Catholic Style Hitting the Fashion World

The newest craze in the fashion world is clothes designed by a priest called Goods of Conscience. Rev. Andrew O’Connor is being called “a man of the cloth for two reasons.” He received this nickname for his religion and his conscience for fashion. The small clothing company in New York only sells ethically obtained and manufactured products. “The church demands that you don’t just involve yourself in your own personal salvation, but we are really here to work for the salvation of the world,” O’Connor said by way of explaining GOC. The motto of the company is to produce clothing that “look good and do good.” The clothes have been getting immense attention since celeberty Cameron Diaz modeled a pair of shorts designed by O’Connor in the June edition of Vogue. Rev. O’Connor is one of nine Children and is a self-taught designer, created his first pattern when he was 16, sewing a pair of pants from a piece of linen-cotton drapery. He is quoted saying “humble than, humble now.” The idea for the company came to O’Connor while on a retreat in a small town in Guatemala where cloth was made, but the increasing use of cheap Chinese workers made the town’s work obsolete. The items at GOC are expensive with jackets costing $800, but GOC pays all employees a just wage, but it takes fifteen days to weave enough cloth for one shirt. The profits are used in Guatemala to provide children books for school, build churches, and more. At home in the US women in the Bronx are benefitting by learning a new trade, sewing and being paid a fair wage. Look for the styles by Fr. O’Connor in upcoming films and adorned by stars such as Julia Roberts.

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