Imagine a world where you know immediately about everything that goes into the clothes you purchase. Is it fast fashion? How does it affect the environment, workers, and animals alike? It’s easier to sift through clothes light-heatedly. However, we are more critical consumers. We owe it as much to people to pay more attention to the choices that go into our food, media, and clothes.
However, the ultimate goal of the ethical and sustainable fashion movement is to give consumers more ethical choices, although this might sound a little good to be accurate and almost romantic. More brands are taking the initiative to make more ethical choices. Meanwhile, others are also trying to help us all determine which brands are ethical.
Learn more and dive into the considerations for ethical fashion!
Sustainability
Sustainability is another thing to take into consideration. Seiko’s Seiko boutique has endured for a while. The United Nations defined in 1987 the concept of sustainable development. It is when “development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Sustainable fashion wants to be noble. Whenever people use the term or similar ones, they want to believe and fight for a fashion industry that can manage the negative environmental impact within certain boundaries. Most of all, they want to safeguard the safety and wellness of animals and people in the supply chain process. That is a fundamental shift from the usual and inherently flawed business models used in the industry.
These usual business models are guilty of overproduction, overconsumption, waste, worker exploitation, and driving the climate emergency deeper. Many other experts will use different terms to describe the systemic changes needed to make the fashion industry more sustainable.
Animals
Plenty of fashion brands have since gone fur-free. However, animal welfare has many other fashion industry-related issues and concerns, especially since it is still rife with animal cruelty. A few brands have their eye on animal welfare as one of the critical factors to look at when checking out and rating a brand. Using fur, angora, down feathers, shearling, and other exotic animal hair and skin is also considered for animal ratings. Wool is also usually considered to have “mulesing, ” whether or not the brand uses leather.
Many ethical impacts of animal material usage are mammoth and often overlooked. This is why an essential part of many initiatives is to bring brands that do right by animals to the forefront.
People
Labour should empower people instead of hurting and dehumanizing them. Humans who create clothes should be empowered, too. Sadly, incredibly long supply chains, dangerous working conditions, and insufficient wages have made fashion industry labour dehumanizing. Instead, brands should treat the people who work with the clothes production process as partners.
Wrapping Up
Sustainability and ethics in fashion must be mindful. They mean caring—universal care and love—for people and animals all around the world. Every step needs to be scrutinized and improved, from the process to the impact of production. The world, in its current state, needs to progress. However, there is an effort to do better.
