Ethical, sustainable, circular and slow
It’s time to talk about fashion more specifically in regards to:
Some of the above terms can mean the same or similar things, and it can become confusing as to which term to use. Here is how I try to distinguish between them…
Defined by the Victoria and Albert Museum, Ethical fashion is an umbrella term used to cover design, creation and retailing. It covers a range of issues including fair trade, working conditions, the environment and animal welfare.
Personally, I think mainly about people when I use the term ‘ethical’. Exploitative working conditions - think physically abusive, unhygienic, cramped conditions and forced overtime - for the (mostly) female and child workers is what comes to mind. However, toxic chemicals used in cotton growing and chemical dye residue spilling into the environment is also unethical practice.
Although the words ‘ethical’ and sustainable’ are often used interchangeably when referring to fashion, the nature of sustainable refers more particularly to the environment. For example, fabrics derived from eco-friendly resources or recycled materials.
Buying secondhand clothing can be considered to be a sustainable form of fashion consumption, however that issue is complex because the world now has too much secondhand clothing! That’s a topic for another day…
The term ‘sustainable’ becomes broader when we look at the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals because they consider people issues such as health, wellbeing, decent work, education and the elimination of poverty.
The term circular in this instance comes from ‘circular economy’ and refers to the attempt to re-use and recycle materials as much as possible, minimising waste. The wonderful Clare Press has written about it for Vogue Australia.
Slow fashion is everything fast fashion is not; considered, well designed, made to last and made by people who are properly paid and not exploited. The principles and phrase takes its lead from the slow food movement.
I have a brand new program to help you reduce your fashion footprint. It will be offered online over several weeks. It will be fun, and you’ll learn numerous skills and techniques for reducing your carbon footprint. If you’d like to be part of the inaugural group, see here for further info and to book. (This event is in the past)
You can learn more about ethical and sustainable fashion here and find a list of brands that have been analysed and rated both good and bad in terms of their ethics and sustainability here.
by Alice Alinari