With climate change in the news on a daily basis, there’s never been a better time to consider investing in ethical fashion. There’s a lot more to it than bamboo T-shirts. The term embraces design, materials sourcing, garment production and retail. Ethical fashion houses have to take into account fair trade, working conditions, animal welfare, sustainability and the environment.
Another aspect of ethically produced apparel is what happens to it when it comes to the end of its useful life. in the United Kingdom alone, one million tons of clothing every year are added to landfill sites.
Many modern textiles are manufactured using plastics, which are derived from fossil fuels. These take forever to break down and shed wispy fibers that end up everywhere, from the bottom of sea to inside our own bodies.
The high price of cotton
Cotton is a natural fiber popular for its breathability. Modern growing methods mean that it can be produced rapidly in large quantities with cost savings often passed on to the consumer. However, cottonistas enjoy cheap textiles at a huge price to the environment.
Producing cotton consumes 22.5 percent of the world’s insecticides and 10 percent of global pesticides. These chemicals are harmful to the environment and to the farmers who produce it.
Textile growing damages the environment. Scientists have measured the Aral Sea in Central Asia, and determined that its former volume has been decreased by 15 percent largely be cause of the massive amount of water needed to grow and dye cotton.
Ethical fashion, while an excellent idea, not come cheap. A pair of leggings can set you back as much as $50. As a well as bookmarking sites like the Ethical Fashion Forum and Common Objective, it might come in handy to store a site like mobilbetslots.com in your bookmarks.
Sustainable Fashion Houses
A growing number of fashion houses are putting sustainability at the top of their agenda. We’re going to take a look at five of them: Gudrun Sjödén, Lucy and Yak, Sadeem, Stella McCartney and Zena Presley.
Gudrun Sjoden
Gudrun Sjodrun shows that ethical fashion isn’t about wearing unbleached muslin and oat-coloured knit sweaters. This ambitious Swede has designs on showing the world how much vibrant color can be achieved by pushing sustainability without sacrificing an a ounce of aesthetic appeal.
The first Gudrun Sjödén store opened in Stockholm in 1976. Over the years, it’s proprietor has amassed a collection of awards, including King of Sweden’s Litteris et Artibus Medal and a sustainability award from ELLE Magazine.
Lucy and Yak
Yak is the name of the van that Lucy and partner Chris dwelt and traveled in after quitting their jobs in New Zealand and deciding to travel the world and turn their fashion designing dreams into reality. Their first collection consisted of a series of tobacco pouches they fashioned from old clothes and sold to other travelers.
Lucy and Chris started out stitching their wares on a New Zealand beach. You can’t beat that for environmentally-friendly working conditions and low overheads. They’ve since migrated to the UK, where they have bricks and mortar premises and 13 workers.
Sadeem
Sadeem’s dream is to make luxury ethical. The clean lines and luxurious feel of his garments are the product of his acute attention to detail and focus on quality. The nontoxic fabrics that appear in Sadeem’s fashion are sourced from like-minded suppliers. His collections are inspired by Manhattan, Art Deco, the glamorous lifestyle of the yachting community, and his birthplace of Saudi Arabia.
Stella McCartney
While three-quarters of this label’s sustainable-minded suppliers are located in Italy, Stella also sources from China, Hungary, India, Portugal and Spain. Many have worked with her since she established the brand in 2001.
The company designs clothing for men, women and children, as well as shoes and bags. They have also produced a range of sports clothing, footwear, and accessories for Adidas.
Zena Presley
Currently living in Dubai, Syrian-born Zena is expandíng her business online to eliminate the middle-man and bricks and mortar stores. This strategy will enable the brand to offer mid to high end womenswear at competitive prices. Zena believes in:
- Celebrating the feminine figure
- Modern, artistic, colorful wear
- Fair compensation
- Fair prices
- Reducing waste
- Slow, ethical fashion
By wearing ethical fashion apparel, you’re saving the environment and providing better working conditions and adequate compensation to workers all over the planet. At a time when the global ecosystem is in existential peril, the additional cost is worth it.
