Thanks to a new co-operation approach fashion now becomes a life coach. The Spanish fashion label Mango and the popular Brazilian author Paulo Coelho have recently entered a co-operation. Coelho is a famous contemporary author, who gained popularity with his philosophical and fairytale novels like “The Alchemist”.

Corresponding to the zeitgeist Coelho meets the demand for “life guidance”, values and morals. Especially now that political and business structures are questioned and criticised for fostering greed, corruption and dishonesty, society asks for more moral guidance. It is fashionable to be more caring and value-oriented. One is encouraged to focus on the essential aspects of life and to adapt a more modest and humble lifestyle.

The co-operation makes use of this development and prints meaningful quotes from Coelho’s novels on T-shirts e.g. “The greatest blessing in life is having dreams to realize.” 40,000 T-shirts with six different quotes are available in 68 countries around the globe. The T-shirts are packaged in the form of a book, in order to differentiate the T-shirts from the main collection and to catch the customer’s attention. In addition to the collection the shop windows are also kept and decorated in a “Coelho” theme.

The co-operation grasps and responds to the current atmosphere very well. Note- and praiseworthy is that a proportion of each sold T-shirt goes to the Paulo Coelho Institute in Brazil and helps children and elderly in need. At the same time the co-operation seems to be a bit of a parody. First of all, mass produced T-shirts with Coelho quotes and “philosophically” decorated shop windows somewhat undermine the integrity and authenticity of the author. Second of all, profound sayings sold in commercial manners simply do not appear credible. Either way people in need receive help, which is always desirable but seldom the case.