shoegal2183
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Fair Trade Clothing Brands & Human Rights ... the Ethical Consumer Movement
- Thread starter Erin
- Start date
I love CocosShoppe.com too
Hi,
This is my first time posting...a friend recenlty turned me on to this site and it was so fabulous to find an 'ethical shopping' thread.
Anyway....I went to check out CocosShoppe.com and love it. I found this line Deborah Lindquist who uses recycled cashmere and bought one of her tank tops as well as the Burning Torch Tunic you put up on your post.
THANK YOU for highlighting eco- fashion.
Hi,
This is my first time posting...a friend recenlty turned me on to this site and it was so fabulous to find an 'ethical shopping' thread.
Anyway....I went to check out CocosShoppe.com and love it. I found this line Deborah Lindquist who uses recycled cashmere and bought one of her tank tops as well as the Burning Torch Tunic you put up on your post.
THANK YOU for highlighting eco- fashion.
fash ho' said:
hi oak, welcome to tfs.
do you have any other ethical fashion recommendations?
I keep hearing about this brand keepandshare. www.keepandshare.co.uk.
Its very nice 'alternative luxury' knitwear and the idea is that you keep the item as it 'satisfies over time'. i don't know how much ecological yarn she uses but some of it is quite sweet. The webpage has a 'share' section where people share some stories about items that they have had for ages and ages.
credit: keepandshare.co.uk
do you have any other ethical fashion recommendations?
I keep hearing about this brand keepandshare. www.keepandshare.co.uk.
Its very nice 'alternative luxury' knitwear and the idea is that you keep the item as it 'satisfies over time'. i don't know how much ecological yarn she uses but some of it is quite sweet. The webpage has a 'share' section where people share some stories about items that they have had for ages and ages.
credit: keepandshare.co.uk
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shoegal, i love the concept of the Blackspots but i know someone who has them and she says they are so uncomfortable . . pity.
The Global Clothes Carousel
It is the kind of dress that some people would only consider appropriate for a costume party; one in which you could come dressed as Margot from the late 1970’s British television show “The Good Life”. High-necked in sherbet-peach polyester, with a yoked front picked out in frothy lace and billowing chiffon sleeves; it fell to the floor in a dramatic cascade of synthetic fabric. This item is just one on a rack of many of its type; beyond retro and good taste but strangely desirable amongst Copenhagen’s female hipsters who seek out vintage style beyond H&M’s cheap mainstream or too-obvious high-end designer labels. The pursuit of old clothes is not a Danish phenomenon; vintage style “has become a mainstream and highly commodified fashion alternative to wearing new designs. . . a sign of individuality and connoisseurship.”[1]. The purchase and consumption of this dress not only differentiates the customer from mainstream fashions, it also means that they have side-stepped the mass-production system – a positive benefit for the more sustainable- or ethically minded vintage hunter.
What they may not realise, however, although the resale of this dress is decoupled from the current garment production industry, it could hardly be regarded as a sustainable choice, in the light of its travel history.
This British-made garment, along with many others was picked up for pennies by the Danish shop-owner at a second-hand clothing market in Kampala, the capital of Uganda; a market filled with the used garments donated by people living in Europe to charities who then ship it on to Africa. Thus, the garment may have travelled up to 10,000 miles in its lifetime, more if the fabric or garment was manufactured in the US or a developing country in the first place.
According to a 2005 Oxfam report, the “global trade in second-hand clothing is worth more than $1 billion each year”[2] and not only provides a source of inexpensive apparel but also contributes to employment in the recipient country. Clothes that are donated by western consumers to the clothing recycling banks in supermarkets and outside charity shops are not usually given freely as aid to developing countries. Instead, due to the surplus of donated clothing which the charities cannot handle, some of the banks are owned by purely commercial concerns – rag traders who pay a nominal annual fee to carry the charity name.[3] These merchants then sort and grade the garments to be shipped abroad to Africa, where it is bought by the bale by clothes traders to sell on in smaller quantities to individual market sellers. These small traders often travel miles out of the African bush to collect the garments to sell in the city markets. Finally, the garments are then bought for a few pounds by other working Ugandans and provide a cheap source of quality style for many Africans.
It is a viable industry in which waste which is actually given away, becomes a resource providing a chain of income that stretches from the developed to the developing world. What is surprising is the fact that most people who donate clothes to these clothing banks may not be aware of what actually happens to the clothes, or realise that in fact other interests own the banks and pay as little as £100 a year per facility for the use of the charity’s name.[4] What has been given freely by people who have too much is eventually sold, albeit cheaply, to those who have too little. On the other hand, some development workers believe that this industry and the exchange of money for garments is better than simply giving it away as “constant handouts eventually demean the individual.”[5]
However, the BBC Panorama programme “The Dollar a Day Dress” highlights the double-edged sword, “No limits on second-hand imports, very low tariffs, it’s free trade at its most welcome. But the benefits of free trade can come at a price.” The price is that this second-hand clothes industry has helped undermined the local textile and clothing industries and is not supporting the Ugandan and other Sub-saharan economies in the process of becoming more self-sufficient and ‘sustainable’. Last year, the World Trade Organisation ruled that US cotton subsidies were in breach of its rules; these subsidies have been one of the chief issues beneath the demise of African textile and cotton industries. In addition, even without the second hand clothes market, it is questionable whether the local industries would ever recover, in the face of increasing imports of cheap clothing from Asia.[6]
So this polyester maxi-dress has come full circle back to Europe, as stock for a retro clothing store. The life story of this object goes beyond what Kopytoff calls its ‘cultural biography’,“ . . . the story of the various singularizations of it, of classification and reclassifications in an uncertain world of categories whose importance shifts with every minor change in context . . .”[7] . This dress and its biography illuminate both the positive and negative sustainability aspects of globalisation, free trade and the pursuit of style.
[1] Palmer, Alexander. Vintage Whores and Vintage Virgins: Second Hand Fashion in the Twenty-first Century in Old Clothes, New Looks. Palmer, Alexander and Hazel Clark (eds). (2005) Berg Publishers. p197.
[2] Baden, Sally and Catherine Barber. The impact of the second-hand clothing trade on developing countries. Oxfam, Sept 2005
[3] Durham, Michael. “Clothes Line” The Guardian. Wednesday February 25th, 2004.
[4] Durum, Michael.
[5] Durum, Michael.
[6] Baden. P2
[7] Kopytoff, Igor. (1986) The Cultural Biography of Things: Commoditization as Process. In The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective, edited by Arjun Appadurai. p64. Cambridge University Press.
The Global Clothes Carousel
It is the kind of dress that some people would only consider appropriate for a costume party; one in which you could come dressed as Margot from the late 1970’s British television show “The Good Life”. High-necked in sherbet-peach polyester, with a yoked front picked out in frothy lace and billowing chiffon sleeves; it fell to the floor in a dramatic cascade of synthetic fabric. This item is just one on a rack of many of its type; beyond retro and good taste but strangely desirable amongst Copenhagen’s female hipsters who seek out vintage style beyond H&M’s cheap mainstream or too-obvious high-end designer labels. The pursuit of old clothes is not a Danish phenomenon; vintage style “has become a mainstream and highly commodified fashion alternative to wearing new designs. . . a sign of individuality and connoisseurship.”[1]. The purchase and consumption of this dress not only differentiates the customer from mainstream fashions, it also means that they have side-stepped the mass-production system – a positive benefit for the more sustainable- or ethically minded vintage hunter.
What they may not realise, however, although the resale of this dress is decoupled from the current garment production industry, it could hardly be regarded as a sustainable choice, in the light of its travel history.
This British-made garment, along with many others was picked up for pennies by the Danish shop-owner at a second-hand clothing market in Kampala, the capital of Uganda; a market filled with the used garments donated by people living in Europe to charities who then ship it on to Africa. Thus, the garment may have travelled up to 10,000 miles in its lifetime, more if the fabric or garment was manufactured in the US or a developing country in the first place.
According to a 2005 Oxfam report, the “global trade in second-hand clothing is worth more than $1 billion each year”[2] and not only provides a source of inexpensive apparel but also contributes to employment in the recipient country. Clothes that are donated by western consumers to the clothing recycling banks in supermarkets and outside charity shops are not usually given freely as aid to developing countries. Instead, due to the surplus of donated clothing which the charities cannot handle, some of the banks are owned by purely commercial concerns – rag traders who pay a nominal annual fee to carry the charity name.[3] These merchants then sort and grade the garments to be shipped abroad to Africa, where it is bought by the bale by clothes traders to sell on in smaller quantities to individual market sellers. These small traders often travel miles out of the African bush to collect the garments to sell in the city markets. Finally, the garments are then bought for a few pounds by other working Ugandans and provide a cheap source of quality style for many Africans.
It is a viable industry in which waste which is actually given away, becomes a resource providing a chain of income that stretches from the developed to the developing world. What is surprising is the fact that most people who donate clothes to these clothing banks may not be aware of what actually happens to the clothes, or realise that in fact other interests own the banks and pay as little as £100 a year per facility for the use of the charity’s name.[4] What has been given freely by people who have too much is eventually sold, albeit cheaply, to those who have too little. On the other hand, some development workers believe that this industry and the exchange of money for garments is better than simply giving it away as “constant handouts eventually demean the individual.”[5]
However, the BBC Panorama programme “The Dollar a Day Dress” highlights the double-edged sword, “No limits on second-hand imports, very low tariffs, it’s free trade at its most welcome. But the benefits of free trade can come at a price.” The price is that this second-hand clothes industry has helped undermined the local textile and clothing industries and is not supporting the Ugandan and other Sub-saharan economies in the process of becoming more self-sufficient and ‘sustainable’. Last year, the World Trade Organisation ruled that US cotton subsidies were in breach of its rules; these subsidies have been one of the chief issues beneath the demise of African textile and cotton industries. In addition, even without the second hand clothes market, it is questionable whether the local industries would ever recover, in the face of increasing imports of cheap clothing from Asia.[6]
So this polyester maxi-dress has come full circle back to Europe, as stock for a retro clothing store. The life story of this object goes beyond what Kopytoff calls its ‘cultural biography’,“ . . . the story of the various singularizations of it, of classification and reclassifications in an uncertain world of categories whose importance shifts with every minor change in context . . .”[7] . This dress and its biography illuminate both the positive and negative sustainability aspects of globalisation, free trade and the pursuit of style.
[1] Palmer, Alexander. Vintage Whores and Vintage Virgins: Second Hand Fashion in the Twenty-first Century in Old Clothes, New Looks. Palmer, Alexander and Hazel Clark (eds). (2005) Berg Publishers. p197.
[2] Baden, Sally and Catherine Barber. The impact of the second-hand clothing trade on developing countries. Oxfam, Sept 2005
[3] Durham, Michael. “Clothes Line” The Guardian. Wednesday February 25th, 2004.
[4] Durum, Michael.
[5] Durum, Michael.
[6] Baden. P2
[7] Kopytoff, Igor. (1986) The Cultural Biography of Things: Commoditization as Process. In The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective, edited by Arjun Appadurai. p64. Cambridge University Press.
okay, its a bit dry, because I wrote it for this project i am doing on sustainability and fashion. but how crazy is this? I know the girl who's vintage store it is.
Will take a picture of a dress that has been around the world a few times . . .
Will take a picture of a dress that has been around the world a few times . . .
sea of stitches
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nice critical thinking fash ho'. thanks for sharing!
World of good ( http://www.worldofgood.com/catalog/index.php ) Has some really nice jewelry and shawls that are fair trade.
shoegal2183
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Yay for fair tradeMy only complaint about Fair Trade shops is that they are all pretty much the same and have the same types of things. I went to one in Amsterdam that had pretty much the same stuff as the one I go to in Cleveland.
www.tenthousandvillages.com is another site
More on Voluntary Simplicity
that's globalisation for you! I guess its not as bad as people buying the same Gap shirt all over the world . . . .
There are good things (a global infrastructure and market for fairtrade stuff) and bad things (maybe these shops should sell more stuff made sustainably and locally).
Anyway, I found more on voluntary simplicity in a paper from a workshop I went to . . . .
Sustainable Consumption, Lifestyles and ‘Responsible Consumers’
Anne Marchand and Stuart Walker
PhD Student and Professor/ Associate Dean and University of Calgary, Faculty of Environmental Design
Voluntary Simplicity (or simple living), which might be considered a
movement, is an attempt to achieve a better quality of life by minimizing the detrimental
impacts of our ways of living on both the human and natural environments. Inspired by ecofeminism,
Buddhism, Taoism, and authors in the tradition of Thoreau, it “[…] represents one outcome of the
culture of cynicism that has grown up in response to a materialist culture that emphasizes superficial
meanings” (Murray, 2002).
According to Burch (2003), the main characteristics of Voluntary
Simplicity (VS) include:
• the rejection of a culture of consumption;
• a search for autonomy based on a social conscience;
• the revision of consumption choices and a preference for more
ecological modes;
• taking a conscious approach to life rather than adopting impulsive
and unconscious behaviour;
• consciousness of a spiritual life.
For instance, as Craig-Lees and Hill (2002) wrote, voluntary simplicity
lifestyles “[…] can include city dwellers who make an effort to curb their
consumption, executives who refuse a promotion (and the associated
increased income) in order to spend more time with family and friends, or
people who move to rural areas in an attempt to adopt a totally self-sufficient life-style”.
Duane Elgin, author of Voluntary Simplicity (1981), from which the
movement took its name, and Arnold Mitchell have described voluntary
simplicity by suggesting what it is not (Elgin, Mitchell, 2003). They
emphasise that VS in not a social movement confined to the United States
and that it should neither be equated with a back-to-nature movement nor
with poverty. Elgin and Mitchell add that although VS surely traces some of
its contemporary heritage from the counterculture movement of the 1960s,
its present constituency is certainly not limited to that group.
With regard to sustainability, Shaw and Newholm (2002) assert that the
ethical, social and environmental values promoted by voluntary simplicity
represent one possible path towards sustainable consumption patterns and
lifestyles. Other authors such as Reisch & Scherhorn (1999), De Graaf et al.
(2001), Maniates (2002) and Etzioni (2003) see in the VS philosophy a
direct response to consumer culture and a movement that holds lessons for a more viable, sustainable society.
Available http://www.score-network.org/files//548_Proceedings_SCORE_WS1_20060428.pdf
In the paper, they go on to discuss how this has now become a marketing hook, where a product is sold on the values of VS.
shoegal2183 said:
My only complaint about Fair Trade shops is that they are all pretty much the same and have the same types of things. I went to one in Amsterdam that had pretty much the same stuff as the one I go to in Cleveland.
www.tenthousandvillages.com is another site
that's globalisation for you! I guess its not as bad as people buying the same Gap shirt all over the world . . . .
There are good things (a global infrastructure and market for fairtrade stuff) and bad things (maybe these shops should sell more stuff made sustainably and locally).
Anyway, I found more on voluntary simplicity in a paper from a workshop I went to . . . .
Sustainable Consumption, Lifestyles and ‘Responsible Consumers’
Anne Marchand and Stuart Walker
PhD Student and Professor/ Associate Dean and University of Calgary, Faculty of Environmental Design
Voluntary Simplicity (or simple living), which might be considered a
movement, is an attempt to achieve a better quality of life by minimizing the detrimental
impacts of our ways of living on both the human and natural environments. Inspired by ecofeminism,
Buddhism, Taoism, and authors in the tradition of Thoreau, it “[…] represents one outcome of the
culture of cynicism that has grown up in response to a materialist culture that emphasizes superficial
meanings” (Murray, 2002).
According to Burch (2003), the main characteristics of Voluntary
Simplicity (VS) include:
• the rejection of a culture of consumption;
• a search for autonomy based on a social conscience;
• the revision of consumption choices and a preference for more
ecological modes;
• taking a conscious approach to life rather than adopting impulsive
and unconscious behaviour;
• consciousness of a spiritual life.
For instance, as Craig-Lees and Hill (2002) wrote, voluntary simplicity
lifestyles “[…] can include city dwellers who make an effort to curb their
consumption, executives who refuse a promotion (and the associated
increased income) in order to spend more time with family and friends, or
people who move to rural areas in an attempt to adopt a totally self-sufficient life-style”.
Duane Elgin, author of Voluntary Simplicity (1981), from which the
movement took its name, and Arnold Mitchell have described voluntary
simplicity by suggesting what it is not (Elgin, Mitchell, 2003). They
emphasise that VS in not a social movement confined to the United States
and that it should neither be equated with a back-to-nature movement nor
with poverty. Elgin and Mitchell add that although VS surely traces some of
its contemporary heritage from the counterculture movement of the 1960s,
its present constituency is certainly not limited to that group.
With regard to sustainability, Shaw and Newholm (2002) assert that the
ethical, social and environmental values promoted by voluntary simplicity
represent one possible path towards sustainable consumption patterns and
lifestyles. Other authors such as Reisch & Scherhorn (1999), De Graaf et al.
(2001), Maniates (2002) and Etzioni (2003) see in the VS philosophy a
direct response to consumer culture and a movement that holds lessons for a more viable, sustainable society.
Available http://www.score-network.org/files//548_Proceedings_SCORE_WS1_20060428.pdf
In the paper, they go on to discuss how this has now become a marketing hook, where a product is sold on the values of VS.
fashionista-ta
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fash ho' said:
There's irony for ya ...
fashionista-ta said:
This particular irony is actually present in every aspect of social life - I'd say there isn't one lifestyle that hasn't been or couldn't in the future be attempted to be used for marketing purposes. Just goes to show how sick the culture of consumption has become.
Stylebites
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Glad to see this is such an active thread.
EVERYONE HERE should read Harvard economist, Juliet B. Schor's essay Cleaning the Closet. It will change your life. This is a link to the PDF file.
I was thinking many of the same thoughts she describes in her piece long before I read it. What an affirmation!
EVERYONE HERE should read Harvard economist, Juliet B. Schor's essay Cleaning the Closet. It will change your life. This is a link to the PDF file.
I was thinking many of the same thoughts she describes in her piece long before I read it. What an affirmation!
had a quick look at the people tree clothes www.peopletree.co.uk , after seeing it mentioned in a magazine.
Some of the stuff is really quite nice but i wonder if it would benefit from different styling, art direction and photography . . . .
Some of the stuff is really quite nice but i wonder if it would benefit from different styling, art direction and photography . . . .
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shoegal2183
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Cute things frop People Tree!!
I saw these companies in body + soul magazine and thought I"d share!
www.avalonorganics.com (I'm pretty sure I have seen these sold at Wild Oats as well..prices seem reasonable)
Organic, sensual body care that honors your intelligence, your natural beauty, your well-being and the earth. Feel at peace with pure personal care. Products that work, without compromising consciousness of the greater good.
Consciousness in Cosmetics is the guiding principle behind everything we do at Avalon Organics. It reflects our commitment to creating an extraordinary, unprecedented range of new and reformulated products that are inherently pure and safe, while expanding the efficacy and vibrantly healthy benefits of natural body care. It is our mission and our passion.
I saw these companies in body + soul magazine and thought I"d share!
www.avalonorganics.com (I'm pretty sure I have seen these sold at Wild Oats as well..prices seem reasonable)
Organic, sensual body care that honors your intelligence, your natural beauty, your well-being and the earth. Feel at peace with pure personal care. Products that work, without compromising consciousness of the greater good.
Consciousness in Cosmetics is the guiding principle behind everything we do at Avalon Organics. It reflects our commitment to creating an extraordinary, unprecedented range of new and reformulated products that are inherently pure and safe, while expanding the efficacy and vibrantly healthy benefits of natural body care. It is our mission and our passion.
shoegal2183
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Organic Cotton
I haven't seen this company posted yet, if it has been, I apologize for the repost. There are some interesting articles about the comany on the website. They are quite long, so if you are interested just go to the site! The articles are: 1. The People Touched by Organic Cotton
A rural community in India has found that its shift to organic farming is enriching more than its soil.
2. How They Escaped from Chemicals The organic farming methods adopted by our cotton farmers are not unlike the methods used by other organic farmers around the world. But the local environment and religious beliefs of people in the community here require unique solutions for controlling pests, amending the soil and harvesting bolls by hand.
3. No One is Sweating in These Factories-
When Gaiam clothing designers Mary Foley and Cindy Clyde stepped into the factory in Bangkok, Thailand, where Gaiam organic cotton is dyed, knit, cut and sewn, they were welcomed with warm smiles rather than warm temperatures.
“The first thing I noticed was that it was very clean,” Foley says. “Then I realized that the temperature was great, even though it was extremely hot outside. And everyone was smiling.”
www.gaiam.com
I haven't seen this company posted yet, if it has been, I apologize for the repost. There are some interesting articles about the comany on the website. They are quite long, so if you are interested just go to the site! The articles are: 1. The People Touched by Organic Cotton
A rural community in India has found that its shift to organic farming is enriching more than its soil.
2. How They Escaped from Chemicals The organic farming methods adopted by our cotton farmers are not unlike the methods used by other organic farmers around the world. But the local environment and religious beliefs of people in the community here require unique solutions for controlling pests, amending the soil and harvesting bolls by hand.
3. No One is Sweating in These Factories-
When Gaiam clothing designers Mary Foley and Cindy Clyde stepped into the factory in Bangkok, Thailand, where Gaiam organic cotton is dyed, knit, cut and sewn, they were welcomed with warm smiles rather than warm temperatures.
“The first thing I noticed was that it was very clean,” Foley says. “Then I realized that the temperature was great, even though it was extremely hot outside. And everyone was smiling.”
www.gaiam.com
fashionista-ta
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fash ho' said:
You wonder right, and I say start with the art direction
Stylebites
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Thanks for the blurb Lena! Renews my hope in European environmental ethics...everyone keeps telling me that Europeans don't care about "green" clothing.
fashionista-ta
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^ Europeans seem to be far ahead of us when it comes to "green"
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