Ethical Fashion: Join the Fashion Revolution!
You may have seen all the posts this week and wondered what is this Fashion Revolution all about?
CaliWoods is going to break it down for you…
“Fashion Revolution believes in a fashion industry that values people, planet, creativity and profit in equal measure and that positive change starts with transparency, traceability and openness.”- Fashion Revolution.
‘Fashion Revolution Week’ is the ethical fashion industry promoting conscious consumption and industry change. This week is all about positivity, action, and awareness. We’re talking about a Fashion Revolution!
How YOU can get involved:
Be part of Fashion Revolution:
1. Turn your clothing labels inside out to find out where your clothes were made and with what fabrics
2. Ask the company “who made my clothes?
3. Share it on social media
Photo Credit: Eco.mono by Anthony Tosello
Photo Credit: Eco.mono by Anthony Tosello
And then...Be part of a Global, All Year-Round, Fashion Revolution by following these 8 Easy Steps:
1. Revamp your wardrobe by playing around with different combinations...stick with what you’ve already got!
2. Consider the brand’s ethics and supply chain before you buy
3. Read the 2018 Ethical Fashion Guide
4. Utilise the Good on You app when out shopping
5. Shop secondhand from Op Shops or Online (i.e. TradeMe)
6. Clothes swap with friends
7. Fix and Repair - don’t throw away
8....AND SPREAD THE WORD!
Photo Credit: Eco.mono by Anthony Tosello
About Fashion Revolution Week and WHY we need it!
Fashion Revolution was born out of the Rana Plaza factory incident. The building, previously deemed unsafe, collapsed, killing 1,138 people and injuring over 2,500. There were five garment factories in the Rana Plaza, and all were suppliers of the biggest global clothing brands.
Fashion Revolution has become a global movement. People from all over the world have come together to change the world through the power of fashion.
Photo Credit: Allef Vinicius on Unsplash
Photo Credit: -
The Fashion Industry Model
The fashion industry moves at a speed that no one, not even consumers, can keep up with. Along with a ridiculous pace, the scale has also grown drastically over the past few decades. More and more people are needed to make clothes, yet the price we pay for garments continues to drop. It simply doesn’t add up!
Perhaps a result of globalization, the fashion industry has been built in a way that takes the actual garment makers for granted. When prices get higher for companies, and they reassess their costs, the squeeze and strain is put onto the makers. Not the retail assistants, not a few cents added onto the garment for the customer, but the people who make the clothes and already cannot feed their families.
Business models need to change. Expectations of companies and their understanding of what they can and cannot do to cut costs, need to include a realization that the makers are humans, and deserve to be treated that way.
-
Our Mindset
You know that moment when you receive a wedding invitation in the mail, and automatically think “oh, I must get a new dress!” That’s the core of several issues in the fashion industry. The idea that clothes are disposable, cheap, and replaceable, needs to change. We, the consumers, hold the mindset that we are entitled to cheap fashion at our fingers tips.
Out of sight, out of mind comes into play here. Generally, no one stops to ask “how were these made?” but if the garment factories were sitting right beside our local Shopping Mall, the questions would be endless.
The mindset is: fast fashion. We expect new seasons every week, every day, but also expect each new season to be cheaper, better, and handed to us in bright sparkly plastic bags, by shop assistants who tell us we look great. Still, we stand at our wardrobes scratching our heads around what to wear to that wedding, because the clothes we bought last week are now ‘totally last season’.
This mindset is drilled into us by the media, advertising, and social norms. It’s like a monstrous cycle that’s so consuming, we can’t seem to pull the blanket off our eyes, to see the results of our actions.
-
The Material
“There is no beauty in the finest cloth, if it makes hunger and unhappiness.”- Mahatma Ghandi.
People and the planet. These are the things we use and abuse to create fashion. Human rights hardly exist in the sweatshops where our clothes are produced. Health and safety measures are forgotten, leave benefits are unheard of, and parents are often forced to work in cities away from their children just so they can survive. The minimum wage paid in most garment factories, is less than an individual needs to feed themselves, let alone their families too.
The people and planet are intertwined in this fashionable mess. Chemicals used to dye fabrics, and turn fibers into yarn, are damaging water ways, the surrounding villages, and ecosystems. The amount of water needed to grow cotton crops, make denim, wash, and dye clothes is also extravagant. Did you know about three years worth of drinking water went into making one of your cotton t-shirts?
Here are the Top 5 places to start your Ethical Fashion Journey!
- Ecomono = a monochrome, online ethical boutique store curating all the best pieces from multiple designers
- The Kind Guide = an online ethical fashion directory, your go-to for finding ethical fashion alternatives for everything you need
- Ethical Made Easy = Melbourne based, Kiwi blogger who shares behind the brand stories, where to shop for affordable ethical products, and everyday inspiration
- The Green Hub = an online knowledge source, helping you begin and sustain your eco-lifestyle with information on fashion, living, food, and travel
- Sustainably Chic = ethical fashion goddess and guru, offering discount codes for the best ethical fashion brands, and teaching you how to begin your ethical fashion journey
Enjoy ethical fashion as an important part of your sustainability journey!
It takes awareness in many different areas of life to make a well-rounded eco life. Keep it up.
Update us on the eco vibes by tagging us in your posts @caliwoods_eco !
Related Posts
0 comments