DEFINITION OF ETHICAL FASHION

Ethical fashion is garment design, production, and distribution that focuses on reducing harm to people and the planet. In the most ideal sense, it benefits those working along the supply chain and creates a better future for everyone not just for those at the top Ethical fashion is concerned with social impact and the ethics behind a brand’s label (though again, the term “ethics” here is vague). The phrase, which was coined rather recently, is thought to be the opposite fast fashion. Most consumers interpret ethical fashion as a term created in response to an industry that’s notorious for underpaying employees and in unsafe factories and working conditions, no less. Ethical fashion seeks to answer questions like “Who made this garment?” and “Is that person earning a fair living wage?” But it’s also much more than that. 

Why is ethical fashion important?

Ethical fashion is important because the alternative that the majority of the world’s population turns to is completely unsustainable. Not only will its long term effects be absolutely detrimental to the health of the planet and the people on it, but we’re already seeing just how bad they can be.

Environment

According to The True Cost, the world’s population is consuming 400% more clothing than it was at the start of the millenium, cotton production is responsible for 18% of the world’s pesticide use and 25% of its insecticide use, and the amount of resources used to raise cattle for leather production is dramatically impacting the health of our planet. The production of fast fashion contaminates all forms of water bodies, and “is responsible for producing 20% of global wastewater”; and 97% of fast fashion garments are produced overseas, with emphasis on poor countries (thank you for this info, 7Billion for 7Seas). These are just a few of the reasons why ethical fashion is important.

Garment workers

On the 24th of April 2013, the Dhaka garment factory collapse, otherwise known as the Rana Plaza tragedy, occurred in Bangladesh. The structure that contained clothing factories and other businesses collapsed, killing 1,134 people. More than half of these people were women, and this number also includes children who were being cared for whilst their mothers were working in the factory. Cracks were discovered in the building the day before the collapse, but the owner of the building ignored warnings to discontinue using it, forcing garment workers to resume business as normal.

This tragic event should never have taken place, and serves as a cruel reminder as to just how important ethical production is. Fast fashion is responsible for the abuse and exploitation of not only the planet’s natural resources, but also the people who make our clothing. Garment workers, 80% of whom are women, are subjected to every form of abuse, as well as unsafe and unfair working conditions, and the Rana Plaza tragedy is just one of the many examples of why ethics in fashion matters.

You

We all know that the skin is our largest organ. We’re so careful with, and spend hundreds on, the products we put onto our skin, though there is something that does not make sense. What we seem to be forgetting is that the clothes we’ve purchased from our favourite fast fashion boutiques were soaked with chemicals at every stage of their production, and have ended up on our bodies. That’s just some food for thought.

From both a social and environmental viewpoint, ethical fashion is the only fashion model that should exist on this planet. We should bother with ethical fashion because we’re human. We should bother with ethical fashion, because we want to continue existing on this beautiful planet. The rate at which we’re using resources isn’t sustainable for mother earth. We should bother with ethical fashion, because “there is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness.”