Why are we here? (The Dare Mission)
September 07, 2016
Why are we here?
Just like with people, this inevitable, existential question also comes up for sentient companies. Here at Dare Fashion, our attempt to answer it resulted in a three-part mission statement, which guides everything that we do.
1. Create figure-flattering fashion for women of ALL shapes and sizes.
During our very first photoshoot, we noticed that when the model put on Dare to Wear, she changed immediately: her face lit up, she stood a little taller, threw her shoulders back, tossed her hair, and struck a flirty pose.
The Dare to Wear top made her radiate confidence and positivity, because it was designed to accentuate the best aspects of her figure, while minimizing parts she wanted to de-emphasize.
All Dare Fashion pieces are designed by Natalia to be "Confident Curvy Couture." And, they are all originally designed on a size 2x pattern. We've always known that the best way to make a full range of sizes (in our case, size S to 5x) is to design for plus-size, and then adjust the smaller sizes -- NOT the other way around.
2. Keep manufacturing in USA, paying workers a fair wage in San Francisco.
We are uniquely positioned to manufacture in China. Ben, our co-owner, speaks Chinese, and his sister-in-law's best friend oversees sewing factories near Shanghai for foreign companies. But we made a conscious choice early in the history of our company to keep production here. Sure, manufacturing in San Francisco is expensive: the cost of living is sky-high, rents are astronomical, and the minimum wage is the highest in the US.
But we support the social justice of paying workers a fair wage. Our company doesn't just create jobs for our employees, it also generates work for our fabric and trim suppliers, patternmakers, cutting house, sewing shop, printing service, box suppliers, and various shippers who deliver our goods. We feel strongly that all of these people should have a better life because Dare Fashion exists.
Keeping our operation local also allows us to have tighter quality control, resulting in better, made-in-USA workmanship, with a lower impact on our environment.
3. Develop sustainable apparel solutions to keep our planet healthy.
We set up our Dare to Care program to help manifest our Green initiatives because, let's face it, our planet needs all the help it can get!
All of our garments are made locally, right here in San Francisco, and our office is centrally located, easily accessible by bicycle and public transportation.
Whenever possible, we ship our products in reused boxes and we print all our shipping labels and internal documents on reused paper.
Through SF's Zero Waste 2020 initiative, we have been working with SF Recology to develop a solution to divert tons of cut fabric waste from landfills.
To reduce returns and exchanges, we are working on a technological solution so customers can see whether a garment will fit before they buy.
Through our Dare to Repair program, we replace ribbons and straps for free, and do small sewing repairs for a nominal fee.
We are developing our Dare to Care line, made from sustainable, recyclable fabrics.
Why are we here? To help our customers, to help our workers, and to help our planet!
What do you think about the Dare Mission? And, why are YOU here?
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During our very first photoshoot, we noticed that when the model put on Dare to Wear, she changed immediately: her face lit up, she stood a little taller, threw her shoulders back, tossed her hair, and struck a flirty pose. 
We set up our 
