Tag Archives: consumption

What does it mean to be ‘ethical’ in fashion? And what is everyone wearing? (Poll)

13606828_1058021627620503_2576551059090656025_nIt’s festival season in Edinburgh. Depending on who you ask, the summer is either the best or worst time to be in the city. Festival season, I’ve come to learn, also equals tourist mania. This is only my third summer in Scotland, so the tourist thing doesn’t bother me at all. Besides, the city buzzes with an indescribable energy during the summer months. Not even the rain can dampen my spirits. The season brings the Edinburgh film festival, the jazz festival, the magic (!!) festival, and others, and of course the fringe festival, but it also brings the Edinburgh International Fashion Festival (EIFF).

EIFF is in its 5th year, but this was my first time attending. I was approached to moderate a panel on ‘ethics in fashion’ and was of course happy to help. This was an EIFF initiative to bring together students from London College of Fashion (LCF) and Heriot-Watt University. The students were to design their ideal panel discussion, and Winnie Wen, a graduate student researching responsible fashion and marketing at Heriot-Watt University organised the panel on ethics in fashion.

As we know, responsible fashion — or whatever terminology you’d prefer to use or not use (ethical fashion, eco fashion, fair trade fashion, sustainable fashion, organic fashion, green fashion, etc.) — is a messy topic. It just covers so much ground. So the panel topic I wrote up cast a pretty wide net:

Fashion designers and brands are increasingly challenged to consider the social, cultural and environmental impact of their products; from designing for diversity and supporting labour rights, to protecting waterways and securing animal welfare, ethical considerations in fashion are vast and often interconnected. How can designers and brands engage with their stakeholders to better understand and support complexities at work within systems of fashion production and consumption? Exploring what it means to be ethical in fashion, this panel deals with stakeholder engagement and communication.

The panel was made up of three excellent speakers: Carry Somers, Founder of Fashion Revolution, Anna Telcs of Not Just a Label (NJAL), and Lynn Wilson, designer, educator and circular economy expert.

It was designed to focus on audience Q&A, and the audience was fantastic. The panelists were so very informed, and it felt like the discussion could have gone on for much longer.

Photo by Aleksandra Modrzejewska

 

My favourite question from the audience had to be the last one: ‘What are you all (the panelists) wearing?’ I love this question because it really drives home the mess of responsible fashion work and activism. Is there some perfect outfit to wear that will absolve us of the issues at work in the global fashion and apparel industry? Well, I say no. For me (today, at least) it’s less about individual consumption and more about education, regulations and the rule of law.[1] But for other advocates and activists, it is all about consumption patterns. And for others still it’s a little of both of these positions, or something completely different. And this got me thinking…time for a poll!

So just for fun: what are you wearing? You can select more than one option from the non-exhaustive list below!

[1] You see I say this now, but every time I go clothes shopping I end up overanalysing absolutely everything until I’ve talked myself out of buying anything at all. Hence the mess that is responsible fashion research and activism…we all still have to get dressed! Nadira and I sure did have fun exploring this tension when we took the Labour Behind the Label Six Items Challenge in 2012. My answer to the question on the day of was boots (Clarks) and trousers (Gap) from the high street, a shirt that was given to me from a friend (I don’t know the brand name), and a second-hand jacket (brand name Aritzia).

Call for Papers: Symposium on Contemporary South Asian Youth Cultures and Fashion

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On 25th and 26th September, 2014, The London College of Fashion will host a symposium to explore contemporary South Asian cultures and fashion in relation to youth.

Suggested themes include:

  • fashion and consumer cultures
  • fashioning youth in cinema /television/music/magazines
  • dress cultures, gender and sexuality
  • fashion, politics and faith
  • South Asian fashion trends and culture in the diasporas
  • dress and fashion as resistance and defiance
  • fashion, media and technology

The deadline on the call for participation is fast approaching: March 30th.

Click here for details, via The South Asianist Blog

READ // Mend + Transform + Renew (re)imagination of Pre and Post Consumer Waste, by Katherine Soucie

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SA friend and colleague Katherine Soucie has recently published her research, Mend + Transform + Renew (re)imagination of Pre and Post Consumer Waste. This important body of work is broken-up into five strands: (S)ITUATE, (E)XPAND, (A)CTIVATE, (M)END, and (S)PINOFF.

Students may be particularly interested in the Glossary. Check it out, and please share within/throughout your respective networks. The work is available online, but is also available in both soft and hard cover for school libraries or personal collections, etc.

Katherine is a Visiting Lecturer in Textiles at the Welch School of Art at Georgia State University.

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Consumer Education

Curb Your Consumption’s Katie Hart, recently asked my opinion on the three most important things consumers need to know, and the difference it would make to the fashion industry if consumers were more educated and conscious about the clothes they buy.

Here are my answers:

What do you think are the 3 most important things consumers need to know?

Consumers need to know and understand their role in, and association with, the social and environmental problems that occur in the lifecycle of a product. In this way, consumers need to take on part of the responsibility for the social and environmental impacts associated with the products they purchase. I don’t see anyway around this. Furthermore, it is crucial that consumers take on this responsibility in terms of their impact in the user end stage of the lifecycle (in laundering habits, for example).  Having said that, it’s equally important for consumers to stay away from feelings of guilt over their purchasing and behavioural decisions, and instead move forward towards feelings of empowerment. How does a consumer gain control, however, when the “best” responsible product on the market only truly represents “the best of the worst”?

In the context of choice, consumers might feel forced to choose between people or planet: People: [social (ex. human rights), cultural (ex. artistic traditions and language), political (ex. corruption), economical (ex. micro-finance), etc.] and Planet: [environment (genetic modification, chemicals, petroleum dependant materials, carbon footprint, environmental impact, biodegradability, etc.), animals (cruelty free, vegan, etc.)]  Consumers are beginning to feel like they can’t have it all—that when they make one good decision, like supporting a cruelty free product, in the context of animal rights, they have endorsed the use of a completely toxic chemical, that hurts both people and planet (take PVC, for example). Consumers need to know the truth, and the truth is that they can have both— it is possible. People are a part of this planet. They cannot be separated, and should not be separated at any stage in any products phase of life. ‘Cradle to Cradle’ design theory embraces this relationship, with respect for “all the children, of all species, for all time” (McDonough and Braungart, 14).

Both consumers and designers need to understand that, when dealing with a corporation, profit will always come before people and planet, so long as the market designer allows. SA supports the theory that designers have to be good enough to create profit without compromising people or planet. Again, it is possible.

Both consumers and designers need to not only understand  the crucial role they play in determining the impact within the lifecycle of a product, but also understand that they don’t necessarily have access to the information needed to make properly informed decisions on the actual social and environmental consequences of that product.

Both consumers and designers need to know that they have a choice. The choice for the consumer is to consume less and demand better. The choice for the designer is to learn more and do better. In doing so, they will each have taken on part of the responsibility for the social and environmental impacts associated with these products and taken responsibility for the social and environmental impacts associated with the products they purchase in terms of their impact on the user end of the lifecycle.

What difference will it make to the fashion industry if consumers are more educated and conscious about the clothes they buy?

Consumers play a crucial role in transforming the fashion industry; without them on board and engaged in the process of transformation, responsible products will ultimately fail. The consumer is the user, after all. If they are not happy, they will look for something else—something better. When consumers become more educated and conscious about the clothes they buy, they become empowered and seek out products with more confidence. SA believes that designers have a responsibility to be more educated and conscious, a responsibility to design something else—something better. Once educated on the issues, consumers can help facilitate change through their purchasing power as the end user.

The customer is King. The customer is the one who sets the rules. The customer is the one who can have an impact on any company.” (Designer Peter Ingwersen, Noir)

To learn more about Noir and what Ingwersen calls “social ethics” click here, and watch the short Documentary for Illuminati II: From the Heart of Africa.

Image Credit: Noir Illuminati II via Inspire Me Please