It's been a while since I've written a post about ethical fashion, so I wanted to take some time to clarify what I mean when I refer to ethical fashion. A few years back I found myself working with a fair trade jewelry company, and as I learned more about fair trade I began to question all of the purchases in my life. I took a year to detox and learn about the fashion industry. I spent that year not buying any new clothing, researching everything I could find about fair trade, and discovering new companies that sold fair trade products. During that year I learned a lot about the lack of transparency in the supply chain, the problem of textile waste, unfair treatment of factory workers in buildings that were not up to code, unfair wages paid to workers, or rather not paid, big box brands intentionally outsourcing manufacturing in order to make garments for the lowest possible price, etc. I also was introduced to the concept of ethical fashion, which encompassed a little more than simply a fair trade label. The idea of ethical fashion caused me to think about not just workers being paid fairly, but how the environment was treated in the process, where, or what countries, the products were made, and the concept of slow fashion.
Over the years these are the conclusions that I've come to and what I consider to be ethical fashion:
1. Fair trade certified-- In order to be certified, companies are evaluated and have to meet certain standards. I feel confident that when buying from these companies I can know that all the workers were paid fairly and have safe working conditions throughout the supply chain in the making of that particular garment.
2. Certified organic clothing-- I consider clothing that takes in to account how the environment is treated to be ethical. Organic clothing reduces the environmental footprint. No toxic chemicals are used in the growing of the fibers in organic cotton. Organic farming doesn't damage the soil and has less impact on the air. It uses far less energy and water, and it does not utilize harmful insecticides and pesticides.
3. Secondhand-- Buying secondhand or thrifting is a great ethical option. When you purchase this way you are giving a second life to old clothing. Instead of purchasing new and creating even more textile waste and environmental waste involved in production, you are keeping clothing out of landfills. For an added bonus, you are funneling money into your local economy instead of feeding the pocketbook of large big box stores and brands.
4. Buying from companies and brands that manufacture in the USA-- Labor laws are more strictly enforced here in the US than in many developing countries. There are more regulations and oversight measures in place to make sure people are paid fairly and that buildings are up to code. I'm not naive and realize that people still break the law here and illegal things happen, but I feel there's a smaller chance that that's happening here vs when companies intentionally outsource their manufacturing to places like Bangladesh for the sole purpose of making the garment for as cheap as possible.
5. Slow fashion-- The opposite of what's known as fast fashion. The majority of the fashion industry thrives on fast fashion. In the fashion industry there used to be 2 or 4 seasons that designers produced clothing for each year. There are now essentially 52 seasons for fast fashion chains. The goal of these stores is to get you to walk into their store weekly and for there to be new clothing items for sale each time you come in. This creates an extremely high volume of clothing that circulates through those types of stores on a yearly basis. Much of the clothing is never even purchased, so what happens to all that waste?! The pressure is on the consumer to buy more and more. It's easy to talk yourself into that tank when it's only $5. Who cares if the material is poor quality and it's cheaply made and falls apart the first time you wash it. You only wanted to wear it once anyway. Now that everyone has seen it in your instagram feed you shouldn't wear it again. Just pop back in and buy another cheap shirt to wear this weekend. This is the mindset of fast fashion and it's not sustainable. Slow fashion encompasses the ideas of investing in less quantity and higher quality. You may pay significantly more for an item but you're filling your closet with items that will last and that you will wear over and over again for years to come.
I realize that everyone's feelings are different and what I'm comfortable with may not be what you're comfortable with, but that's what I've landed on after these years of exploring the world of ethical fashion.
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