BRIGHT Zine Issue Three

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ISSUE THREE

B R I G HT Z I N E .C O

@brightzine

@brightzines

@brightzines

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ISSUE THREE

IN THIS ISSUE - A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT - PAGE 7 - GRIME GOES VEGAN - PAGE 8 - ACCELERATING THE CREATION OF VEGAN CULTURE - PAGE 10 - SPOT THE BANANA - PAGE 12 - HAVE WE CREATED AN ANIMAL HIERARCHY? - PAGE 14 -

- VEGANS, LET’S TALK ABOUT BODIES - PAGE 18 - ETHICAL FASHION WITH JOSHUA KATCHER, BRAVE GENTLEMAN - PAGE 26 - ETHICAL FASHION WITH HEARTCURE - PAGE 34 - INSTA HEROES - PAGE 37 - VEGAN QUEEN: COFFEE PLEASE - PAGE 38 - COOL SHIT - PAGE 40 - DID SOMEONE SAY PIZZA? - PAGE 42 -

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Laura Callan Editor / Writer Laura is a writer, teacher and vegan queen from London.

Laura loves bears.

™lauralollipop .

Tamsin Callan Creative Collaborator Tamsin is an events executive from London.

Tamsin loves donkeys.

™tamsinrose .

Roxane Dewar Illustrator Roxane is an artist and illustrator from London.

Roxane loves cats.

™roxane_dewar .

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- LET TER FROM THE EDITOR Hello and welcome to Bright Zine Issue Three.

I’m really excited about this Issue. I had the chance to write about something sensitive but important, and that’s the issue of bodies. Having a complicated relationship with my own body image and seeing some disappointing body shaming within the vegan community, I wanted to explore this issue more. I wanted to know what body positivity really is, and what is ‘best’ to do when dealing with or talking about body image.

I came up with more questions, some answers, and the overriding idea that we just need to be kind. Feel free to share your thoughts with us.

We’re delighted to have writers Damien Clarkson, Lydia Davies and Sammy Riley on board this Issue, as well as gorgeous illustrations from Lauren Marina and of course Roxane Dewar.

We’ve explored two different parts of ethical fashion in interviews with Joshua Katcher of Brave GentleMan, and Georgia Cook and Jordan McCusker from HeartCure. I loved finding out about the amazing work they are doing, they are all deserving of our support.

Thank you to everyone that’s made Issue Three what it is.

On the next page you’ll see that we’re starting Issue Three with something that needs to be said. Make sure you read it, think about it, repeat it, and pass it on. I hope one day we live in a world where systemic racism is a shameful memory. Until then, we all have work to do.

See you in Issue Four.

Laura Callan, Bright Zine ™lauralollipop ™brightzine

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A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:

BLACK LIVES MATTER

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GRIME GOES VEGAN: THE BBK TAKEOVER Written by Lydia Davies ™lydiabellsprout

August bank holiday marked London’s biggest Grime event of the year, the BBK TAKEOVER at the o2 Arena. Cookdaily, London’s famous vegan hotspot was invited along for the ride, taking over a restaurant inside the o2 for one night only.

King’s close connection with Boy Better Know is no secret. The likes of Jme, Jammer, Shorty and other influential Grime artists frequently pass through his well-known shipping container at Boxpark Shoreditch, so it was no surprise that Cookdaily was asked to be part of the Takeover, to collaborate and provide the food.

BBK asked King to join the takeover months prior to the event. For them it was obvious that they needed vegan food.

King’s response was simple: “You know I got this, lets do it.”

With the event expected to draw in thousands of grime fans from all over the UK, Cookdaily were given a 350 person capacity restaurant as an exclusive pop-up to play with.

With his crew, ‘Daily Smoothies’ and signature ripe bananas and plantains laid out as decoration, King came to the O2 with an exclusive BBK Meal Deal Menu.

Inspired by Skepta and Jme’s Nigerian background, the dish featured jollof rice and fried plantain combined with a lightly spiced coconut Vegan ‘ChickN’ curry (influenced

by King’s own Asian background), a Cookdaily touch of ‘High-Grade Coleslaw’, topped with their signature ‘Hemp Seed Crumble’ and paired with a selection of Karma Cola drinks. The menu was bold, relevant, on point and a total success.

“A lot of fans came through just to eat the BBK Menu, which is now in high demand.

We might just release that menu when we tour more,” says King.

With a queue of hungry vegans and grime fans all eager to get their Cookdaily fix, the team sold out after five hours. It was clear that ‘Cookdaily on Tour’ was a massive hit. “Many people who came through tried delicious vegan food for the first time and it changed a lot of people’s minds,” says King. “We introduced many people to veganism without pushing it like that.

We were so busy, powering through the day with adrenalin and champagne!” The day didn’t end there. “After our service all the staff just got drunk and went to enjoy the main show. It was definitely a night to remember.”

Just a few days later and Cookdaily were touring again, this time at the exclusive

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SKAir launch for Skepta’s shoe collab with NIKE. In the very ‘London’, grimey underground arches venue close to London Bridge, Skepta brought together all things that matter to him; his jewellers, barber shop, a corner shop, phone shop and flower shop which all represent London.

His favourite Nigerian restaurant that his family have visited for years was there, as well as a Moroccan food stall matching the theme of the launch.

So why Cookdaily? “We’re family,” says King simply, “that’s it, we had to be there.”

The event ran over two nights, one exclusive to industry and press, the second for those lucky enough to get their hands on tickets.

The Cookdaily pop-up stall was decorated with living herbs, a variety of raw fruits and vegetables and lit with red chilli fairy lights. Steam piping from rice cookers gave a dramatic effect against the dimly lit underground venue, created an eyecatching scene as Cookdaily set up to feed hundreds at the exclusive event.

The menu on offer this time around was the ‘Yoga Flame’, a pimped-up version of the infamous ‘Yoga Fire’ with added plantain, Vegan ‘ChickN’ and Scotch Bonnet chilli oil, served over brown rice and quinoa.

Again King was happy to see that the feedback was nothing but positive, and the menu was a complete success with grime fans and vegans alike.

“Hundreds of people passed through our pop-up. I’m very proud of my team. We are feeding all these people vegan food at a Skepta event! Wow, how times have changed! It was an amazing journey,” says King.

So is veganism taking on grime? “I think veganism is moving into everything, all over London, particularly young London,” says King. “Definitely towards the younger gen.”

And what’s next for Cookdaily sharing veganism with the younger generation?

“This was the first taste of ‘Cookdaily on Tour’ and we are definitely going to do more.” Watch this space.

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ACCELERATING THE CREATION OF VEGAN CULTURE Written by Damien Clarkson ™damienclarkson It has been a whirlwind… Rewind to 2013 when I first switched from vegetarian to vegan and London was a barren landscape for vegan food.

There were outliers like Vantra, Wild Food Cafe - but exclusive vegan places to eat were few and far inbetween.

If you would have suggested that a mere four years down the road thousands of people would attend vegan street-food events in London I am pretty sure I wouldn’t have believed you.

Since I started creating educational events for the vegan community in 2015, I’ve seen a rapid acceleration of the growth of vegan culture.

Vegan food has become synonymous with great taste. No longer is it frowned upon, I have non-vegan friends who actively message me about the vegan places they want to try eating at.

A bigger driver of this has undoubtedly been entrepreneurs who have taken risks to launch into an emerging market.

People like What The Pitta and Club Mexicana have made vegan food desirable and accessible.

I now co-run Vevolution with my partner Judy. We are a vegan events and media company that brings together the world’s most inspiring vegans to talk about how create a better world and accelerate the creation of vegan culture.

The best thing about our job is that we get to meet people who care so passionately about creating a vegan world.

Talking with people in our community we started to notice that almost everyone we have spoken to have had similar experiences. Vegan entrepreneurs are being squeezed by London’s soaring rents. For food businesses good pitches are hard to come by and competition is rife. We’ve experienced a huge struggle in trying to find an affordable venue for this year’s Vevolution festival with quotes for a one day event as high as £70,000.

We want veganism to be the dominant food culture in our lifetime. In order to achieve this we need to normalise the idea of veganism as a life choice. We need to make plant-based food accessible and a regular part of everyone’s diet. Market research firm Mintel recently reported that 28% of the UK have tried to reduce their meat consumption in the past six

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months. People, the shift is only going in one direction!

After a while it became clear to both myself and my partner Judy what we needed to do. We had to create a home for our community, so this November at Vevolution we will reveal what we have been up to.

It is the start of an exciting new chapter for us, it is big, bold and futuristic.

And that is how we need to be as a community, forward looking, optimistic and not trapped by dogma and the past of the vegan movement.

Sometimes you realise that the ambitious route is the one you must tread to make your dreams a reality.

If you want to know more about what we’re doing check out vevolution.co ™vevolution_

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SPOT THE BANANA

#SPOTTHEBANANA

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HAVE WE CREATED AN ANIMAL HIERARCHY? Why do we have cats and dogs in our homes but pigs and cows on our plates? Why do people eat animals at all? Why was there such public outcry when Cecil the lion was killed, but barely an eyelid is batted when any notable celebrity promotes hunting for entertainment?

We explore this hierarchy our society has created, and how this apparent contradiction of attitudes to animals still holds strong.

Written by Sammy Riley anodetomungbeans.com ™an.ode.to.mung.beans Illustrations by Roxane Dewar

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Cognitive dissonance is a phrase thrown around often these days. But there is no greater or more obvious example of this mental phenomenon than in the way we look at and place ourselves and animals in the hierarchy of nature.

People marvel at wildlife documentaries, donate generously to help save endangered species, spend thousands of pounds on vet care for pets, express outrage when tourists are shown gunning down lions in Africa and protest on the streets and online each year when the Yulin dog eating festival takes place or when the fishing boats of Taji Japan set out to hunt, capture and kill dolphins. All of this and more show that as humans, we have an enormous and collective capacity for compassion towards animals, and most importantly, it shows we inherently include them in our moral community. This positive description of the human condition comes crashing to a halt however, when we remember that the vast majority of us happily and willingly pay to have billions of land animals and trillions of marine life killed each year so we can consume their flesh and secretions. That uncomfortable feeling non-vegans might feel upon realising this – that’s that pesky cognitive dissonance.

The history of thought regarding animals and their place in our ethical and moral outlook extends back to ancient Greece and could be said to stem directly from Aristotle’s view on the ordered sequence of nature. He writes of a hierarchy that exists where he believes that the lower forms of life are there to serve or are for the sake of the higher. “Plants exist for the sake of animals and brute beasts for the sake of man…”. Interestingly, he had the same kind of hierarchical structure within the human race to justify slavery. Alongside

Christian ideologies that profess God gave us ‘dominion’ over the other animals, this notional hierarchy is alive and stronger than ever today and serves to perpetuate the idea that some lives matter less than others. But we shouldn’t assume this hierarchy only affects the lives of animals – it has far reaching consequences for the way humans treat one another. Racism and other forms of discrimination are a direct result of this pecking order and it allows us to otherise anyone who falls below us on the ladder by virtue of them not possessing characteristics we think necessitate moral consideration.

This hierarchy has significant practical consequences for the progression of animal rights. A good example of this is The Great Ape project. The project aims to change the legal status of great apes so they will receive the same basic rights as humans do such as the right to life. The reason being that certain species of apes have self-consciousness and the ability to conceptualise themselves in the past and future. This project is seeking the bestowment of rights to a small group of animals because they possess a cognitive character similar to humans. Whilst it is right to be seeking rights for these animals, to identify a group of animals as having a special attribute that grants them legal and moral rights is doing a further disservice to the development of the recognition of rights for all sentient beings who all have self-awareness and a desire for life.

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Animal rights advocate and Professor Gary Francione says; “What makes the ability to recognise oneself in a mirror or use symbolic language better in a moral sense than the ability to fly or breathe under water? The answer, of course, is that we say so, and it is in our interest to say so.” It is in our interest as humans to believe that we are unique or that we have a number of attributes that render us superior to other animals. If the argument for animal rights has been made clear and yet many still find small ways of attempting to refute it, it must be recognised that such an endeavour is made in the hopeful bid to retain this superiority. This default position is deeply entrenched in our belief system and it is perhaps due to the historical repetition of moral theories that place all of their importance on the supremacy of human attributes and other characteristics in certain animals that we admire over others, yet have no bearing on an animal’s or human’s right to life.

It’s clear that the current narrative is not only encouraging a moral system where humans and animals are separated, but is also facilitating the division of different animal species so we feel the need to care for or value some more than others; when we are told to value great apes more than pigs for example.

If we want to dismantle this hierarchy we need to pick a property that acts as a baseline, the lowest denominator, as it were, that is common between animals (including ourselves) and this property seems to be sentience. If we were to choose a property like intellect or aptitude this would bring about problems of inequality – and when we select arbitrary attributes like having beautiful coloured

wings or a majestic grey trunk – this allows for such inequality. A bird of paradise is no more deserving of our compassion and consideration than a chicken or hen. The hierarchy dictates that the moral regard we offer to animals is a matter of degree.

Sentience should be the basic threshold at which moral consideration commences and any further and more complex moral regard we afford animals (or any being), depends on certain mental capabilities that we deem morally relevant. No matter how benevolent we try to be in our consumption and exploitation of animals, it should be made imperative that no sentient human or nonhuman be denied the right not to be used exclusively as means to the ends of others.

Let us admit that we may never truly know the extent of an animal’s mental capacities, but that doesn’t diminish what we already know – non-human animals are sentient.

Sentience requires that the animal have a capacity to suffer, feel pain and experience pleasure and therefore being sentient necessitates being self-aware.

Being aware of one’s own feelings of pain, pleasure and the like is a subjective kind of consciousness and to believe that animals are not aware that it is their pain that they are experiencing is to say that they are not sentient; a claim of which we know is not true. In addition, an animal’s need of avoiding pain, like ours, is intrinsically linked to their survival. Humans and animals alike have evolved to use feelings of pain as a sign of threat to their life and this vital aspect of sentience exists in order for them to survive. In other words, such features of sentience (pain and pleasure) compel us to value our lives; it is this that gives to all animals, human or otherwise, the innate sense that their lives matter to them and the reason why their right to life should be equally fundamental.

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VEGANS, LET’S TALK ABOUT BODIES Written by Laura Callan Illustrations by Lauren Marina

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DISCLAIMER:

We acknowledge that not all people have the same physiology and experience of body image.

We acknowledge that anyone can experience the feelings and pressures discussed here. We acknowledge that people of colour, trans people and gender-nonconforming people can experience the issues discussed here with additional discrimination. This article intends to discuss this issue inclusive of all people and all bodies, including all sexes, gender identities, races, abilities and ages.

TRIGGER WARNING:

Discussion of eating disorders, mental health, physical health, body shaming and sex shaming.

- THE FACTS body shaming noun the action or practice of humiliating someone by making mocking or critical comments about their body shape or size. adjective: body-shaming expressing mockery or criticism about a person’s body shape or size.

body positivity noun a movement that encourages people to adopt more forgiving and affrming attitudes towards their bodies, with the goal of improving overall health and well-being.

orthorexia

noun a disorder characterised by a morbid obsession with eating healthy foods only.

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1.6m

people in the UK are suffering from diagnosed or undiagnosed eating disorders.

1 in 4 people in the UK suffer from body image anxiety.

Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.

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WHAT IS A VEGAN BODY? What does a vegan body look like? What should a vegan body look like?

These might seem like silly questions but it seems like they need to be asked.

You don’t have to dig very far deep in the vegan hashtags to find an array of beautiful (mostly white) vegans, eating healthily, working out and living healthy lives. Sound like a stereotype to you? It is. And a tired one. That’s what mainstream media will often portray, though it’s not completely distinct from the truth; some vegans do live and look like that, at least through their social media lens. But let’s be real here, veganism represents a much wider, diverse and more interesting community than just that.

With the existence and persistence of this stereotype comes the issue of bodies, body types, and unfortunately, a lamentable amount of body shaming.

If the stereotype is upheld, then vegans are expected to be slim, healthy and athletic, and while some vegans are indeed like that, some vegans aren’t. Just like the rest of society, we don’t all fit into one category.

Talking about bodies is a huge area with many threads, so let’s get into it. What are we doing right? What are we doing wrong? How can we be more sensitive and not cause or add to problems? What is our social responsibility?

Here are, from a range of resources, research and different lines of thinking, some facts, thoughts, ideas and points of view on body positivity, body shaming and veganism.

BODY IMAGE ANXIETY Body Image Anxiety affects at least one in four people in the UK, causing problems such as low self-esteem and depression. Body image anxiety discourages people from exercising, leads to a variety of eating disorders, leads to young people taking less care of themselves during sex, leads to substance abuse and is directly linked to weight gain.

The main social influences causing body image anxiety are the media, advertising and celebrity culture, promoting a very specific ‘ideal’ of thin women, muscular men, youthful looks and caucasian features. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Body Image stated in their report ‘Reflections on Body Image’ in 2012 that these so-called ideals can only be achieved by 5% of the population.

We have seen more body positive campaigns in recent years, but these are still a very small minority in the vast amount of body image media we exposed to.

The media may be changing, but not fast enough. So what can we do to spread a more body positive message? Let’s start with body shaming...

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BODY SHAMING So guess what guys? Body shaming isn’t cool.

Someone else’s body, how it looks and what they do with it really isn’t any of your business.

At all. This goes for sex shaming too. Stop that.

Body shaming is dangerous because it sneaks in and presents itself in many forms.

You can outright tell someone that there’s something wrong with their body. You can also talk negatively about your own body to others.

You can use terms like “flattering” to describe clothing choices. You can criticise people for being too thin, make comments on someone losing “too much” weight or gaining some.

These little things, though often commonplace, are not body positive. Even when you’re talking about yourself, you are adding to the body positivity conversation. It’s up to you whether you contribute positively or not.

- EXAMPLES “She looks good for her age.”

This can apply to anything, saying someone looks good despite something (i.e. age, personal circumstances, anything) is a big no-no.

“That dress is very flattering on you.”

“That’s so slutty.”

“He’d look better if...”

#fatvegan #whatfatveganseat #fatvegans

Veganism doesn’t necessarily mean healthy living or a route to weight loss.

And not all vegans are interested in health. It is very, very easy to be or become overweight as a vegan. You can never eat a single piece of fruit and be vegan. You can live on vegan cheese and seitan pizza, vegan burgers and chips followed by deep-fried Vego bars and be vegan.

Whatever vegan food you choose to eat does not make you any more or less of a vegan.

If we shame people for being “fat vegans” we are not only insulting and hurting them, which is appalling enough in itself, but we are also hurting the vegan movement as a whole. If someone thinking about

veganism sees comments on Instagram calling people fat vegans, are they going to feel inspired to become vegan? What if an overweight person sees that?

Will they really want to become vegan then? Or will they think veganism is not for them, because “fat vegan” is being bandied about as an insult?

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PROMOTING HEALTH Many of us share our lifestyle with others, particularly on social media, and if living healthily is important to us, we’ll share that too. Promoting a healthy lifestyle is exactly what we should all be doing. But what is a healthy lifestyle?

To one person a healthy lifestyle could mean running every day, to another it could mean eating lots of fruit and veg, to another it could be eating a balanced diet and never going to the gym. It’s different to every single person. Ultimately, we should place the emphasis on health and wellbeing over weight and appearance. Fat does not mean unhealthy, as slim does not mean healthy. Every body is different.

HEALTH & FITNESS Within veganism and within our society as a whole, promoting fitness and healthy living has its place. However, our society has set a standard of looks and health that people should achieve, that, while desirable for many, is not desirable or even possible for many others. 95% of the population in fact.

So why are promoting this as an ideal?

When you see, for example, a fitness Instagram feed, remember that this is one person’s body, genetics, metabolism, etc. Their lifestyle and set of circumstances are different to yours. You don’t need to compare yourself to them, because your bodies are different. Which leads us to...

SOCIAL MEDIA AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY When we share posts we are adding to various conversations, and we should be mindful of what exactly we are contributing. Try to be honest. Try to encourage a balanced fitness regime, not reinforce unrealistic body goals. If you’re going to promote a healthy diet, stay away from posting macros, calories, numbers. They might work for you, but what works for your body doesn’t work for every body.

When you see someone’s social media, remember that this is what they choose to share, this is a highlight reel, a “best of.” It’s not the everyday reality.

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FAT IS NOT FA I LU R E

LOVE YOUR BODY, LOVE YO U R S E L F

If you want to wear something, wear it.

If it’s hot and you want to wear shorts, wear shorts. If it’s cold and you want to wear shorts, wear shorts. Wear whatever you want (as long as it’s not culturally appropriating, of course.)

Having body fat, gaining weight or losing weight is not failure. Your appearance does not define you.

Your body does not define you. Who you are is more than how you look.

BEAUTY IN ALL SIZES Look up Renaissance nude paintings.

These people were considered the most beautiful of the time, and had a lot more body fat than we are made to feel is desirable today. And they are beautiful. All bodies are beautiful.

Define beauty for yourself.

BE R E A L If the media is showing us warped ideals then we need to combat it with variety. Show yourself how you really are and let’s share the rich diversity our world is really made up of.

FOR THE ANIMALS By being vegan you’re helping to save animals’ lives. That’s the reason many of us go vegan in the first place.

Guess what? The animals don’t care what your body looks like, how often you work out or what vegan food you eat. Body shaming yourself or others won’t help them.

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BE VEGAN, BE KIND Being vegan is a form of compassion, by not eating animals or contributing to their suffering. Don’t forget to be kind to yourself.

Don’t forget to be kind to others. #bodypositive #allbodiesaregoodbodies #effyourbeautystandards

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“I WANT TO SHOW PEOPLE THAT FASHION CAN BE SYMBOLIC OF THE IDENTITY THEY WANT TO PORTRAY WITHOUT HAVING TO TORTURE AND KILL ANIMALS”

Ethical Fashion and Business with Joshua Katcher, CEO of Brave GentleMan

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B R I G HT Sometimes you discover long-term vegans, people who have been flying the flag and making a difference for decades up to now.

Joshua Katcher is one of these people.

Joshua started men’s lifestyle website The Discerning Brute in 2008, and two years later launched vegan, sustainable, ethically-produced menswear brand Brave GentleMan. Joshua opened his first store in Brooklyn in 2015, and was awarded Most Influential Designer by PETA in the same year. Laura Callan caught up with Joshua at his Brooklyn store to found out more about the technology behind Brave GentleMan, the growing success of the brand and what’s important in running a vegan business.

For anyone who hasn’t come across you and Brave GentleMan before, can you introduce yourself?

My name is Joshua Katcher and I am the founder and creative director of Brave GentleMan, which is I believe the world’s first and only vegan, sustainable, high-end menswear lifestyle brand. I am also an instructor at Parsons, The New School, where I teach fashion to international students and my main area of research is animals in the fashion industry. I’ve just finishing up my book which I’ve written on this topic too.

So if we go right back to the beginning, when did you go vegan?

I went vegan around 20 years ago, before there was a lot of the innovation and development that we see today. I hope I played a role in getting the movement where it is today, as a tastemaker, demanding higher standards and demanding better quality and not being willing to settle with yucky food or ugly fashion. I think that as vegans and as activists we have a responsibility to make this lifestyle desirable and aspirational. The main side effect of that is we end up leading nice lives and we have high standards, but those standards are not just there to be a snob,

they’re there to create this excitement around what we’re doing and to win people over. For me with Brave GentleMan, that’s really what I’ve been wanting to do, I want to convince someone who would otherwise go out and buy an expensive leather bag or a pair of classic dress shoes to look at our products and see it as superior, as better than the conventional counterpart.

How important do you think it is to have real innovation in vegan businesses?

I think it’s important for any entrepreneur to be innovative, but I think there’s an extra pressure on vegan entrepreneurs. We have to avoid these flaws because the moment someone sees a crack, they wedge themselves in and blame veganism. It becomes a burden because this expectation of perfection is really diffcult to meet. I don’t think that other entrepreneurs necessarily have to deal with that so much. If a product isn’t great and beautifully designed and marketed well, it’ll give our movement a bad name. It’s like if you’re a vegan athlete, you have to be on the top of your game, you always have to be in the best shape because if you’re not, everyone says, “Oh, it’s because you’re vegan…”

It’s tough, it’s a lot of work and it’s a lot of pressure, but it is worth it because at the end of every day I know why I’m doing it. I don’t think many other entrepreneurs have any other motivation other than their bottom line. Even though making money is definitely something that I need to do as a business owner, I have two bottom lines; my financial bottom line and my ethical bottom line. Those are parallel and equal to each other, I can’t have one without the other.

Are you seeing more high quality vegan businesses starting up?

There is a surge of start-ups that have high standards, and I think that’s good for everyone.

It’s good for vegans and non-vegans because I think that ultimately everyone wants to enjoy life and unfortunately people see veganism

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as a sacrifice of pleasure. I always say that the best argument for veganism is a plate of delicious food or a beautiful product, that’s better than any verbal argument you can have with somebody because it opens them up to the idea without fear. I think that’s what a lot of people get held back by, the reason they don’t want to commit to veganism, they see it as limiting and as devoid of flavour and devoid of pleasure.

The focus of Brave Gentleman is more on manufacturing and quality. Was it always your mission to make good clothes that are vegan, rather than vegan clothing?

I would say my brand is not for vegans, per se, I know vegans who like well-made clothing and classic menswear aesthetics and will gravitate towards it. But it’s really for non-vegans; they

are the customers to win over. Vegans will find me, I don’t have to make a t-shirt with “vegan” on it and I think that’s an important distinction to have, it’s not an exclusive club. I don’t want to exclude people; I want people coming into my store wearing fur, I want them to see the stuff we have. A part of me wants to scream at them and rip off their fur trim off their hood, but another part of me wants to impress them and wants to win them over and show them that fashion can be symbolic of the identity they want to portray without having to torture and kill animals.

How do you manage seeing people in fur?

I go back and forth, I’m torn! A part of me doesn’t want to look at that, but I’d like to believe that most people share similar values and a lot of them are just not living up to

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“THE BEST ARGUMENT FOR VEGANISM IS A PLATE OF DELICIOUS FOOD OR A BEAUTIFUL PRODUCT” those values. I think most people don’t want to do harm, and if they knew what was really happening they would choose something else.

Technology is a big part of and force behind Brave Gentleman, you use ‘future wool’ and ‘future leather’, what can you tell us about these materials?

Words can only go so far. I want people to touch it and experience it and wear it and see how durable it is. The technology right now is really exciting, we’re on the cusp of some of the most exciting innovations that have ever happened in the material realm. Our ability to make biological materials, like spider-silk that have not come from a spider, is fascinating and exciting because spider-silk is one of the strongest materials in nature, it’s stronger than steel, they make bulletproof vests out of it, Kevlar is made out of it. Biologists have figured out how to synthesise it in a laboratory and create a biological identical, it’s not an imitation of the silk, it’s indistinguishable on a biological level. We’re also on the cusp of related technology, like lab-grown leather and

in the food realm, things like cow’s milk being made from yeast and lab-grown meat. It’s only a matter of time, if we can grow one protein in a laboratory, then we can grow any protein in a laboratory.

The material is identical biologically and it raises all sorts of interesting questions, but the one question that it solves is “Did someone suffer for this?” and the answer is “No.” It also solves some huge environmental problems.

We only have access to what’s commercially available right now, we have our vegan leather, I call it ‘Future Leather.’ It’s made in Italy, it is more durable than leather, it’s more water resistant, it breaks in, it breathes, it does everything you want leather to do, but it’s better, it’s stronger, it lasts longer and it has a far smaller ecological footprint and is EU-Eco label certified.

In addition to these high-tech materials we use organic cotton instead of regular cotton or recycled PET from the cups we’re drinking from. This motorcycle jacket I’m wearing now, the lining feels like silk but it’s made from recycled water bottles, and the shell is this

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B R I G HT woolly material made in Brazil from waste diverted cotton and waste diverted poly. This is stuff that would have ended up in a landfill. A company taps into the waste stream and pulls things out of it before it ends up in a landfill and then they colour-separate it, so it’s a dye-free process, and then they grind it down to fibres and spin new threads out of it and then weave these beautiful twills and tweeds.

Who would need a wool twill when you have something like this, that not only is superior in performance but is actually having a positive impact, not just a neutral impact, it’s actually removing garbage from landfills?

How do you feel ethical fashion is viewed?

I think that fashion suffers a bad rap from both sides. From the fashion industry ethical fashion is looked upon as boring, goody-twoshoes, wholesome and all the things that aren’t sexy. Like “Oh, it’s a cute idea to have an organic cotton t-shirt!” or, “Oh, isn’t it so cute that Emma Watson’s into eco-fashion?”

It’s brushed off as this silly and frivolous thing.

And then from the activist circles, fashion is seen as inherently transgressive, as inherently bad, that it’s about vanity and materialism and capitalism and about dressing to exclude others. People fail to see how influential the fashion industry could be as a tool, what we’re talking about is really identity, how we dress is how we want others to perceive us visually,

we’re visual creatures. There is a history that goes back to prehistoric times, where the things that we wear are to communicate ideas and values.

A part of the fashion industry that is inherently problematic is what we would call ‘fast fashion’ and another is also in aspects of the luxury fashion industry where they are celebrating animal materials as being the utmost sought after and highly valued things in the world.

There’s actually a reason for that, and there’s a history behind that, which I’ve written about in my upcoming book. Understanding these things and trying to open people up to see fashion as a tool for change, as a tool to communicate ideas and values and not only get behind an aesthetic, but to get behind the way something is made and to feel proud of that, I think that can be very empowering for anybody.

If you put on one of our jackets, yes it’s going to be cut well, yes it’s going to be nice, but on top of that you need to know that it’s also made fairly and that the money that you paid for this isn’t just lining the pocket of the company or the designer, it’s actually an investment in a system that should flourish.

I think people shouldn’t see themselves as consumers as much as citizen investors, because it is true that every dollar that is spent funds those systems and industries and we

B R I G HT need funding in these spaces. I want people to feel empowered by this idea that their buying power, their dollar spent is an investment in something better.

You’ve been vegan for a long time, how have you seen the scene develop?

I first toyed around with the idea of veganism growing up in the suburbs of New York City and there was nothing, there was one health food store and it felt like it was right out of the 70s, it was very ‘hemp’, they had tofu, hemp and soy milk which they made there, and sprouts. I remember the first vegan cheese that I tried, I think it did the opposite of turning people vegan. Anybody who was not vegan who tried that would’ve been like, “wow”. But I’ve seen a lot of change. Twenty years ago people looked at you cross-eyed when you told them you were vegan, they didn’t know what that meant. My parents were worried I was going to be malnourished and that I would die. But today we still get the “Where do you get your protein from?” question, it’s so played out. Someone literally asked me two days ago at my gym.

You don’t look protein deficient...

I mean, I do pretty well, I CrossFit, I’m at a high level of performance. People don’t seem to understand, you can’t be protein deficient unless you’re calorie deficient. The only way to really be protein deficient is if you’re starving. If you’re getting enough calories, you’re getting enough protein.

With fashion, people don’t ask these questions, they’re little bit more open-minded and they’re excited about the technology.

Technology and materials, I think, are more easily accepted. Technology and food is what make makes people think of a mad scientist in a lab with bubbling beakers, making food out of toxic chemicals, and that’s obviously not true. But with materials and technology people are much more excited about experimenting with new ideas and we’re seeing so many exciting things happen.

For anyone visiting New York, what places would you recommend?

Confectionery! on the Lower East Side is run by two incredibly talented women, one of them is a chocolatier and the other is a pastry chef, they make French Macaroons and croissants, cookies, pastries, chocolates and bonbons and everything so good. They’ve got the magic formula. When my husband and I were getting married they made the cake and dessert spread for us, a lot of guests were not vegan and said it was the best cake they’ve ever had. In the neighbourhood here near Brave GentleMan you have Haymakers Deli which is a little market. Then there’s Champ’s Diner, an American-style diner that has Red Velvet Pancakes with chocolate chips, breakfast sandwiches, nachos, buffalo wings, big stuffed to the brim salads that are very filling, you name it they’ve got it. Every kind of indulgent soul food at a diner. Just one block from them is Dun-Well Doughnuts, which have some of the best doughnuts in New York City, they were rated the best doughnut in New York, not the best ‘vegan’ doughnut, just the best doughnut. Also in the neighbourhood is a really beautiful high-end vegan restaurant called Modern Love which was started by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, who is one of the pioneering vegan cookbook authors and is just a force to reckoned with.

They make everything in house, every sauce, every bread, every pasta, it’s all homemade and everything is just flavoured deliciously.

I can go on and on! If you’re coming to the city, you have to go to Williamsburg and do a little vegan tour, because you could spend an afternoon here and eat three meals and have snacks in between while you go shopping.

Brave GentleMan’s sustainable menswear is unisex and ships worldwide from their website. Or next time you’re in Brooklyn, visit the store at 367 Graham Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11211 bravegentleman.com ™bravegentleman

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JOSHUA’S TOP NEW YORK SPOTS Confectionery!

Artisan vegan bake shop & chocolatier.

440 E 9th St, New York, NY 10009 ™confectionerynyc

Modern Love Restaurant by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

317 Union Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211 ™modernlovebrooklyn

Haymakers Deli Vegan marketplace and deli.

176 Ainslie St, Brooklyn, NY 11211 ™haymakerscorner

Pine Box Rock Shop Vegan bar and music venue.

12 Grattan St, Brooklyn, NY 11206 ™pineboxrockshop

Champs Diner Vegan comfort food, but gourmet.

197 Meserole St, Brooklyn, NY 11206 ™champsdiner

Bar Velo Cocktail bar with vegan small plates.

1394 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 11211 ™barvelobrooklyn

Dun-Well Doughnuts Award-winning vegan doughnut shop.

22 Montrose Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11206 ™dunwelldoughnuts

Dr-Cow Raw cashew cheeses you’ll fall in love with.

93 S 6th St, Brooklyn, NY 11249 ™drcowstore PA G E 3 3

HEARTCURE Sheffield based HeartCure Clothing stand out from other clothing brands.

Their strong t-shirt designs are made even more effective by the fact that the company are a non-profit, with all profits from sales go towards helping animals saved from slaughter. We caught up with them to find out more about the brand, and their upcoming plans to create a vegan social centre.

Can you tell us a bit about yourselves and HeartCure?

We are Georgia and Jordan, we’ve been a couple for seven years and went vegan together two and a half years ago. We came up with the idea for HeartCure Clothing when we wanted to raise money for an animal sanctuary. We also wanted to focus on powerful designs that would make people think. HeartCure is community-

centred and we love collaborating with artists, activists and creatives to help spread the vegan message far and wide.

What makes HeartCure Clothing different to other vegan brands?

HeartCure Clothing is ethically made, we use water based inks, sustainable packaging and organic and eco-friendly materials. However, I think it’s more that we are non-profit that sets us apart. In the year that we have been running, we’ve raised money for Brook Farm Animal Sanctuary, Hillside Sanctuary and supported different activists and groups, raising over £5,000 to support these causes.

You co-organised the Official Animal Rights March in London this year with Surge and The Save Movement and it

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had a huge turn out, how did you find the day?

The day of the march was incredible, to see so many thousands of passionate people come out and stand in support of the animals was so empowering! It’s days like this that give us real hope for the future of veganism and belief that we will one day see a world where all animals are liberated. There is a real power in unity and we hope that everyone came away with a new eagerness to do activism in their own communities.

You’re currently fundraising to start a vegan social centre, what inspired you to do this?

We really wanted to see a permanent space for vegans to come together and create change. Our fundraising events for Brook Farm Sanctuary in Sheffield had shown just how many people wanted to come together for events and to help a good cause. We’d seen social centres before that had done great work for human rights issues, but never one entirely focused on veganism and animal rights. With the rapid growth of the vegan movement, we feel it is the perfect time to create this space and to unite people for the sake of the animals and the planet.

What will the centre be like?

HeartCure Collective will be a permanent space based out of Sheffield, UK. It will be open to everyone vegan or not and will provide a friendly atmosphere for events, meet-ups or just a coffee with friends.

There will be a vegan café, stage, games area, a library sponsored by The Vegan Society, workstations with computers, kids area, a room for rent, clothing store, office spaces and even a zero waste store!

There will be membership options which will grant discounts, access to membersonly events, the ability to borrow from the library and many more cool things.

We aim to hold many events every week ranging from talks, film screenings and music nights to workshops. There will be plenty of reasons to travel to HeartCure Collective if you’re not local.

What are your plans and hopes for HeartCure in the future?

We hope to continue to raise money for different causes with HeartCure Clothing and that HeartCure Collective can one day exist in multiple locations. Most importantly we hope that HeartCure Collective will reach thousands and inspire many to live a vegan lifestyle. We can’t wait for the centre to open and to connect with so many people!

Jordan and Georgia are fundraising for the HeartCure Collective vegan social centre, to find out more go to gofundme.com/heartcurecollective heartcureclothing.com

™heartcureclothing ™heartcurecollective

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INSTA HEROES

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COOL SHIT

- FILM -

- PERIODS -

Now when someone tries to tell you that animals are treated humanely in the UK, you have a 48-minute long film that shows otherwise.

‘Land of Hope and Glory’ was made by the founders of animal rights organisation Surge. It’s like our own Earthlings, and shows the hidden truth behind UK animal farming. It’s free to watch online, share with all your non-vegan friends.

Not only is this important because this shit needs to be discussed more, but this collaborative campaign with Lunette is actually directly providing young women in Kenya access to menstrual care and education. Monki sell special edition pink cups in store alongside a range of pro-period underwear.

Monki, you are my new favourite.

™monki

™landofhopeandgloryfilm

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- RING I’m jealous that Laura has this ring and I don’t. Her mandem bought it for her, so I can’t exactly get the same thing. It’s literally all I want from a ring, two skulls and a crystal. It’s made by Empty Casket along with loads of other beautiful things for goth queens.

™emptycasket

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COOL SHIT CURATOR TAMSIN CALLAN BRINGS YOU THE BEST VEGAN FINDS THIS ISSUE. YOU’RE WELCOME.

- ALBUM If you haven’t heard this record already, go put it on.

I’ve had it on repeat since it came out. Guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen said, “We play rock & roll, and now, more than ever, people need to enjoy their lives,” and this is the perfect soundtrack to do that to.

™queensofthestoneage

- BADGE -

-CLUB-

Hey guys, stop being dicks.

You’re not more of a vegan

If you like running and you like brunch, come and be a

because you use less plastic, you’re not any less of a vegan for still wearing Nike trainers that might not have vegan glue because you bought them before you were vegan and it’s wasteful to throw them away.

Be nice, ease up on telling people off on Instagram, get this badge and a lifelong membership to the ‘Don’t Be A Dick Club’.

vegan queen with us. Even if you don’t really like running, you can walk, or just come for brunch. We host monthly Vegan Queen runs, join our Facebook group to see upcoming dates.

™veronicadearly

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#veganqueenrunclub

DID SOMEONE SAY PIZZA? What is One Planet Pizza?

One Planet Pizza is the UK’s first frozen Vegan Pizza company, and Europe’s first vegan company to be crowdfunded.

We are owned by just over 100 vegans, veggies and veggie curious investors.

We describe our range of frozen vegan pizzas as good for you, good for the planet, and good for the animals we share this world with. In our Classic range, we have the Three Cheese Margherita, the Funghi Feast, the Hawaiian and the Med Veg, all made with a range of vegan cheeses and mock ham from our friends at Bute Island. All our pizzas are hand made in Norfolk, 100% plant based with added flax seed and chia seed for Omega 3 and other health benefits, and are of course great tasting! Our pizzas have been calculated as having just 46% of the carbon footprint of a typical meat pizza, and our packaging is all recyclable or compostable.

What gave you the inspiration to start One Planet Pizza?

I already part-owned a vegetarian/vegan restaurant, but wanted to start a new 100% vegan business. A friend of mine mentioned that there was no really good range of vegan pizzas. Pizzas are one of the biggest selling types of frozen food, and are something that people who turn vegan really miss, so it seemed like a great idea to give it a go. We wanted to make it different from the start, involving the

community that we wanted to service, so we set up a crowdfunding campaign that raised £25,000 from over 100 different people in just three days. Everyone we talked to was so enthusiastic, we knew we were onto something exciting.

What is the most important thing in running or creating a vegan business?

I think it has to be sustainable, it doesn’t matter how good or ethical your idea is, or if it is going to change the world, if you can’t make it work financially. So the business plan is essential and the business model must stand up. Too many vegan businesses fail because they are not run on sound business principals but just on great ideas and morals.

Where can we get our hands on a One Planet Pizza?

At the moment we are increasing the range of shops that we are available in. We are in just over 30 independent wholefood and health shops, plus online through Alternative Stores. And from November the number of shops will start to increase. We are also attending many of the major vegan festivals and events coming up, so you can try the pizzas hot as well as buy the frozen ones.

For a list of current stockists upcoming events we are attending and the latest news, visit oneplanetpizza.com ™oneplanetpizza

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SEE YOU NEXT TIME JOIN US IN ISSUE FOUR FOR: VEGANISM AND MASCULINITY WITH THE VEGAN BROS THE PROBLEM WITH PERFECTION & MUCH MORE UNTIL THEN, KEEP IN TOUCH B R I G HT Z I N E .C O

@brightzine

@brightzines

@brightzines

Treasure me. Keep me on your coffee table. And when you’re done with me, give me to a friend, leave me in a cafe or in a library, or recycle me.

Bright Zine

B R I G HT Z I N E ISSUE THREE E D IT I O N O N E ©2017 B R I G HT Z I N E .C O