Moxsie: a new on-line home for independent designers

I’m not the slightest bit surprised that the only area of retail growth right now is on the internet. I buy everything I can on-line. In fact, on-line shopping could have been designed specifically with the procrastinating freelancer in mind, the one who prefers to spend her hours playing on the internets, rather than constructively pitching stories and doing paperwork.

I did most of my shopping for this trip on-line. From the sleeping bag I needed for a story in Big Sur and my California guidebooks, through to the pepper spray I promised my mother I would buy and my new summer shoes, it all arrived blissfully at my front door, cheaper than in any real world shops and requiring no outdoors action on my part.

My latest discovery from my hours of, um, research, is on-line fashion retailer Moxsie. I’m fed up with logos and brand names; I want to support younger, independent designers, who think carefully about how their clothes are made and whose quality of make matches up to the quality of their designs. Which is why Moxsie appeals: they only sell product from independent clothing, jewelry, accessory and shoe designers.

I’m rather liking these elegant and simple sunglasses by Cassius eyewear, from New Zealand based designer Jason Ng. He launched the label in August 2008, naming each limited edition (300 in each style) design after an architect. They’ve got proper scratch-resistant, UV400 lenses and make a pleasant change from over-priced, logo’d up sunnies. These are the Pawson frames:


These are the Corbu:

I particularly like that, in addition to supporting independent designers, Moxsie donate a portion of its proceeds from each purchase to a charity, chosen by the shopper from a list including The Hunger Project, Dress for Success & Save The Children.