Shoppers Paradise or Ethical wasteland

We all wear clothes, but they vary from culture to culture. In our Western style, jeans and a dress shirt, maybe even a dress, would be good for a party or event. But, for example, the dresses in Japan and China would be more traditional. In the UK, a white dress for a wedding is most acceptable. Yet in Japan, a traditional kimono is worn at most weddings. If dressing is so different in Japan, what about the rest of the world?

Due to this diversity, the fashion world and industry is always changing, and ever growing. The range offered to consumers on the high street, online and also at fashion events is so broad; many of us don’t know where to start. Using the high street as an example, chain stores are on the increase and with this comes larger demand and larger manufacturing lines. Within the UK high street TopShop is one of the most influential and is the flagship brand of the Arcadia group– the UK’s second largest retailer.

The cost of buying new clothes and fashion products now is at the lowest it has ever been and although we are encouraged to buy more expensive brands such as TopShop, Zara, Mulberry and many more rather than Primark and H&M, will that really begin to lessen the ethical and social effects that the fashion industry has on the planet. I find this hard to believe now after reviewing a few of my personal favourite brands, which I have to say, thoroughly disappointed me. In the fashion world, companies loosely throw around and use buzz words such as ‘organic’, ‘ethical’ and ‘green’ in advertisements and press launches – trying to profile themselves as responsible for all outputs in every sector of their company. But from what I see, anything goes. An office that deals with a global company’s HR could choose to start recycling their paper, for this they would then would be able to say they are an ethically responsible body.

When researching ethical fashion it struck me that the textile industry is rapidly heading downhill. With environmental, social and political disasters repeatedly occurring, people are starting to really question whether what we are doing is right!

The low cost of clothes produced in small, cramped sweatshops all over the world are what the fashion industry tries to hide behind their large, shiny new advertising campaigns.

Although there have been many organizations and charities trying to make a stand against this, including ‘War on Want’ who recently wrote an article called Stitched Up exposing all the facts and awful stories from the women working in the garment factories over in Bangladesh. By doing this they are trying to pull the veil away from the eyes of both the consumers and investment companies around the world.

On average, British women spend £83,498 on clothes in their lifetime.

But this is not enough.

Without confronting companies such as TopShop, Adidas and Primark there will be no change. Educating people about where and who they are sourcing and buying their products from is a start, but we need to delve into the larger companies which make up the main body of the fashion world and make them answerable to questions of whether their suppliers and manufacturing are environmentally sound and ethically decent. This is what Stella McCartney did with all of her commitments to the environment, animal welfare and use of green energy.

If more designers, companies and manufacturers could try and put in place, some solid performance control, as Stella McCartney has, it would change our inevitable destruction of our environment as well as improve welfare for many people working in the textile and fashion industry. McCartney shows what they are achieving.

“We continue to use as much organic cotton as possible in our collections and we are always exploring new Eco materials and processes. In 2012, 34% of our denim and 36% of our jersey for ready-to-wear was made from organic cotton and 50% of all knitwear for Stella McCartney Kids was organic”.

Ethical Fashion is about being creative. Encouraging every company in the industry to work really hard with suppliers and producing fashion that we can all be proud of and wear with a clear conscience.  It is not difficult it just needs dedication and determination of both the consumer and also the companies behind it all.



I wrote this article a few years ago, it is also published on Urban Times: https://urbantimes.co/2013/08/shoppers-paradise-ethical-wasteland/