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This New Social Enterprise is Offering a Stylish Invitation to Wear Your Values

Eva Geraldine And Caterina Occhio, Founders and CEOs of Goooders

As a black car climbs the windy, cliffside road, the city of Naples appears like a puddle of gray cement below. Rain pours down against the window, blurring the view of Vesuvius. The volcano is a distant but ominous shadow, while the surrounding hills seem to grow higher, magnanimous like a scene out of Jurassic Park. Few have encountered a coast more beautiful. Even the much ado Côte d’Azur in the South of France doesn’t hold a candle to Italy’s Costa Amalfitana. This mythic landscape that set the scene for cult films like The Talented Mr. Ripley and Scandal in Sorrento is where two pixie-haired women have chosen to unveil a new right, and discover the Goooders universe, one of two pop-ups this summer (the other is in Paris at The Bristol Hotel) that aims to help people look good by doing good. Co-founder and co-CEO Caterina Occhio is inside the pop-up while her partner Eva Geraldine holds court on the terrace. The similarities don’t stop at their short crop. Both have romance in their eyes and some French cancan in their legs, as proven by spontaneous dancing later that evening. Moreover, they are both fiercely determined to fill today’s shopping bags with a dose of 21st century, UN-approved values. Close to the Arab world, Occhio is behind the Tunisian jewelry brand SeeMe. Recognized for its signature hammered hearts, it offers employment to single mothers outcast by their families and society. The brand has created special pieces for Goooders, as have a plethora of other luxury labels curated by Occhio and Geraldine. There is arty porcelain from Naples’ Capodimonte, whose savoir faire dates from 1743, and clutches from Sarah’s Bag, a Lebanese brand that empowers underprivileged women.

Courtesy of Goooders

Chic swimwear by former Vogue stylist Talia Collins is crafted from fiber recycled from abandoned fishing nets and plastic litter, while Opaline offers a boho leisurewear wardrobe of colorful prints – the whole of it using fair trade practices. As shoppers are increasingly curious as to what aspirational purchases to make, they can become ensnared in greenwashing tactics – when a brand wants to look green, but it is nothing more than a marketing tool. “If you are just diminishing your impact on the environment, today, that is considered ground zero,” comments Occhio. “What interests us when curating brands for our conscious shoppers is discovering beautiful labels that are making a positive impact.” Geraldine echos the sentiment. “We want people to be proud of what they buy. Generally, eco-friendly products’ design is sad, frumpy, and the communication charity-focused.” Playing with her delightful octopus earrings made with recycled plastic bottles collected from the sea, she smiles. “This is sustainable and it is luxury.”

Goooders.com

Read Next: 6 Sustainable Fashion Labels From the Middle East That Need to be on Your Radar

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