ETHICAL BUYING: a 9 day series
‘How do I know if a company or brand is ethical?’ is one of the questions I find myself answering the most in my private messages. That question often comes hand in hand with other questions about the cost of ethical clothing, where ethical clothing brands can be found and where on earth to start with creating an ethical wardrobe. While I don’t have all the answers- (I’m very much figuring things out as I go) I wanted to create a space on here for those questions to be answered, looked over, and to hand you a bunch of resources to make buying ethically and in turn buying well so much more accessible.
Usually, change comes over a period of time, but change for me came overnight about 4 years ago when I sat down to nonchalantly watch ‘The True Cost’ documentary. I watched it with tears streaming down my cheeks as I heard the effects firsthand from factory workers and cotton farmers who weren’t paid fair wages and whose lives were at risk because of a fashion industry I was buying in to; their waters polluted and their children sick. Whilst I had never been massively into the latest trends and my wardrobe small and well-loved, I vowed that night to break up with fast-fashion and I did, and as I did, I unveiled many other areas of my life that needed to be addressed too.
I began to research, and ask questions of brands and spent a lot of time on Ebay…too much time. Back then when I watched the movie I think I could tell you one ethical brand I knew of which was People Tree, one of the earliest pioneers of fair fashion, (Safia Minney the founder has an incredible podcast you can find over here). As I researched the more I cared, and the more I cared the more I wanted to do something about it.
For me, doing something about it is voting with my money. On many occasions, it would be far easier and far cheaper to grab a pair of socks in the size up for Heppy from Tesco, Amazon or Ebay than find a brand that sells them ethically, and I know it’s easier to do a quick Zara haul for the kids coming year in the January sales over finding certain items secondhand, but often cheap clothing and accessible clothing is simply a facade because my convenience usually comes at the cost to another, another human being. I do get to vote with my money and while we personally shop 80% secondhand, the 20% of what we do buy new (I realise that to choose ethical brands with the remaining 20% is a privilege), that’s where I want to choose well, and buying the 80% secondhand allows me to buy the 20% new with the money I have saved.
This will be a nine-day series taking a look at a different area of the wardrobe each day- everything from activewear to loungewear to shoes and introducing you to the wealth of incredible brands that now exist. My hope is that it would be a resource to mull over, come back to and inspire and also hopefully grow. This is not a blog series to encourage you to buy more, this is to empower you to buy well when you need to buy. Ultimately the most sustainable item is the one you already have in your wardrobe- it always will be.
You will find this blog is skewed towards women’s fashion but many of the brands serve both men and women. The brands come in a section of categories but the clothes they produce aren’t limited to these I’ve just chosen those categories based on what I personally think that brand does best.
To go into some more detail before we kick off tomorrow, and to clear some things up!…
What does ethical buying even mean?
The definition of ethical by the Cambridge dictionary is:
‘relating to beliefs about what is morally right and wrong’
You’ve probably heard many of the following words: sustainable, slow, fair, ethical, moral, mindful. It can sometimes be a bit overwhelming to keep up. Honestly, the words and definitions are all closely related, and there is no easy clear-cut definition. I could have called this series any of those things. I chose ethical because it usually relates to paying workers fairly and creating safe working conditions. As the goodtrade states: ‘Ethical fashion seeks to answer questions like “Who made this garment?” and “Is that person earning a fair living wage?” But it’s also much more than that.’ It’s more human centered.”
I have found that often you can find brands who are raving on their platform about their sustainability efforts, renewable energy and recycled materials, but there is no care or concern for the people behind their clothes, nothing on paying a fair wage or having any kind of transparency within their supply chain. I’ve found that a company can care for the planet but not it’s people, but if it cares for its people it usually cares for the planet too.
A snippet from remake is so true:
They both need to work together.
How do I know I’m buying ethically?
I usually go by this: if a company has great ethics, they'll be shouting about it why wouldn’t they? Taking a look at their Instagram bio or website is a great place to start to get an idea.
Let’s take Dilling for example, one of my favourite companies, their bio reads: Dilling: Sustainable underwear and base layers made from organic merino wool- dye house certified.”
All the words highlighted show me that they’ve got a product they’re proud of, further proved by a certification.
Now contrast this with Pretty Little Thing, a company I would highly question surrounding ethics- their bio reads:
celebrating #everybodyinplt / tag your looks / SHOP NEW IN
words like “everybody in, tag your looks and SHOP!” only add to consumer culture, and I didn’t have to look far before I found a PLT haul with an influencer trying on 5 new outfits, many i’m sure that will be discarded, unworn or end up in landfill. I was recently reading in Orsola de Castro’s new book ‘Loved Clothes Last’ that:
‘The equivalent of a rubbish truck full of discarded clothes goes straight into landfill every second.’
I’m sure every company is still learning, but here are a few things you can be looking out for when buying new:
THE PEOPLE- Who made the item? Were they paid a fair wage? How old were they? How were their working conditions? Does the brand hold any certifications eg. Fairwear?
THE PLANET- What materials was it made with? Were chemicals used in the process? Are the company working to lower energy use and water use? Is there a sustainability report on their website? Is the company giving back?
THE PACE- How many items or collections do the brand have? Do they consider overproduction? Do they promote sales eg. is the brand pushing low prices and trying to make a quick turnover of stock to get the next pieces in?
THE LIFE- Is the item built to last? What happens when you’ve finished with the item, can it be repaired, sent back for another life? What happens with the deadstock/unused fabric?
If you have question marks over a company- why not message them? Email them? Ask them directly if they’ve got nothing to hide they'll want to. I messaged a number of the companies I have featured on the blogs coming up because while it alluded to the fact a fairvwage was paid I wanted to be sure.
Just as making something with organic cotton doesn't make it ethical, just because something is made in China doesn’t make it poor quality or unethical. As new companies pop up we will need to continue to do the research and ask the questions again and again.
I have mentioned before about greenwashing or femwashing, marketing ploys that are important to note and are not hard to come across in the fashion industry.
An example of greenwashing can be Primark’s latest ‘sustainable choice range’- the range talks about sustainable cotton, a line of organic cotton t-shirts, and better relationships with farmers. The truth is they are doing something but it’s the bare bare minimum, and masks other practices and how their other clothes are produced. In their new sustainable range you can buy a new pair of jeans for £13…you can buy a t-shirt from their main range for £3- someone or something is paying here for clothes to be that cheap. These collections stick a plaster on painful wounds, tricking an audience to believe they’re really playing their part. Fast fashion can’t be sustainable, because it’s built on making as much product as possible for as much profit as possible whilst producing it for as cheap as possible. I think in the whole sustainability platform you’re either sustainable or you’re not, there’s not an option to sit on the fence.
An example of femwashing was highlighted by Venetia La Manna’s. She said: Today, brands like @Missguided @PrettyLittleThing and @Primark are using #IWD2021 as a ploy to femwash us into buying unsustainable clothing that was made by women who aren’t paid enough to cover their basic needs.’
What difference am I really making?
I think this to myself a lot, is it really worth it? Am I really making a difference by shopping ethically. By spending far more money on an ethical pair of underwear to something from h&m is it really worth it?
Well the answer is yes. And your yes, and millions of other yes’s are changing how things work.
Here is a segment from Eco Watch’s website talking more about how voting with your money is making a difference- here are the differences choosing to shop ethically made:
-”Child labor rates dropped by one third between 2000 and 2012, and they've continued this downward trend since then.
-According to the 2019 Ethical Fashion Report from Baptist World Aid Australia, 24% more fashion companies have committed to paying their workers a living wage, and 61% are investing in using sustainable fabrics.
56% of us have stopped buying from brands we consider to be unethical.
Executives are frantically piling into conference rooms to discuss their "corporate social responsibility.""
So, I think it’s safe to say the impact you’re making is bigger than you think- your yes’s and your no’s are valuable, and powerful.
See you tomorrow! For day 1 where we'll be looking at ethical underwear and swimwear.
ps. Just a note to say that a few of the blogs contain affiliate links to the companies. This allows me to continue writing and researching what I love as I earn a small commission on each purchase.