Author: Hope Myers

I think this movie was a great intro to this class. I’ve been interested in environmental science and sustainability but I didn’t really know how much of a role the fashion industry played. One of the points we discussed after the presentation today really struck me, weather or not people can afford to be ethical and sustainable. After learning about the negative impact buying fast fashion has I feel really guilty and I wish I could support more sustainable and transparent brands, however as a college student it’s not economically feasible. I definitely have more than enough clothes though, and my closet is full of many things I don’t wear, so my goal for the rest of this semester is to not buy any new clothes. One more issue that wasn’t mentioned in the movie or readings but that I noticed recently while I was traveling in Vietnam is that traditional ethnic clothing is also being lost. I went to a museum that had displays of tradition clothing for each of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic minorities but for many of them the outfit on display was one of the last existing pieces. Most of the younger generations wear all the big fashion brands and nobody remembers how to make the traditional clothing anymore.

My main role for our presentation was to talk about the consequences of the current fashion system. It’s one thing to just hear the facts but I think what the movie captures really well is showing the emotions of the people in countries like Bangladesh who are affected first hand. Justifying sweatshops becomes a lot harder once you can actually see the people who work there and get to know them a bit. If more people could see this film and be educated about the issues there might be a strong enough push to actually force the fast fashion brands to change, but we have to hold them accountable. Clothes shouldn’t be worth less than a sandwich but more than a life.

Response to Li Edelkoort, Li. Anti-Fashion: A Manifesto for the Next Decade：

One comment that stuck out to me from Edelkoorts video was when she pointed out that everyone single person no matter how insignificant is credited in movies while in fashion there is only one persons name or just the brands name. I think that one way to get people working in the fashion industry to take a little more responsibility both personally and for the companies would be to give individuals more credit. With more real people to associate to brands they would have more of a personal reputation to maintain and have more invested in keeping a good image. However I disagree with her idea that in the future couture designs will become open source. Fast fashion brands already copy the runways as quickly as they can and if the couture patterns were open source there would be no reason for people to actually buy from the brand that designed them. After hearing about all the problems in the fashion industry it’s great that she’s actually listing a bunch of solutions, for example focusing on everyday clothes, specifically mens fashion, and learning about textiles. It seems like many of her solutions centered around education both for fashion students and seasoned designers as well as the media. I think that if her advice on education is taken and especially as the younger generation starts to rise up in rank in garment companies sustainability will become also be more of a focus.

Response to Kate Fletcher “Slow Fashion: An Invitation for Systems Change” ：

I’m part of the generation that has grown up with fast fashion and done most of my shopping at stores like forever 21 and H&M. When you live somewhere like the US it’s so easy to be ignorant of all the negative externalities faced by the people and environment in the countries where the clothes are actually produced. I like to travel and it’s constantly a struggle to get away from all the major brands and places that have been normalized to all be the same. It’s the same way with clothing, even ethnic minorities wear mass produced jeans and t-shirts and it’s becoming harder the even find people who know how to make the tradition clothing anymore. Like the loss of cultural food the fast fashion industry is also affecting cultural clothing. For example in Haiti and some other places in Africa there are so many clothing donations from the US that their own designers and brands are put out of business. The pace of production and change in styles is not really the issue, its the negative effects on the laborers and environment. I think that fast but sustainable fashion could be possible, however it would come with a price increase that neither companies or consumers would be willing to accept just for the sake of being good people. At some point there have to be government regulations and changes made to the economic system for progress to be made.