Ethical Practices in the Fashion Industry

ETHICAL PRACTICES IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY
ETHICAL PRACTICES IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY

Executive Summary
Ethical practices in the fashion industry can be defined as the production of materials with morality. With social responsibility of the world fashion houses, and designers are now acknowledging the significance of ethical business. Trying to run a fashion business on goods that do not harm the environment and are cruelty free is easier said than done as I will bring to surface the ethical issues emerging in the fashion industry. “Because fashion is so indicative of the political and social climate in which we live, what we wear will always be a symbol of our environment” Alexander McQueen, 2002

Contents
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Executive Summary
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Ethical fashion business 2
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Fair trade laws 3
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Fashion Supply chains 6
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Fashion and the environment 8
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Cultural influences 9
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Seasons trends 11
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Conclusion 12
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References 13

Ethical fashion business
“Ethical fashion is not just a mere integration of the sustainable development dimensions within the field of conventional fashion, but an entirely new paradigm of fashion” (Astruc et Erm, 2009).
Ethics in a business creates a sense of right and wrong in a business, For the fashion industry to become more ethical they need to be able to satisfy their customers needs and at the same time being morally driven and safeguarding the planet and societies that they affect.
Elements incorporated in the term ‘ethical’ include; * Fair trade * Child/slave labor * Carbon footprint * Organic * Food miles * Animal welfare/testing * Recyclable/bio-degradable * Global warming * Supplier relationships

Fair trade laws

The major social and environmental certification schemes in fashion are the organic and fair-trade certifications, like the food industry the fashion industry now wants to address issues in their supply chains which I will talk about late on in this report. The organic stamp focuses on farming techniques used to grow organic materials and fair-trade focuses on the business relationships between the supplier and their customers to promote and improve farmers, artisans and suppliers livelihoods and rise above poverty through fair-trading.
The fair trade trend is now growing with high street retailers opting for more organic and fair-trade certified goods. However even though these certifications present good they don’t solve all the ethical issues in the industry because some companies that use these certifications still find a loophole and violate labor right.
Fair trade promise consist of: No children under the age of 16 make our products. We provide: equality for men and women in pay and opportunity within the workplace. We pay: a fair wage to all workers that is either at or above the national average. To ensure: safe working conditions, regular breaks and holidays for all workers. To pay: producers in advance so that they do not go into debt buying materials. To promote: traditional crafts in order to keep traditions alive and provide vital income for villages. To work: with smaller community trade projects that provide essential support to disadvantaged people in rural areas. We always: use chemical free and natural dyes which have the least impact on the environment. Increasing :our range of organic cotton to promote sustainable and environmental fashion as well as protecting the health and wellbeing of the growers. To recycle: materials into some of our garments and to use waste fabric to make beautiful bags. We will: continue our research in order to increase our range of organic cotton and biodegradable packaging.
To increase: awareness for the need to shop responsibly and to push the multi-nationals into working towards Fair Trade on a global level.
(source : https://www.nomadsclothing.com/content/fairtrade/our-actions )

Fashion Supply chains In recent years there has been a growing interest in the design and implementation of agile supply chain strategies (Christopher, 2000).One of the most valuable aspects of being ethical especially in the fashion industry is transparency. The problem with this industry is that is very difficult for consumers to find out every detail about how their fashion garments are made and where they came from. The ever-growing globalization, the market expansion and the volatile fashion intensify competition in the fashion chain. Most consumers blame fashion houses for ethical issues in the supply chains, in the fashion world supply chain chains must be highly responsive and be able to satisfy market needs. Fashion brands such as H&M, Primark and Zara can reduce the whole process cycle from intangible design to a final product ready to sell product in the retail store within a few weeks. The main challenges facing the global fashion supply chain are the rising costs, sourcing markets, the increased competition in retail and also the pressure to incorporate supply chains and alteration towards faster fashion cycles.Figure 2 shows a typical apparel supply chain Within the Fashion industry there are models that reflect directly on the supply chain. Trends must be identified quickly, products designed, samples created and then sent quickly out to the target markets. Each fashion house involves many functional domains such as manufacturing, planning, marketing etc. as shown in the fig-2. Effective supply chain manages flow of demand and supply. Making a supply chain ethical isn’t about just fair wages and elimination child labor reducing waste is also as important .For the fashion industry to have ethical supply chains they must therefore not only consider the present issues, but think about how, in the future, it can deliver the same financial rewards while using far less resources. Brands like levis jeans are now working on detoxifying its supply chain and committing to not using hazardous chemicals from its ENTIRE production process in all countries they manufacture by 2020. High street brands Monsoon and New Look where given top rating for their supply chain policies by the ethical consumers buyers guide by providing decent working conditions for overseas partners and workers. Whilst other elite fashion houses pay no regards to corporate ethics.Fashion and the environment In Todays world everything is now growing at a rapid pace, which means people are starting to consume more in general and material wise because more countries are becoming industrialized. “The fashion industry has the power to encourage the consumers to throw away the old products that are still useable and buy the new and more stylish products, is now emphasizing to reserve and preserve in order to be the part of efforts for sustainable development. (Hochswender 1990)” the growth in the consumption of fashion has led to major environmental issues such as: water consumption, textiles and clothing waste and landfill. Clothing sent to landfill increases each year not forgetting that some of the materials being thrown away do not decompose and contributes to global warming. The fashion industry is one of the main contributors to the emission in the atmosphere and the loss of resources. Over 5000 chemicals are used in the process of clothes making and the huge growth in water consumption keeps rising. So by choosing more efficient materials that use less resources, less water and cause less pollution everyone can then begin to design the textile products and more sustainable systems ( fletcher 2008).Cultural influencesCopyright 2005 Lili Chin & Eddie Mort (photo BGs found via Google images)Fashion no longer "trickles down" from couture to the mainstream; fashion directions come from everywhere - various ethnic groups, youth looks from the street, etc. (Gold, 1991). Fashion helps express and shape popular culture, and the fashion industry is the most visible and overlooked of cultural sectors.There are different stimuli that influence the fashion culture which are low culture, high culture and pop culture. High culture refers to visual arts and other forms of arts such as music. These can be of great inspiration to the fashion industry by observing art, designers get ideas for their designs and some luxury brands collaborate with artists to produce iconic fashion essentials. A great example of a designer that based her collection on high culture is Vivienne Westwood her Red Label show was based on women who enjoy art and culture '.Photograph: Jonathan Brady/Geoff Caddick/EPA/AFP/Getty ImagesThe pop culture is highly influenced by celebrities, in recent years the exposure and power of celebrities has ridiculously increased. Celebrities have become somewhat of role models and also studied by the public. This culture is seen as commercial culture and this can influence lifestyles and self-image of many individuals. Especially that now music and fashion industries are more linked than ever with music and fashion magazines e.g. Rolling Stone marketing fashion conscious artists.Lastly we have the low culture also known as the subculture, which includes street craze fashion e.g., skaters’ style, street/gangster style and harajuku style. These are influenced by graffiti movements, sports subcultures are quickly absorbed by mass cultures, low cultures has become more and more fashionable making them easily adaptable to the fashion industry Seasons trends “Fashion is a mirror of history,” its always rotating, coming back and mixing pieces from a certain time with new century pieces. Trends looks at the communication of changes in the consumer lifestyle fashion in general and culture and are a framework for the appreciation of change and development. During 2012 and this years fashion trends are the unisex clothing and fancy futuristic footwear. They also mix historic pieces and awaken the clouds with metallic giving them a futuristic look to them.Alexander McQueen’s Futuristic Fall 2012In order to understand fashion trends one has to be aware of their social cultural way of living which include different influences. There have been more sustainable and ethical brands being introduced by large retailers than ever before. The season’s trends are changing due to the awareness increase of fashion sustainability issues. Consumers are looking to live and represent more sustainable lifestyles According to a survey constructed on consumers more and more women want to see more green products and clothing in product lines (organic exchange 2007). With the consumers becoming more responsible they have shifted from want more to wanting more quality and authentic fashion. It not about the quantity anymore its about the quality.Kanye West wearing a Celine Silk Blouse from the SP/SU '11 Collection Unisex looks from the RAD by Rad Hourani Spring/Summer 2011 Runway Show | |

Conclusion

It is well defined that the world is slowly but surely embracing the concept of ethical practices in the fashion industry and it is still emerging in different countries. There is still a lot of work that is yet to be done in the realm of fair trade and ethical practices. Being ethical in this industry is becoming more of a trend, trying to save the world that we have damaged is catching on and setting great examples. Especially with women spending on ethical and sustainable fashion is on the rise with more than 50% of women considering it 's important that fashion designers act ethically.
Fashion and its movements are characterized by critical times which are marketing time, time to serve and time to react, these 3 stress the importance of agility in fashion supply networks. If consumers can get very involved and appreciate every step of the production process, they can play a part in ensuring ethical business.

References

Barnard, M. Fashion As Communication Barnard, M. (2002) Fashion As Communication . 2nd ed. Oxon: Routledge.
Christopher, M. and Towill (2001), “An Integrated Model for the Design of Agile Supply Chains”, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp 235-246
Craik, J. The Face Of Fashion - Culture studies in fashion
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Paulicelli, E. and Clark, H. The Fabric of cultures, fashion identity and globalisation
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Supply Chain Management: Text and Cases
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Supply Chain Management
The Ethical Supply Chain – Is it Viable?
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Taylor, G.
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Tyler , D. and Heenley, J.
Supply chain influences on new product development in fashion clothing
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http://www.ethicalfashionforum.com/the-issues/organic-eco-fashion
http://fashioninganethicalindustry.org/home/

References: Barnard, M. Fashion As Communication Barnard, M. (2002) Fashion As Communication . 2nd ed. Oxon: Routledge. Christopher, M. and Towill (2001), “An Integrated Model for the Design of Agile Supply Chains”, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp 235-246 Craik, J Craik, J. (1993) The Face Of Fashion - Culture studies in fashion . london : Routledge. Supply Chain Management (2013) The Ethical Supply Chain – Is it Viable?. [report]. Fashion retailers work towards green future Taylor, G. (2011) Fashion retailers work towards green future. Retail Gazette.