Once upon a time “you are what you eat” was the catchcry of a socially conscious generation who were concerned about what they put in their bodies.
In the 21st century, however, this aphorism has been supplanted by “you are what you wear” as a new generation of socially conscious designers and retailers work toward producing socially and ecologically sustainable clothing lines without compromising high design and style.
Simply put, the terms “ethical fashion” or “eco-fashion” refer to stylized clothing that uses environmentally sensitive fabrics and responsible production techniques.
But the difficulties in finding an equitable balance between the realities of surviving in a highly competitive fashion industry and the world of ethically responsible garment production are many and varied.
Despite it seemingly frivolous by nature, fashion is, first and foremost, a business based on profit.
Paris based fashion conglomerate LVMH for example, which holds such illustrious fashion labels as Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Louis Vuitton in its designer stable, reported a profit of 14 billion euros in 2005 according to its annual revenue report.
And when it comes to the bottom line, the all important consumer dollar, history has shown time and time again that the needs of the few, i.e. the fashion industry, have outweighed the needs of the many, be they underpaid garment industry workers or, increasingly, the very environment itself.
All too often, it seems, big business profits take precedence over civil liberties.
In an ironic twist, the care instructions inside our clothes tells us how best to treat an e item, but tell us nothing about how the person who made it was treated or the often sub-standard conditions they are forced to work under.
And it is this reality that lies at the heart of the fast growing ethical fashion industry.
According to statistics published late last year in the Taipei Times “over 50% of the world’s textile exports and 70 percent of exported clothing are produced in developing nations”, with cheaper materials and cut price labour forces enticing big name fashion brands with the promise of ever higher profit margins.
As companies want to make as much profit as possible, they are constantly looking for the cheapest production costs. This often means getting their clothes made in factories with the poorest working conditions and lowest wages, where there is little if any legislation to ensure ethical standards are upheld.
In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, the major sport shoe companies – Adidas, Nike, Reebok, Fila, Puma, and ASICS – faced a barrage of public outrage over the sweatshop conditions in many of the factories in developing countries which manufacture sport shoes for these large corporations.
These practices however are being constantly challenged and brought to public attention. Workers rights groups such as the UK based No Sweat, campaign on behalf of underprivileged workers and offer an alternative to socially minded consumers by providing a list of “ethically aware” companies who don’t use low paid workers to help create a more aware consumer culture.
Fashion giants are also being challenged on an ecological platform.
According to the Sustainable Cotton Project, a non-profit group dedicated to promoting the use of organic cotton, a third of a pound of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals are used to produce the cotton for one simple cotton T-shirt. Then ammonia, formaldehyde and other chemicals are used to process and finish it.
Many of these chemicals are known or suspected carcinogens. Organic cotton, in comparison, which many designers are now using to create their fashion items, is free from pesticides that harm farmers’ health and heavy-metal dyes that pollute rivers and soil.
Supporters of this environmentally superior product, claim that aside from being softer on the skin, (an important consumer consideration no doubt), the product also offers consumers an accompanying Fair Trade clothing guarantee that assures them their spending choices directly contributes to both better pay and working conditions for workers in third world countries.
Designer Stella McCartney has long been at the forefront of the push towards the creation of a fashion industry where ethics go hand in hand with profit, notably turning down a highly lucrative job offer from the fashion house Gucci because of their use of leather in their fashion lines.
A long time animal rights activist, McCartney has worked tirelessly with organisations such as People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals, (PETA) to stop the fashion houses’ reliance on animal products.
In an article in the fashion world bible Women’s Wear Daily McCartney declared “I’m not trying to take over the world, but I do want to show that accessories can be made from a more ethical viewpoint- and be sexy and cool.”
Likewise, recently, Ali Hewson, wife of pop singer Bono and a vocal supporter of humanitarian causes, launched her own stylish and ethical EDUN fashion collection. It is created in small factories in impoverished third world countries and as a label has had significant financial success since its debut.
Hewson is adamant that EDUN is not intended to be a charity for workers in third world countries. The label is one she hopes will succeed in commercial terms and thereby provide a successful business model for other fashion companies where profit is the only mark of success.
According to Financial Times journalist Dimi Gaidatzi’s article Forget Black: Fashion’s Going Green, what these changes offer “are not just ways of curbing child labour or environmental damage, but ways of tackling sustainable development, ethical commerce, environmental performance and aesthetic innovation”. And all these factors are a crucial part of a designer brand and its design manifesto.
Perhaps Hewson said it best when summing up: “People are beginning to realise that you can make real change with the money in your pocket…how you spend your money says a lot about you. People want to know that their clothes weren’t made out of despair.”
