| MEAN GREEN |
| Written by Kim Poldner - Wednesday, 10 February 2010 | |
Last week the Financial Times published an article written by its fashion editor Vanessa Friedman on what sustainable fashion actually means. In the article, Friedman takes a critical stance towards the fuzziness that surrounds the concept of sustainable fashion. I would like to bring in a few counter-arguments to encourage people to keep on supporting this paradigm shift in the business of fashion. In the first part of her article she attacks the variety of opinions that exist on what ethical, organic and sustainable is. She argues that it confuses the consumer, including herself, and even makes her cynical about how serious she can take claims of being green. I understand this viewpoint and have often been wondering myself why we don’t have clear definitions and certifications that everyone can recognize as being good to buy. By now, I can see the value in the variety of perspectives that shape the ethical fashion landscape. My question would be if Friedman could put a little bit more trust in the organic solution to this conundrum. Because it is my strong believe that this diversity answers to the many different people that work with sustainable fashion issues. For now, Friedman could simply keep on asking questions and listen to the stories of these people. And while doing so, she could always try to answer if these stories resonate with the definition of sustainable development as defined by the Brundtland commission: Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Second, Friedman points out that many fashion houses have not been open about what they do good, because as soon as they pose themselves as sustainable, people (read: the media) will find things to pin them down. She continues saying that there has been no public discussion about sustainability issues in fashion and that is maybe exactly the reason why. It is only two weeks ago that the German Financial Times published an article on GMO in organic cotton and it is these actions that don’t further creating consensus, but rather damages the hard work that has been done so far to create change in the fashion industry. I always wonder why newspapers are keen on publishing the negative news instead of telling the many wonderful stories of people that have climbed out of poverty through for example growing organic cotton (even if it is only pre-organic at this stage). Thus, I encourage Friedman to take a lead in changing the way of the media and to contribute in developing the language she longs for. Comments (2)
I agree with you in a varity of answers to sustainable fashion
written by sam roger, February 11, 2010
We ARE talking written by Megan MacDonald, February 15, 2010
I get so frustrated when people critique efforts to promote good alternatives because they can't yet compare to the industry standard. While I do think it's important to be mindful of poorly-used or mis-represented terminology, there is plenty of discussion going on (I can't even keep up with the blogs dedicated to green fashion). One point that was made in the Time special Fashion Issue this past summer was by someone at Max&Co. I believe who said they'd be happy to see other designers making innovations in the green arena. The author had brought up the industry's competition and desire to protect innovation to such an extent so that designers can stay on top and ahead of the game. Green fashion is different - and the person responding recognized that in this case, the industry needs to be willing to share resources, sourcing ideas, innovations etc. to really make a change.
As to terminology - I liked this step in a more uniform and user-friendly direction: http://www.ecouterre.com/12226/made-by-defines-eco-fashion-terms-with-new-jargon-buster-calendar/#more-12226 Another awesome site promoting discourse on textiles and clothing design: http://socialalterations.com/ Write comment
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Fairtrade obviously is the people focus, we really need to tackle manufacturing standards & transparency - partly because this is the most visible issue for fashion shoppers with the many sweat shop stories. But its sustainable textiles that is the 3rd key focus - cotton is such a thirsty crop & we dont have enough water with our current usage. So all the work on using recycled plastics, mixing textiles is equally vital to the mix.
The leading pioneers are all small business in comparison to the big guns, but as in everything we have to start somewhere. Shoppers despite interest are still price sensitive and that is probably the difficult one for ethical retailers to crack - but hey we shouldn't shy away from difficulty!
For shoppers, yes its confusing but things will change, hopefully we will get more public discussion but shoppers sometimes seem lazy - if confused they shy away. We need to get the right message to actually get some action otherwise we will find that the fashion industry will find itself in a difficult position in the future - we like love fashion we all need to care about fashion :)