Cool Fashion

1957:

Vegans want people to change attitude towards using animals. We don’t just want a local change amongst family and friends, we want it amongst LOTS of people. So, we need to be aiming for change on a grand scale.

People will change if they think it’s in their best interests. For example, they’ll be very willing to change to keep abreast of fashion - no one likes being old-fashioned. Neither do they want to be seen as anything but ‘normal’ - normalcy helps us hold down a job, and keeps a certain reputation within the group. If we want to seem cool we’ll keep in with hairstyles or clothing, to keep pace with fashion and to be sure we’re never very far from peer acceptance.

         

But when it comes to a radical change of lifestyle, like going vegan, it might seem like social suicide to voluntarily act in such a different way to all our friends. We’d hope to persuade friends to follow suit, but to go vegan means, at first, we do risk going it alone, the aim obviously being to lead a fashion. It requires some bravery. Ultimately, though, it needs a cool enough head, to strike out into the unknown territory of new fashion - leading fashion not following it.

This is relatively easy with a new hairstyle, but with a whole different eating regime, and to some extent one’s clothing regime too, calls for some considerable strength of character. We are proposing a change based on ethical principles, to attract others to change in the same way.

We know ‘shaming’ won’t inspire people to change, but what might move them is their fear of falling behind the current fashion. Once people feel that there is a trend towards compassionate eating and clothing, they might want to get in early, to be ahead of the bandwagon.

If we try to use ‘guilt’ to get people to change, they’ll probably oblige us, eventually. But it’s likely not to be a permanent change. It’ll weaken back to nothing over time. But if the ‘coming fashion’ is overlaid with ethics, it’s likely to have a much more powerful effect on habits and a better chance of escaping the gravitational pull of convention.