Wanted: Good clothes
Today’s global fashion industry is opaque, harms the environment and lacks social standards. How can we stop exploiting others and start designing dreams?
A fashion revolution
On 24 April 2013, the eight-story Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh collapsed. More than 1,000 garment workers were killed because they were forced to enter five factories in unsafe conditions. The deaths could have been prevented, yet more than 100 similar accidents have happened since then according to the International Labour Organisation.
The tragedy shed light on workers’ conditions but also global supply chains. Human Rights Watch reported that no major apparel company disclosed its factories and suppliers until the late 1990s. The movement Fashion Revolution consequently emerged publishing the phenomenal Fashion Transparency Index and asking the crucial question: “Who made my clothes?”
An environmental thread
Did you know that it takes 2,700 litres of water to make one cotton t-shirt? One pair of jeans can require twice as much. Apparel might be resource intensive, yet that does not mean that we take good care of it.
The more is not always the merrier. The Ellen Mac Arthur Foundation reports that fashion brands are producing twice the amount of clothing than in 2000. Brands have switched from summer and winter styles to 50 cycles, creating a world where ultra fast fashion is on the rise and 80 billion pieces of clothing are consumed every day.
Textile waste is so not last season. Europeans consume on average around 26 kg of textiles per head and throw away 11 kg of clothes, shoes and fabric goods per year. A 2018 study further revealed that we do not always wear what we buy - with Belgians and Americans wasting the most clothes.
Recycling - for example from plastics - is only a drop in the ocean and laborious. Shirts, shoes and trousers often consist of several materials, making it expensive to sort. That might be one reason why Europeans recycle almost 75% of paper but burn 75% of tossed textiles.
Clothes can be designed to be reused, though, and the EU demands actions by 2030. The new eco-design rules aim at slowing down fast fashion and promoting durable clothes. We, however, do not have to wait for fashion stores to turn sustainable: reduce, rent and repair.
If you want to be à la mode without buying in bulk, consider a capsule wardrobe. Declutter and select around 30 items (incl. shoes) that fit 5-6 different styles (like work, sport, outerwear, formal, relax). You may mix and match. By choosing more interchangeable items, you reduce the need to buy new outfits - and if you really need something special, you can consult clothing rental services, such as Rent the Runway or Circle Closet.
When you spot holes in your clothes, they do not have to end up in the bin. Sustainable fashion pioneer and co-founder of Fashion Revolution Orsola de Castro recommended to Refinery29 mending them and points out that “lengthening the life of our clothing from one to two years decreases their carbon footprint by 24%”.
For tutorials, follow the Fixing Fashion project that explains how to take care of your clothes.
A fair wage ladder
What would change if your boss would cut your salary in half?
Your quality of life would plunge and you would have to tighten your belt.
How would it change if you did not get paid for months?
It is hard to imagine but presumably you would go through the five stages of rage.
This quick thought experiment helps us put ourselves into the shoes of the people making our clothes.
In 2020, the EU spent €69 bn on importing clothes but only a wee part ends up in the workers’ pockets as the Fair Wear Foundation shows.
Less than 2% of the people making our clothes earn a living wage. Most receive 20% - 50% of the amount to live in dignity with their family, forcing many to work14 - 16 hours per day, seven days a week.
The pandemic made matters worse. The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre reports that brands with record profits withheld salaries and severance pay for months. Many of the 60 million garment workers across the globe - including 2.3 million in Europe - support their family, and the wage theft puts them in jeopardy. ABLE and a few other brands started to post their lowest wages.
A living wage helps people and the planet. Environmental Scientist Roland Geyer argues that raising the wages of 35 million garment workers by $100 a week would cut global CO2 emissions by 65.3 million tons. It may hence be possible to combat poverty and climate change at the same time.
If you want to feel better, shop at ethical brands. You will find a list here. If you want to make the world better, demand a living wage for the people who make our clothes and support the European Citizens’ Initiative “Good Clothes, Fair Pay”.
Three tips to get good clothes
Ask your favourite brands #WhoMadeMyFabric.
Care for your clothes: reduce, rent and repair.
Support the European Citizens’ Initiative #GoodClothesFairPay.
- written by Benjamin Wilhelm, benjamin[at]thedandeliongroup.eu
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