Are you hearing the term "ethical fashion" being thrown around and wonder what exactly this means? Today, I'm hoping to shed some light on exactly what is means and why it's so important. It's it about time we clear up some confusion?
What You'll Discover & Learn:
-The definition of "ethical fashion"
-Why ethical fashion is important to support
DEFINING ETHICAL FASHION
Ethical fashion is an umbrella term. It covers a lot of different things and that is possibly why people are so confused. According to the Victoria and Albert Museum, "it covers a range of issues such as working conditions, exploitation, fair trade, sustainable production, the environment, and animal welfare".
I completely understand that it's difficult for those who don't work in the fashion industry or know how clothing/accessories are made and understand the production process. I didn't even know until after graduating college and getting a job as an assistant designer in NYC. But with a little research on globalization and industrialization, some terms that we probably already know thanks to grade school, we will find that the fashion industry is a beast. And we created it.
WHY IS ETHICAL FASHION IMPORTANT TO SUPPORT
Remember those terms I just used, globalization and industrialization? Let's take a quick second to talk about those.
Globalization is the process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale. The idea is great right? We can grow our business, trade more efficiently all while creating jobs in other countries. Eh, isn't not that simple. These businesses are moving to other countries because they can pay the workers less, there are no regulations which means often times child labor, abuse, poor working conditions, etc.
Industrialization is the development of industries in a country or region on a wide scale. Again, growth for business sounds great, but the effects it has on the environment and animals are not so great.
I understand that with the growing population the need to produce is higher thanks to demand. But if we can just stop and think about this for a minute, rather than assume we can't shop ethically because it's too expensive or worse, just remain complete ignorant to the truth, then maybe we can improve the fashion industry. Rather than let the beast consume us.
Now that you have a better understanding of what "ethical fashion" actually means, post your comments and questions below. I will be following up in a second blog post about how to shop ethical fashion. So, stay tuned and keep researching on your own!
If there are any other topics related to the fashion industry you would like to learn more about or see here on the blog, please email me directly at info@hammerandheartboutique.com so that I can add it to my list of post ideas!
-Katie
