Ethical Fashion

Ethical Fashion, In the given phrases, "ethical" roughly means "morally correct". It implies that the clothes are produced in a morally correct manner, as follows is an emerging umbrella term which details ethical fashion design, production, retail, and buying. It covers a range of subjects such as working conditions, exploitation, fair trade, sustainable production, the environment, and animal welfare.

Origin and purpose

Ethical fashion is in its essence an attempt to return to how fashion was originally understood, it was the origin of fashion that we have strayed away from with mass manufacture and globalised production. 1000 years ago, all items of clothing would be handmade, most probably during an evening sat around the fire with the rest of your tribe or family. The industrial revolution enabled the first factories and this is really the origin of when fashion started to become unethical. Workers had poor conditions and machines were dangerous, dirty and often went wrong. The factory owners, however, became extremely rich. Ethical and sustainable fashion has been around for more than 20 years. The first explicitly ethical fashion brand was People Tree, which launched in Japan almost 27 years ago, the only apparel company to have achieved WFTO accreditation through their whole supply chain. Since the Rana Plaza collapsed in 2013 though, the Fashion Revolutionaries movement originated in order to raise awareness of sustainable fashion and fair practices. The movement has helped to educate people and show them how polluted and cruel the fashion industry became, especially the fast fashion brands. “Ethical" and "sustainable" have made it onto the agenda of the luxury fashion industry. This growing awareness among high-profile designers and the media in developed countries is setting trends that will reverberate from the catwalks to workers in developing markets. While there is always progress to be made, increasing customer knowledge and demand is making the long-term gains for ethical fashion optimistic.

Challenges

A growing body of consumers wants to invest in high-quality, well-designed products that are environmentally sustainable, help disadvantaged groups and reflect good working conditions. However, the faults with fast fashion are not immediately obvious to the average fashion lover. Plastic-based materials are hidden behind clever names not common to the average person, ‘Made in China’ tells nothing about the lives of the people in the factory and spotting signs of longer-lasting, quality-made garments require a trained eye. Consumers who want to shop ethical fashion usually blame price, affordability, and a lack of ethical fashion in mainstream markets and media. Oeko-Tex, the ecological certification company, conducted a research study that found that while 60% of millennials said they are interested in ethical clothing, only 37% had actually purchased any.

Opportunities

Sustainability is gaining traction in the fashion world. Consumers, particularly Millennials and Generation Zs, are becoming increasingly aware of the challenges of sustainability, leading to changes in shopping habits and expectations for better, more sustainable products and new ways of consuming fashion.(Albouy and Adesida, 2018)

Green is becoming the new black, because ethical fashion is higher than ever on the agenda for brands across the board from luxury, to high street – though Stella McCartney has always been known for pioneering the movement. In a 2016 interview with Vogue, Stella dove into her desire to create an ethical couture brand by asserting her problem with previous eco-friendly clothing.

Upcoming style-makers are forging on new paths to save our plant, inspiring the rest of us to follow the footsteps of Ethical Fashion. In Australia, Good On You is an app which rates companies every year on the basis of how ethical they are and Thread Harvest, is an entire marketplace of ethical fashion brands!

By boycotting brands that have known to be unethical, consumers send a message of solidarity to large businesses and government officials that customers of the world will not tolerate irresponsible policies and negligent practices at the expense of environmental sustainability and human life.

Future of Ethical fashion

The fashion industry is the second largest contributor to global warming. The apparel industry is responsible for 10% of the total carbon output for the entire world. In advanced countries, we have seen within the food industry, consumers embracing “slow food” movements, demanding organic, Fairtrade and transparency around how their food is produced. The fashion industry is starting to see small shifts and similar trends. Consumer opinion is starting to swell and even though it is by no means mainstream, there are examples of it starting to take effect. For instance, the demand for organic and Fairtrade cotton is now outstripping supply.

Fashion contributes huge amounts to economies, creates jobs and holds a significant influence over society and global supply chains. It’s because of this that there is a huge opportunity for fashion to create change.

References

CARTIER, M. (2017). The drive for ethical fashion boosts employment, raises standards. International Trade Forum, (3), 8–9. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.spjain.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=128582245&site=ehost-live

Sudbury, L., & Böltner, S. (2011). Fashion Marketing and the Ethical Movement Versus Individualist Consumption: Analysing the Attitude Behaviour Gap. Advances in Consumer Research - European Conference Proceedings, 9, 163–168. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.spjain.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=77409958&site=ehost-live

Mukai, C. (2010). ethical FASHION. International Trade Forum, (3), 09-12. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.spjain.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=56689024&site=ehost-live

Pinnock, O. (2018). The Problem With The Term "Ethical Fashion". [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/oliviapinnock/2018/05/29/the-problem-with-the-term-ethical-fashion/#44e9215ec89d [Accessed 12 Oct. 2018].

Albouy, D. and Adesida, O. (2018). SUSTAINABLE FASHION BLUEPRINT 2018. [online] Mamoq.com. Available at: https://www.mamoq.com/journal/sustainable-fashion-blueprint-2018/ [Accessed 12 Oct. 2018].

Claire, M. (2018). Ethical Fashion Brands You'll Love To Wear. [online] Marie Claire. Available at: https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/fashion-news/best-ethical-fashion-brands-to-know-sustainable-fashion-84169#PsHCdLgpJlKuk46Y.99 [Accessed 12 Oct. 2018].

Mower, S. (2018). No Oatmeal-y Shirts! Stella McCartney Talks Sustainability. [online] Vogue. Available at: https://www.vogue.com/article/stella-mccartney-kering-lecture-sustainability [Accessed 12 Oct. 2018].

Zisli, E. (2018). Shop 35 Amazing Fair Trade Brands Busy Saving the World. [online] Huffington Post. Available at: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/shop-35-amazing-fair-trade-brands-busy-saving-the-world_us_57d3f784e4b0273330ac40fb [Accessed 12 Oct. 2018].

Conca, J. (2018). Making Climate Change Fashionable - The Garment Industry Takes On Global Warming. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2015/12/03/making-climate-change-fashionable-the-garment-industry-takes-on-global-warming/#7efc673079e4 [Accessed 12 Oct. 2018].

This article "Ethical Fashion" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Ethical Fashion. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

---