Sky Sport’s Charlotte Jackson, they were proudly showing off their Midomo Bracelets, knowing that each one provides a family in the developing world with safe drinking water for a year.

The auction itself was conducted by Anthony Weld Forester, Managing Director of Sotheby’s Edinburgh, and included works from Michael Vaughan- former England cricket captain, Charlie Mackesy and Gerard Stamp. Christine Beddoe, director of benefiting charity ECPAT UK, also gave an insightful speech with staggering facts such as the hundreds of sex slaves being kept in secret brothels on our own doorstep. Consequently it wasn’t only the celebrity artworks that evening that were eye-opening.

We thank all the Row for Freedom girls for a fantastic and worthwhile evening, and continue to wish them all the best with the training for their December challenge.

A Weekend at Ethical Just Got Fabulous!

Last weekend saw the Midomo Bracelet team mixing ethics and fashion on Portobello Road

When we first heard about the Ethical Just Got Fabulous Christmas fair, we knew we’d stumbled on something special. The organisers, Naomi, Leona and Kate, are dedicated to ‘supporting the good work of those who strive to be both fashionable and ethical in their production,’ which struck a chord with us given the underlying message behind our Midomo Bracelet campaign: ‘you don’t have to change your life to change someone elses’.

‘Ethical Just Got Fabulous’ presented the perfect platform for us to promote a bracelet that on the one hand is a beautiful, exclusive, designer piece, and on the other provides a family in Africa with safe, clean drinking water for a year.

We arrived at the 20th Century Theatre, just off Portobello Road, to find a handsome old room decorated with upcycled chandeliers. There were so many inspiring companies including Josyflo for belts and accessories, Juzi and Delight Rubellery for jewellery, and Paperself for the most amazing cut-paper eyelashes! Moreover, each company shared the conviction that an ethical product should not have to compromise itself on style.

Over the weekend, Amanda and I ran a raffle, where shoppers could buy tickets for the chance to win a Midomo Bracelet. Demand was high, but there could only be one winner, and yesterday we announced that this lucky person was ….. ..Gwen Rahardja!

We wish Gwen all the best with wearing her bracelet and do hope she shows off its ethical fabulousness to everyone she knows!! At the same time, we would like to thank everyone who bought a ticket, together your support and interest has funded the production and shipping of a Midomo water purifier to an African community, where it will provide potentially life-saving benefit.

We came away from Ethical Just Got Fabulous with an optimistic view of how not just fashion, but the consumer market in general, is changing. There is a demand for products that deliver on style, function and ethics, and this surely means that supply must follow suit.