CHANGES ARE BEING MADE
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CHANGES ARE BEING MADE
in the Fast Fashion Industry
The true cost of new items of clothing goes beyond the price tag. Companies are also spending energy, land , water and chemicals to make them. Every shirt people buy has an environmental cost. And according to this documentary, there might also be lives in harm as well. Not only is the Fashion Industry the only one hiring people in third work countries to make the most revenue out of their sales. In the documentary "Luxury: Behind the mirror of high-end fashion", made by DJ Documentary, they show the reality behind the production of luxury brands like Gucci, Fendi and Prada.
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Fast fashion in Spain
Pretty much since the 1960s, the cheap-clothing and trendiness had an incredible impact on the consumers mindset. They looked for trendy cheap clothing, making them the business model that cause the opening of fast fashion stores during the 1990s and 2000s. If we look at the case of Inditex, from 2004 to 2008 the numbers of shops in Spain grew from 221 shops to 491 in 4 years expand. Even though the 2008 crisis forced some closer, they have maintained at around 300 shops.
A study conducted by the School of Industrial Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) interviewed some costumers on their buying habits. During the interviews the participants were inquired to prioritize their purchase criteria. The results showed that “participants claimed that self-interest and personal values were the biggest influences. Particularly, consumers indicated that price and product attributes (i.e. design) were their main criteria. These findings show that sustainability is not the most dominant criteria within the purchase decision-making process. Price, design, branding and other product attributes are considered relevant and decisive factors in the purchase decision. that is validated by the experience of a youtuber named Kristen Leo, who advocates for sustainable consumption. She is based in Greece, and talk about the reception that her activism had when she was a contestant at a fashion show.
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Inditex is a fashion behemoth in Spain. According to the fashion expert Jose Nueno from Spanish business school IESE, in the first nine months of 2019, revenues increased by 7.5% to €19.8 billion. Inditex is a huge company, and is among the few businesses that make enough money to push recycling technology. "Globally, fast fashion accounts for just 20% of the clothing sector, meaning that sometimes the need for change may appear bigger than it really is", claims Nueno.
The Spanish waste plan covering the period 2016-22, launched at the end of last year and presented at a workshop in Brussels, sets a 50% target of recycling the waste or prepare it to be re-used. Yet, the fashion industry is still creating 800,000 tons of waste in Spain every year
The Global Picture
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Globally, clothes consumption is predicted to rise by 63% by 2030. This means an increase of more than 500 billion T-shirts consumed. The retail value of clothes is projected to reach $2.3 trillion by 2030, with most of the demands of clothing coming from developing countries.
The Ellen Macarthur Foundation calculated that more than $500 billion of value is lost each year due to clothing under-utilisation and non-recycling. By 2050, the fashion industry could be responsible of a a 2℃ temperature rise on earth, increasing global warming issues. The Fixing Fashion report of the UK concluded that the governments must “end the era of throwaway fashion by making retailers responsible for waste, and exploring how to support the sharing economy.”
But while the governments wait to take actions, thereare plenty of individuals and organizations in the world taking actions already.
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Buying less and wearing more
This is a philosophy a lot of people with the least purchasing power are following. As the Fixing Fashion report says: “The most sustainable garment is the one we already own.” Extending the active life of 50% of clothing by nine months would save: 8% carbon, 10% water, 4% waste per metric ton of clothing.
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Creation and supporting of sustainable brands
Again, appealing to the actions of the consumers, supporting local brands to them also means looking after of the materials used in production. Bio-based synthetic polymers made from renewable crops like corn and sugarcane release “up to 60% less carbon emissions, partly due to the crops creating carbon sinks”. And also, if people buy locally, they are reducing the footprint of transportation.
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Ander Aldekoa, the owner of NABARI, a clothing brand produced in Bilbao, Spain, talked about the difficulties of being having a small business. In his own words, the brand guarantees “absolute respect for the rights of working people and ensures their dignity. In addition, we make clothing free of contaminants and we are committed to the sustainable development of our creations.”
But in spite of the good intentions behind his brand, he does have a negative opinion about what the future might look like if people don’t stop supporting local businesses, and he mentioned how he thinks the pandemic has affected consumers. “There are people who prefer to spend 10 euros on a t-shirt than due to its affordable prices, despite the fact that the 10-euro t-shirts might have been produced based on exploitation and environmental pollution. In times of crisis, the economy is a priority for society before values. And consuming cheaper products means consuming inferior quality products that may have been produced unethically. A perfect example could be face-masks. It does not matter if they have been made by children, nobody is investigating that; if masks are needed, they are bought. I don't think people are more aware of how they consume now. It is very difficult in our society to reach to the consumer who is aware of the importance of ethics and sustainability, there are many people who do not know or who for economic reasons prefer to ignore the reality behind the world of fashion.”
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He also compared the situation in Spain to other countries in Europe: “In northern Europe, people are much more aware regarding the same issue of ethics and sustainability of fashion. This is due to the fact that a solidarity and awareness have grown in those countries in which the governments and organizations have been making society see the importance of workers’ rights the production chain of any sector. Even if you don’t support your local brands, in countries like Germany, Sweden, Finland, etc, second-hand clothes are highly valued. Precisely because an important value is given to what has already been made and to give it a second life and they understand is not necessary to consume new products if one that has already been created works just fine.”
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Pressuring the system
There are many ways in which people can combat fast fashion. There are boycott movements, and organizations doing that. SETEM, a local organization in Spain, they work to put pressure on the governments and brands to make a change.
We work with labor rights organizations in Asia, North Africa and some countries in Eastern Europe. We carry out investigations in which we talk to organizations in the producing countries, which are the ones who send us information and put us in direct contact with female workers. We make this information public to make complaints and give let the consumers know what their role, as part of the production-consumption chain, is causing. We are in contact with Spanish production companies such as Mango, Inditex, Desigual, El Corte ingles; to pressure them to take responsibility for everything that happens in the garment chain. Since the 1980s, brands have relocated their production. The only thing they have here is the team who make the designs, but they have production in countries where labor is generally cheap and the legislation is very lax, and there is a violation of labor rights. Now in a specific case, in Sri Lanka, now with the issue of COVID-19, factories have been closed, leaving 500 workers unemployed. The Sri Lankan organization got in touch with the International Clean Clothes Campaign and they put pressure from the production country towards the brands and we from the consumer country.
Ander Aldekoa talks about his trip to industries in third world countries and current situation on the competition (AUDIO IN SPANISH)
SETEM talks about their operation system as an organization (AUDIO IN SPANISH)
Illustration by Ellen Wezliar
GALERIA de NABARI