‘Ethical Fashion Futures – An Oxymoron?’, by Emma Waight & Ellie Tighe, Geography, University of Southampton. Multidisciplinary Research Week 2013. #MDRWeek.

Multidisciplinary Research Week (17-22nd March 2013)

‘Ethical Fashion Futures – An Oxymoron?’,

by Emma Waight & Ellie Tighe, Geography, University of Southampton.

Ethical Fashion Futures – An Oxymoron?Discussion from workshop 9th March 2013

Multidisciplinary WeekEmma Waight & Ellie Tighe (Geography)21st March 2013

The UK’s ethical fashion industry was estimated to be worth £175 million in 2009 (Mintel, 2009)

Growing faster than almost any other ethical sector, at 71% per year (Coop 2008).

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Regulatory Frameworks and Institutional Responses: Bangladesh Garment Industry

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Start of the Supply Chain

• Its starts with the raw material – the fibre and fabric

• Environmental concerns – resource consumption, GHG emissions, air & water pollution, soil degradation/contamination

• Social concerns – worker’s rights, health & safety, poverty, animal welfare

Cotton• A ‘good’ natural fibre?

• Pesticides & fertilisers

• Huge water footprint

• Soil erosion

• Farmers living in poverty – suicides not uncommon

• In the news: Loss of Aral Sea, Endosulfan – toxic pesticide caused death and deformities, Uzbekistan enforced child labour

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Ethical Fabric Alternatives • Organic & Fairtrade cotton

• Colour grown cotton

• Hemp, nettle and flax

• Bamboo

• Milk

• Soy

• Ingeo (corn)

Ethical fabric supplier: www.offsetwarehouse.com

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• Cut & Stitch manufacture

• Out-Sourcing Production into Developing Countries

• Global Industry – 23.6 million employed worldwide

• Clothing Production and Trade = Economic Growth and Job creation

• Sweatshops and Labour rights abuses

• Situation is complex having global, local and national institutional facets

Fashion & International Development

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Global Level• Consumer demand for fast fashion and

cheap clothing

• Short lead times and mass production

• Bargaining buyers – suppliers on pricing

• High level local competition

Fashion & International Development

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Local Level:•Industrial relations systems between workers and managers not developed

•Poor regulation labour law

•Low level education workers

•“Global Competition” rhetoric

•Government- Industry relations

•Poor systems governance

•Regulation dependent buyer pressures – codes of conduct

Fashion & International Development

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Fashion & International Development

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Codes of Conduct – “Ethical” Clothing across the Scales: Voices from South Asia

•Fieldwork Pakistan and Sri Lanka

•Codes of Conduct ineffective tool

•Discrepancy between which codes are upheld

Fashion & International Development

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New Strategies: Impact, UK

•UK ethical retail consultancy, based London, China, India and Bangladesh

•Opportunities development and trade good

•Business-led approach to improving worker conditions

•Change attitudes on the ground

Fashion & International Development

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Law & the role of the State• Ecological’, ‘sustainable,’ and ‘ethical’, are all

terms now frequently used in the fashion industry but with no clear legal definition

• Lack of transparency

• Consumer confusion

• Country of origin labelling not compulsory

• Should ethical clothing get tax breaks?

www.ecofashionrules.com

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Second-hand Fashion• Re-use = most sustainable way

of (not) shopping!

• An ethical future? Consume less

• Fewer clothes, better quality, wear them for longer.

• Is their a stigma attached to second-hand clothes? How has the ‘vintage’ trend helped?

• Financial motivations

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Conclusion - Ethical Fashion Futures – An Oxymoron?• Where consumers lead brands will follow

• Fashion supply chains are complex, management needs collaborative effort

• Demands change established conventions and practices

• Supply chains need greater transparency

• Training for future industry professionals

• Consumers need educating

Conclusion - Ethical Fashion Futures – An Oxymoron?

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Thank You

Ellie Tighe [email protected]@EllieTighehttp://thepursuitofgoodshoes.wordpress.com/

Emma [email protected]@EmsWaightwww.emmawaight.co.uk

www.geographypostgrads.com

Multidisciplinary Research Week 2013

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