Local underwear maker made protest flags
Greenpeace Canada used colourful materials in peaceful resistance of Trans Mountain pipeline
Stephanie Ostler has a going business, hand-sewing “frilly” underwear out of eco-bamboo fabric and selling it from a small store on Granville Island called Devil May Wear.
Recently, a friend presented her with a top-secret, super-rush and very different assignment.
“I love taking on weird, odd jobs,” says Ostler.
What she didn’t know at the time was that her creation of seven giant, 40-foot-long flags made of ripstop material would be used by Greenpeace Canada protesters for a high-profile statement on one of the most contentious of national issues.
A group of activists would rappel off the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge and dangle with Ostler’s fluttering flags for more than a day in an attempted aerial blockade of oil-tanker traffic. The action prompted both arrests and other protests. The RCMP say charges could be laid under the federal Shipping Act.
It just so happens that Ostler’s
I sew bamboo underwear that is locally produced, so it’s not like it’s that surprising (to be aligned with Greenpeace).” Stephanie Ostler
personal views mesh with Greenpeace’s anti-pipeline message, but her story is an interesting one for companies that take on more than they expected.
“The bottom line is that brands are known by the friends you keep,” says Lindsay Meredith, a professor of marketing at Simon Fraser University. “If you are associated with those guys hanging off a bridge, then you might get some pushback from those who don’t agree with them.”
Ostler’s partner was the first to alert her when photos of the flags first started circulating online. She was thrilled and re-posted the images of her handiwork.
“People commented on it. We had about 90 per cent more activity about it than in our average posts.”
Within minutes, however, there was also a handful of people who unfollowed her company’s various social media accounts.
“It’s unfortunate that we can’t have differences and be able to talk more openly about it instead of just disconnecting,” said Ostler, adding with a small chuckle that “I sew bamboo underwear that is locally produced, so it’s not like it’s that surprising (to be aligned with Greenpeace).”
But customers can sometimes feed a groundswell that is harder for companies to manage, according to Meredith.
Earlier this year, people did just that with Mountain Equipment Co-op following a high school shooting in Florida. Thousands of letters and online posts called into question MEC’s values because it sold helmets and other products by Vista Outdoor, an American firm that also makes guns and ammunition. In the end, MEC cut ties with Vista.
“Brands have to ask, ‘Who’s buttering our bread’, and reflect those views,” said Meredith.
Ostler said she merely cut and sewed the flags, but didn’t have anything to do with the designs on them.
It was quite a feat to put together seven of them in less than a day and a half, she said.
“There wasn’t even time to make a sample. I have high-quality standards, like flat seams. But they said, ‘Don’t bother pressing them.’ It would have taken eight hours of ironing time.
“I was glad to help. I hope the flags get saved for some sort of display afterward. They are quite epic.”