Category: Sustainable Fashion

I would like to start by quoting Woodward as she states that “research into everyday clothing practices can be usefully developed as an approach to understanding sustainable fashion” which was the first time I had heard such a claim. This article developed by understanding on the topic we briefly mentioned in class: how do we define clothes, and fashion as whole when it engulfs everything from the mere need for survival to extreme luxury. The author encourages people to start depicting the Fashion Industry from a perspective different to what we, as a society, have constructed. By highlighting that “understanding clothing ethnographically entails seeing fashion and clothing from the perspective of the people wearing and selecting clothing, which is important in showing that the meanings of clothing cannot be reduced to an externally defined fashion system”, Woodward shines as much light of importance on the consumer side of the equation. As I start to also develop a greater understanding of the functionality and purpose of different production stages in Fashion, I realise what an elaborate maze this gigantic industry really is, which in turn brings me to the title of the article, how could one expect something to be Accidentally Sustainable? To me, the author’s tone translated a message of the importance of knowledge. The way she  referred to consumers of the clothes made me realise I was not as much of a conscious consumer as I’d wish to be.  Then I wondered, there must be some many more individuals that would make accounted choices only if they had access to this knowledge. The article really made me question globally as a concept too, and the extensive difference between different regions’ approaches to environmental questions. I am really glad I am able to raise these questions, because I too believe that through knowledge and understanding we can overcome some of the issues that ignorance brings. 

My main take away from this reading is that, as the author mentions, “sustainability is not an aim , but an outcome”. In order to understand sustainability in fashion and design fashion products for people, one needs to observe what people do with fashion, what happens to the products post-purchase. This means that fashion cannot be defined externally but often comes from social practices and every day activities. Woodward introduces the term, “Accidentally sustainable” in case of jeans. From ethnographic research it turns out people own jeans for longer time than other clothes thus it’s a more durable piece of clothing. This could be because denim is more durable than other materials or because people tend to wash their jeans less than other clothes but most likely because jeans is “a medium to be ordinary.”The author mentions, it is found that there are some pieces of clothing that are “slow-burners” such as denim skirt or skinny jeans, something people wear over longer period of times and it does not go out of fashion. Fashion emerges from wider cultural values and every day activities and there is a relationship between wearer and clothes. People have a desire not to replace things and often recombine things they already own with new ones. So I believe, when designing sustainable fashion, one has to think about what pieces of clothing do people already own and love? What are ways of recombining these? What are ways of developing long term relationships with clothes? Sustainability does not only come from the production side but from the consumers too. 

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.

This week I gained a new deeper curiosity for the sphere of Fashion. The brief overview of the industry through class discussions was helpful in explaining my perspective, but I have to account the documentary True Cost for providing a foundational level of understanding of the logistics. As I was viewing it for the first time, I had to keep pausing and replaying the statistics. I pondered how the clothing I order on taobao did not come from some Magic Box, and how I never once before took the time to be a continuous consumer while online shopping, or any type of clothing shopping for the matter. It was a wakeup call. 

The world around us is vast. The population is growing and so is the industrial transformation of nature. I am a curious person, and I like to explore topics of relevance to today’s society. I cannot believe how quickly the world is developing around me and to slow down my thought flow I use the method of mind mapping. I use a large A3 paper and some colourful markers and I jot down words and phrases in relation to what is on my mind. I like to see the collage and draw parallels and other relations. Fun fact: the majority of the conclusions I derive to in fact state that “everything is in unity because all is related in one way or another”. As I was exploring some key concepts from the documentary I thought I would be great to try something like that for our Topic Presentation. The activity itself is very encouraging because there is no “right answer” and it can draw different students to different interest focuses, rather than guiding their understanding with specific questions. Even looking at the board (*picture attached*) and seeing how the phrases relate suggest the circulation of this industry to be very profit orientated. I have never before had such a strong feeling of a relationship between the Fashion industry and the concept of oppression. I want to explore this by gaining further understanding in the course of how the industry operates. 

Dipping a toe into the sea of Fashion has provoked me to question my own moral values and opinions. I think that is the most important thing I hope to gain from higher education; to be able to learn the ability to question everything, and most importantly yourself.

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My task for the presentation was to cover both the environmental and ethical issues within the fashion sector, and to emphasize that we should be informed consumers.

I really love this film, and I appreciated getting to watch it again as an assignment. Here I have my notes on my biggest takeaways from the film:
Putting burden of all bad things in the fashion industry on those most vulnerable
Environmental:
-Ignoring basic agricultural facts, cancer, birth defects, mental retardation and physical handicaps, 11 million tons of textile waste from US alone
Ethical:
-Most labor dependent industry in the world, Blatant disregard for human life at every stage of production, and disposal (sold back to poor people)
Social:
-Material goods do not make us happier, pursuit of possessions leads to depression, ads are based in propaganda, gaslighting leads to buying more and more, making us poorer and sadder