This is the first of a 2-post series looking at issues related to the lack of consensus about what ‘ethical fashion’ really means, and the requirement of accountability and transparency – in addition to the importance of a single unique label to become widely accepted.
While generally much of the public discussion revolves around supply chain issues, the second post will look at what we can say about the ‘ethics behind a brand’ when looking at how they live out their claims in their actual business behaviour.
Talking about business ethics – in any industry – is always only a short journey away from the insight that words such as sustainable, ethical, green, eco, fair wages, responsible are thrown about as if they were mere sales attributes, without any deeper meaning and purpose then to attract buyers and press. The fashion and textile industry is by no means an exception to this.
Quite to the contrary. The recent, slight interest of consumers to reassure themselves as to the labour, payment and production conditions of their clothes – and the fabric they are made from – caused a previously unseen surge in: labels, green labelling (as in: usage of ‘eco’ sounding descriptive attributes), responsibility and accountability claims, certification ‘efforts’ (with and without success) and, last but certainly not least, carefully formulated press releases spreading eco claims hidden by a misty veil of under specified, sometimes unmeasurable, at other times aimless, corporate (in)activities.
In short, every conversation about business practises is only a step away from questions about
whichbrand does exactly-
what how(i.e. in what particular way), andwhy(i.e. the reasons behind it)
In other words: the discussion heads towards the question of questions: How ethical really is a brand, a designer, a company? And which factors and aspects need to be taken into consideration to judge them?
The reality in the business is that ‘ethical’, ‘sustainable’, ‘eco’, ‘green’ can, will and does mean different things to different people. There exists no consensus about when efforts can truly be called ethical or sustainable, or whether it is correct to apply these attributes when in fact the only aim is to address one single aspect exclusively (e.g. fabrics waste) ignoring the broad remainder of the issues spectrum (which in addition would be aspects such as: CO2 footprint, water usage even in Europe/US, local staff etc.).
Let’s take a few examples to try and get the point across a little bit more hands-on. Can any – or all – of the following truly be called ethical and/or sustainable?
- A social enterprise that allows a silk rearing, dyeing and weaving community in rural Thailand to preserve and cherish their skills, and give them access to typical Western consumer markets?
- A European fashion brand that uses organic cotton for very high-end priced garments sold in Harrods?
- A US fashion brands that works with as many non-traditional natural fibre as possible and investigates old and/or traditional textile techniques from around the world, in order to produce ready-to-wear collections?
- A fashion brands that works with marginalised communities, heavily invests in a transparent and fair trade certified supply chain, but that treats the local (European) staff with little respect?
- An organisation that works for and with small and medium ethical fashion designers, yet only has unpaid interns working for them, not wanting nor being able to pay them a pence for their efforts?
- A brand whose sole principle sales point is that is is ‘made in’ UK or Italy or Spain or Germany or Switzerland?
Can they truly be called ethical, or sustainable, or even responsible? Alas!, I have no ultimately convincing answer.
[Note just for the records: I have specific names in mind for each of the above examples, but for evident reason do not mention them. However, rest assured that these examples are not invented, but taken straight from everyday business.]
What it all boils down to is that we want the whole industry to change, advance, go forward.
And for that two things are crucial: 1) a push for transparency, and 2) the establishment of minimum standards, with the latter ideally rising significantly as time goes by.
A pragmatical and therefore well applicable first step has already happened, namely through the definition of vetting criteria and screening processes for events such as London Fashion Week’s EstEthica, Paris’ Ethical Fashion Show, or Berlin’s TheKey.to.
This approach is practical because it makes brands aware of the breadth, width and depth of the issues in questions, although it does for instance ignore that just because a collection is ‘made in UK’ labour standards are not guaranteed to be good (remember Channel 4’s ‘Dispatches’ programme?) – it’s only a bit more probable and easier to prosecute. Further, alternative and non-yet-certifiable fibres also have problems getting sufficient credit, examples of which would be jute, silk, linen, rare bread wool etc.
It goes without saying that sadly, none of the brands in mainstream events are vetted in any way for their sustainability performance – with exception of their financial bottom line of course, which is taken care of by the hefty attendance fees for any of the relevant trade fairs.
In the end, the label jungle – nicely illustrated by the mere existence of an international Eco Textile Labelling Guide – is where all the trouble starts and ends. As many labels as there drift around in the air, the fashion and textile industry is in reality short of 1 (max 2: 1 environmental + 1 social) globally respected and accepted, well defined and truly meaning full label, which not only is of relevance for the industry but also for the consumers in the high street.
The organic and fairtrade food industry, pushed by governmental initiatives, has blossomed thanks to their labels being recognisable and clear as to their benefits. A similar development in the fashion and textile industry as been discussed for many years across different member states in the European Union – but as innovative the development was in the days of food commodities, for fashion and textiles there remains a long way still.
A label of course will not ultimately answer the question of ‘How ethical is an ethical brand really?‘, which always will only depend on transparency and accountability. But it would create a hands on tool to objectivise important aspects of the discussion.
