A key ethical dilemma that ethical clothing producers face is the plain-old, boring-old cost of producing sustainable clothing while paying workers fairly. These costs are significantly higher than producing fast fashion, and as a result, ethical clothing is often priced out of the range of the average consumer. While it is important to pay workers a fair wage and use sustainable materials, start-ups need to find a balance between ethical practices and affordability.
But what does “higher cost” really mean? If you ask us, it means our clothes aren’t “higher” cost, it means fast fashion is “suppressed” cost. It means fast fashion producers are doing whatever they can to keep the price of production as low as possible in order to make more money, at the expense of workers and the environment. They get away with this by hiding that “collateral damage” from you, the customer. It changes the way customers view the clothes they buy, so they only look at the price tag—not the costs to the planet and the people in it.
One way to address this gap in perspective is to educate consumers about the true cost of producing ethical clothing and why it is so definitely worth paying a “higher” (what we would call a “fair”) price.
Read more: Fair Prices vs Higher Prices: The dilemmas of consumerism in ethical clothing
As customers, ultimately you have the power to vote with your collective wallets. We can choose to support producers who align with our values and beliefs, or we can turn a blind eye to the ethical dilemmas that plague the fashion industry. On the production side, too, while many producers are trying to make a difference, they too are faced with ethical dilemmas that can make or break their business.
Safia Minney, the founder of People Tree, a sustainable fashion brand, has written extensively about the challenges of running a sustainable and ethical clothing business, including the challenges of balancing ethical practices with affordability, and the importance of transparency and traceability in the supply chain. She stresses the importance of collaboration and building a community of like-minded individuals and organizations. She has also stressed the need for education and awareness-raising among consumers, as well as the importance of supporting regulations and policies that promote ethical and sustainable practices within the fashion industry.
Elizabeth Cline, the author of “Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion“. In her book, Cline examines the environmental and social impact of fast fashion, and argues that consumers must become more aware of the true cost of the clothes they buy. She also discusses the challenges that ethical clothing start-ups face in competing with fast fashion. She says the fast fashion industry prioritizes speed and low cost over ethical and sustainable practices, resulting in significant environmental degradation and exploitation of workers in developing countries.
She argues that by buying fewer, higher quality clothes and choosing brands that prioritize ethical and sustainable practices, consumers can make a positive difference in the fashion industry.
Cline also discusses how fast fashion achieves low prices due to economies of scale, making it difficult for ethical clothing brands to compete. However, Cline believes that by focusing on quality, transparency, and education, ethical clothing start-ups can attract consumers who actually want to pay more (remember, “more” = “fair”) for clothing that is both ethical and sustainable.
See-Through Fashion
That’s another dilemma that ethical clothing producers face: transparency. Customers are increasingly demanding information on the supply chains of clothing production. Producers need to be able to trace every step of the production process and provide this information to buyers. However, this level of transparency can be technically tricky, especially if the supply chain is complex or involves several countries (and thus several jurisdictions). So, producers need to be transparent about what they can and cannot trace, while working towards improving transparency reporting over time.
A Massive Waste of Clothing
Waste is another big issue. While many ethical clothing start-ups use sustainable materials, there may still be significant waste produced during the manufacturing process in the forms of off-cuts, dyes and solvents, packaging and the big one: waste water.
In Australia, it is estimated that about 6000 kilograms of textiles are dumped in landfill every 10 minutes, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. That’s 800,000 tons per year. Producers must find innovative ways to reduce waste and to recycle materials. This might include using recycled materials several times over or designing clothing that can easily be broken down or recycled at the end of its use-life.
Overall, the fashion industry is associated with a wide range of waste products, and addressing these waste streams is critical to promoting sustainability and reducing the industry’s environmental impact.
I.P. Colonialism
On the design side, there is the issue of cultural appropriation. This occurs when a company uses traditional cultural designs or symbols without giving credit to the culture they are borrowing from or compensating the artisans who created the designs.
Producers need to be respectful of cultures and to work with artisans to create designs that are both ethical and culturally appropriate. Collaboration is key, here. Producers are also obliged to educate customers about the cultural significance of the designs and symbols used in their clothing.
Of course, Legit Ethical AF will be making some shirt with print designs made by independent designers from several different cultures, and we’re letting them express themselves on these issues. This way, they retain the voice being heard. Listen up, ya’ll—we about to drop some KNOWLEDGE.
Inclusivity and the “Ideal” Body
Finally, ethical clothing start-ups need to address the issue of size inclusivity. The fashion industry has long been criticized for its lack of size inclusivity, and ethical clothing producers need to do better. Without looking at the reasons why, if we simply look at the facts, the number of people in the world who are larger than the “ideal” has been growing for a long time, now. Why are they not being served with the sizes of clothing they need?
While there are ethical bones to pick with the reasons why overweight and obesity has been on the rise in recent decades, essentially we believe those reasons have less to do with food choices, and more to do with the food environment: to change the choices, we must change the environment to enable those better choices. In the meantime, we’d like bigger people to have the same clothing choices in as everyone else enjoys. This is a topic we’ll be tackling, front-on, with some of our upcoming tee shirt designs, so look out for that!
This is not to overlook folks with differently shaped bodies due to factors other than nutrition. Some people have disorders, disabilities, different proportions, or otherwise non-normatively structured bodies, and we believe y’all deserve some cool AF tee shirts that fit you well, too.
Ultimately though, ethical clothing producers must strive to create clothes that are accessible to all body types and sizes, and not just those who fit into the narrow definition of what is considered “normal” or “desirable”. This can be challenging, as creating clothing that is both ethical and size-inclusive can be costly and time-consuming—but it is an ethical imperative.
Where to from here for Ethical Fashion?
The ethical dilemmas that clothing producers face are numerous and complex. They need to find a balance between ethical practices and affordability, to strive for transparency, to reduce waste, to avoid cultural appropriation, and to directly address size inclusivity.
While these challenges are significant, we reckon they are ripe and ready for a good proper shake-up. By working together and continuing to innovate, ethical clothing producers can create a better future for the fashion industry, one that is both ethical and sustainable.
We plan on doing our part, one shirt at a time.