'fashion is driven by desire. but ethical fashion has been driven by — well, what exactly? a wish to semaphore that one is a caring kind of person while walking through life in pleather shoes? there are, of course, style-setters so chic they can rock a hand-loomed yak hair poncho, being good while looking great. the writer is not one of those people.
the writer is, however, a veteran of more than 25 years on the front lines of fashion, possessed of a deep hatred of waste which jars, somewhat, with a love of glamour. thus, when 'green' fashion started to attract attention, i admired the effort but the results just didn’t chime. ditto those 'pity purchase' ranges, created by supermodels, to which i was often allergic because the products weren’t super enough.
this is not to suggest that all supermodel endeavours are empty. Lily Cole and Liya Kibede spring to mind as two whose deep commitment is tangible.
but overall, i am yet to meet the woman who opens her wardrobe in the morning and declares with glee, 'today i want to look ethical.' most of us, let’s be honest, just want to look as good as we can, add accessories and get out of the house.
is the tote i’m slinging my laptop into made with fair labour? is the black t-shirt i have on under my jacket organic cotton? have all environmental concerns been checked? nope, not going to happen at 8am. what about getting up to speed at point of purchase instead? no again. a bristling of swing tags, trumpeting good deeds, can be really annoying when they catch in your underwear in the fitting room.
it is my absolute belief that ethical goods have to appeal, even if you don’t know the back story, but, on the flip side, that the fashion goods we desire should be made in the most ethical way possible. why not? why shouldn’t sustainability be as central to style as silhouette? why should it be hard to stride forth in the confidence that you are doing no harm to people or planet?
maybe the answer lies in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes, if only we could be bothered to read those documents companies typically post online. actually, i do bother. but i find that despite all the moody images of spring leaves and footprints in the sand, CSR brochures tend to muddy the pure blue water — not with what is written, but what is left out. the 'light industry' that is fashion can be far from transparent.
so here’s some good news: a rather unusual bunch of bright people are about to get together to grapple with making fashion better. at the end of next week, on June 17th, just before presidents, prime ministers and other world leaders meet in Rio de Janeiro to agree on a way forward for sustainable development, the United Nations Global Compact will host the Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum. within more than 60 sessions focused on key sustainability issues, there is one that, perhaps, you would not normally expect: 'Good Business Models for a Sustainable Future' organised by the International Trade Centre’s Ethical Fashion Initiative. its focus? clothes, bags, shoes.
speakers at this fashion session will include an immaculately dressed Brazilian theologian, Leonardo Boff and a Fendi with an obsession for plastic carrier bags — or, more accurately, an obsession with how to reduce the mountains of them leaching carcinogenic dioxins into hotchpotch neighbourhoods of the world’s poorest people.
the session aims to demonstrate that it is, indeed, very possible to do good while making profits.
but the purpose of all this goes beyond letting some people with good accessories vent for an afternoon. the stated aim of the session is to produce a 'roadmap' — free to use — to help big global fashion business become more fair, more green, more inclusive yet never less chic.
Cipriani’s instruction was to conceive a major initiative that would contribute towards two key priorities of the UN: eradicating extreme poverty and empowering women.
he could have said, 'let’s open a factory to make tractors.' instead he said, 'i must call Vivienne Westwood.'
we are in Kenya, mid afternoon.
the matriarch appears first, having donned her finery, adding a towering beaded headdress to her usual daywear collars and cuffs. Vivienne Westwood also dresses for the occasion, ducking into a goat-pen to slip on sky-high rocking horse shoes. thus do two stylish women utterly 'get' one another, then get down to business.
while the fashion world typically thrives on last minute change, this system must be planned in recognition that overtime is not possible in places where, to be safe, women must be home before nightfall. there are also crops to tend, which means that workers might only work three months of the year.
'in all buying, consider first, what condition of existence you cause in the production of what you buy; secondly, whether the sum you have paid is just to the producer and in due proportion lodged in his hand.' so said John Ruskin (1819-1900). but while his words ring true today, a Victorian gent who behaved very oddly towards his wife perhaps isn’t the fashion model we seek. so let’s update and call this 'Hermès economics' for not only is the craftsman who makes your Birkin getting a proper pay packet and a hot lunch, but the water downstream of the tannery must be cleaner than the water found upstream.
it’s a myth, in my experience, that fashion people are silly people. many of us are bright and thoughtful but we’d appreciate some guidance. hopefully next week’s think tank in Rio will provide that.'
- Marion Hume, The Business of Fashion
the writer is, however, a veteran of more than 25 years on the front lines of fashion, possessed of a deep hatred of waste which jars, somewhat, with a love of glamour. thus, when 'green' fashion started to attract attention, i admired the effort but the results just didn’t chime. ditto those 'pity purchase' ranges, created by supermodels, to which i was often allergic because the products weren’t super enough.
this is not to suggest that all supermodel endeavours are empty. Lily Cole and Liya Kibede spring to mind as two whose deep commitment is tangible.
but overall, i am yet to meet the woman who opens her wardrobe in the morning and declares with glee, 'today i want to look ethical.' most of us, let’s be honest, just want to look as good as we can, add accessories and get out of the house.
is the tote i’m slinging my laptop into made with fair labour? is the black t-shirt i have on under my jacket organic cotton? have all environmental concerns been checked? nope, not going to happen at 8am. what about getting up to speed at point of purchase instead? no again. a bristling of swing tags, trumpeting good deeds, can be really annoying when they catch in your underwear in the fitting room.
it is my absolute belief that ethical goods have to appeal, even if you don’t know the back story, but, on the flip side, that the fashion goods we desire should be made in the most ethical way possible. why not? why shouldn’t sustainability be as central to style as silhouette? why should it be hard to stride forth in the confidence that you are doing no harm to people or planet?
maybe the answer lies in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes, if only we could be bothered to read those documents companies typically post online. actually, i do bother. but i find that despite all the moody images of spring leaves and footprints in the sand, CSR brochures tend to muddy the pure blue water — not with what is written, but what is left out. the 'light industry' that is fashion can be far from transparent.
so here’s some good news: a rather unusual bunch of bright people are about to get together to grapple with making fashion better. at the end of next week, on June 17th, just before presidents, prime ministers and other world leaders meet in Rio de Janeiro to agree on a way forward for sustainable development, the United Nations Global Compact will host the Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum. within more than 60 sessions focused on key sustainability issues, there is one that, perhaps, you would not normally expect: 'Good Business Models for a Sustainable Future' organised by the International Trade Centre’s Ethical Fashion Initiative. its focus? clothes, bags, shoes.
speakers at this fashion session will include an immaculately dressed Brazilian theologian, Leonardo Boff and a Fendi with an obsession for plastic carrier bags — or, more accurately, an obsession with how to reduce the mountains of them leaching carcinogenic dioxins into hotchpotch neighbourhoods of the world’s poorest people.
the session aims to demonstrate that it is, indeed, very possible to do good while making profits.
but the purpose of all this goes beyond letting some people with good accessories vent for an afternoon. the stated aim of the session is to produce a 'roadmap' — free to use — to help big global fashion business become more fair, more green, more inclusive yet never less chic.
Cipriani’s instruction was to conceive a major initiative that would contribute towards two key priorities of the UN: eradicating extreme poverty and empowering women.
he could have said, 'let’s open a factory to make tractors.' instead he said, 'i must call Vivienne Westwood.'
we are in Kenya, mid afternoon.
the matriarch appears first, having donned her finery, adding a towering beaded headdress to her usual daywear collars and cuffs. Vivienne Westwood also dresses for the occasion, ducking into a goat-pen to slip on sky-high rocking horse shoes. thus do two stylish women utterly 'get' one another, then get down to business.
while the fashion world typically thrives on last minute change, this system must be planned in recognition that overtime is not possible in places where, to be safe, women must be home before nightfall. there are also crops to tend, which means that workers might only work three months of the year.
'in all buying, consider first, what condition of existence you cause in the production of what you buy; secondly, whether the sum you have paid is just to the producer and in due proportion lodged in his hand.' so said John Ruskin (1819-1900). but while his words ring true today, a Victorian gent who behaved very oddly towards his wife perhaps isn’t the fashion model we seek. so let’s update and call this 'Hermès economics' for not only is the craftsman who makes your Birkin getting a proper pay packet and a hot lunch, but the water downstream of the tannery must be cleaner than the water found upstream.
it’s a myth, in my experience, that fashion people are silly people. many of us are bright and thoughtful but we’d appreciate some guidance. hopefully next week’s think tank in Rio will provide that.'
- Marion Hume, The Business of Fashion
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