What’s it all about?
The phrase ‘sustainable fashion’ is thrown around a lot these days, but what is its exact meaning? Well, essentially, the ideology of sustainable fashion means making clothes which cause minimal damage to the environment, whilst taking into consideration the people who actually have to make the clothes.
The fashion industry is creating a massive carbon footprint by not being very resourceful when it comes to the items that they use or throw away. On average, a single item of clothing is made internationally across three countries according to www.ethicalfashionforum.com. This is going to have a detrimental effect on the environment in terms of fuel and emissions. Equally, the growing of cotton, and the dyeing and washing of the clothes uses chemicals which are damaging to the environment. Cotton actually uses almost a quarter of the world’s insecticides! And with regards to the people behind the clothes we wear, studies have shown that many of the leading high-street stores tend to still use sweatshops in Asia to make clothes in order to reduce costs, despite media backlash in recent years.
For students, especially in the recession, more people are looking to buy value clothes from big supermarket chains to save money, but at what price?
Rosie Minaisah
Where do your clothes really come from?
As Christmas rapidly approaches, many of you will have started to plan and even buy gifts for family and friends, but how much thought do you give to the people that craft your purchases? It’s a pleasant, if somewhat idealistic, thought to imagine everyone having the time off work to spend with family but this, sadly, is often not the case for sweatshop workers.
Over the last few years several well-known high street brands have come under intense scrutiny over the working conditions of their factory workers. One major chain that immediately springs to mind is Primark; with its student-friendly prices and up-to-the minute clothes, it can be tempting to forget where your new outfit was actually made. Posters claiming that “Primark is committed to monitoring and progressively improving the conditions of the people who make products for us” adorn the walls of the shop; comforting on the surface, maybe, to ethically conscious customers, but are these improvements enough? Primark does not deny its use of sweatshops and tries to direct all questions regarding them to the ethics page of its website. Another student fashionista’s Mecca, Topshop, also falls foul in the ethical fashion debate. Two years ago, Sir Phillip Green of the Arcadia group, owner of Topshop, declined to join the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI). Topshop does indeed now have a prominent, if rather small, fair trade section but “an official statement from Sir Philip Green” would be needed to answer any questions regarding the working conditions of the rest of its overseas factory workers.
So just what exactly are these well-loved high street staples so desperate to hide? Despite the labour laws of 2006 that were supposed to guarantee health and safety measures for workers, conditions in masses of overseas factories remain poor and workers frequently complete shifts of 13-16 hours, often receiving little over a pound a day. One worker in 2007 announced that she earned 2200 Bangladeshi Taka (TK) per month, including overtime, when her basic living costs for herself and her family were around TK5000. When converted to pounds, TK2200 comes in at just under a shocking £20. Amirul Haque Amin, president of the National Garment Worker’s Association, commented that “In spite of new labour regulations, workers have seen few improvements in their pay or in the conditions of the factories where they work”. This, however, is hardly surprising when you consider that there are a mere 20 people working to enforce these regulations in over 4000 factories.
There is, however, hope, as companies are starting to take a responsibility towards their workers. Last year, high street label Zara withdrew business from one of its suppliers and caused the factory to close following claims of abuse from the workers.
So next time you’re shopping, frantically searching for the perfect jacket, why not give a thought as to how it was made?
Charlotte Fletcher & Venetia Stefanou
So what can I do about this?
The first thing that becomes apparent when looking for ethically-sourced/fair trade clothing is that you’re not stuck for choice. Typing ‘fair trade clothing’ into any search engine produces a multitude of websites selling clothes made from ethically sourced fabrics. The interesting thing is that these websites tend to be smallish independent online stores. You won’t immediately be directed to the nearest high street brand for their latest range of fair trade clothes, and thus, the second thing you come to realise is that if you’re looking to seriously change where the clothes in your wardrobe come from, it won’t come cheap. Clearly it costs to have a clear conscience.
However, as the problem of fair trade clothing becomes more apparent in the fashion industry, big high street names are beginning to do their part in promoting the use of sustainably-sourced fabrics and paying their workers a fair wage. Stores like Topshop do have a small range of fair trade clothing, which isn’t any more expensive than the rest of their stock. River Island have emphasised the banning of the use of cotton made in Uzbekistan, where it is believed that child labour is still used to harvest cotton crop. Finally, American Apparel, a store based in Los Angeles, use the fact that their clothes are all made in LA, from the design to the distribution, as their strongest marketing tool and, and as a result their workers receive a fair wage. Which is all well and good, but we all know that Topshop, River Island and American Apparel do not fit in with the budget of a student.
Looking at the ‘This Is ‘Ull’ fashion section, the idea of recycling your clothes in order to promote the idea of ethical fashion is very popular. Taking your clothes down to your local charity shop (there’s loads on Newland Ave) means that they can be worn again, or the fabric can be made into something else, saving on chemicals used in the making and dying of new fabrics, and reducing waste being put in landfill sites. Buying your clothes from vintage stores such as Beasleys in Old Town, Chinese Laundry on Savile Street, and Bed 14 on Newland Ave also aid the recycling process, making sure that your money is not used to fund sweatshops, or damage the environment.
Swapping clothes with your friends is another cheap and easy way to recycle clothes – just get your most fashionable friends to bring their unwanted clothes to your house and see what gems you can find. Most importantly, the best way to shop ethically is just to always be aware of what you are buying. Check the labels of clothes and see where they are made, and look at the fibre content to see how much cotton they use. Being a student doesn’t excuse us from being ethically aware. We should all know where our clothes come from.
Marcia Tettey
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