Inequality is Never in Style!

In 2007 Blog Action Day was created as vehicle for bloggers worldwide to come together each year to discuss one important global issue. This year's topic is Inequality. There are so many forms of inequality at various levels, for example between species, countries, genders, cultures, and it can feel very overwhelming.

The Paraisópolis favela borders the affluent district of Morumbi in São Paulo, Brazil. Photo: Tuca Vieira

I want to take this opportunity to briefly highlight some of the examples of inequality within the fashion industry and showcase a few examples of those who are working hard to create a level playing field for everyone. In particular I believe there's massive inequality when it comes to the makers (most of whom are women) and the consumers of mainstream fashion. 

Earlier this year I had the honour of interviewing Aafreen Hasnain, an inspiring young woman working with and researching the artisans living in Uttar Pradesh, India. She told me that her research found that more than 60% of the artisans in the region are women, less than 10% of whom are educated beyond Grade 5 and due to a strict Caste System, a section of these women are given a lower wage than the others. According to not-for-profit Labour Behind the Label, "...the scandalous truth is that the majority of workers in the global fashion industry cannot afford to live with dignity, and earn no more than £5 a day in an industry worth over £28 billion across Europe". How is this not madness? 

Europe's Clean Clothes Campaign works extensively to try and close this gap. In Cambodia for instance, they've found that women are not being paid a living wage, meaning that they're constantly battling with the spectre of malnourishment, which in recent years has led to a spate of mass faintings due to overwork. The Clean Clothes Campaign educates and mobilises consumers, lobbies companies and governments, and offers direct solidarity support to workers in the garment industry. 

Greenola's Creative Director, Teresa Kuruvilla once told me that - "By paying workers a fair living wage, and creating a direct relationship built on mutual respect between the business and its producers, Fair Trade allows communities to develop sustainably and ultimately create a long-term, profitable, and ethical relationship between businesses, producers, and consumers". 

April 24th this year marked the first anniversary of the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse in Bangladesh, where 1133 people were killed and over 2500 were injured. This was a terrible example of extreme inequality taking and ruining lives. In response to this tragedy, and others like it within the fashion industry, a global board of industry leaders, campaigners, press and academics from within the sector and beyond have come together to create Fashion Revolution Day.

The driving force behind Fashion Revolution Day has been a desire to use the power of fashion to catalyse change and reconnect the broken links in the supply chain. Our lack of knowledge can mean that our purchasing decisions can lead us to become unwitting accomplices to human rights violations and environmental degradation. I would argue that ethical fashion is everyone's business! 

What do you think? I'd love to hear your comments! 

Be the Fairest Of Them All With Human Friendly Fashion!

October 16th is Blog Action Day! Since 2007 bloggers worldwide have come together on this day each year to discuss one important global issue. Previous themes have included: the environment; poverty; climate change; water; and food. This year the topic is Human Rights.  

To help shine a spotlight on human rights issues embedded in the fashion industry, I've joined up with a consortium of ethical fashion bloggers from all around the world. We are the Human Friendly Fashion Bloggers! This group of like-minded bloggers has been spearheaded by Fashion Mob founder, Esther Freeman.

Sadly recent events in Bangladesh have brought into stark relief the terrible and even life-threatening work conditions in many fast-fashion clothing factories around the world. 

Esther says, "One comment that keeps coming up is the responsibility of consumers around fast fashion. Quite frankly this is nonsense. Furthermore it is dangerous to suggest so. All too often high street chains whine about how hard it is for them to improve human rights, and how they’d change but consumers don’t want it. It’s become their get out clause. And by saying consumers have some kind of responsibility, we reinforce that myth." 

This is not to say that we as consumers have no responsibility when purchasing fashion - simply that these large multinational companies need to stop making excuses for their unethical behaviour!

According to Fairtrade International: “Not all trade is fair! Farmers and workers at the beginning of the chain don’t always get a fair share of the benefits of trade. Fairtrade enables consumers to put this right”. 

FairTrade (c) Pablo Municio

What could be better than looking fantastic in a chic new outfit? Why, looking fantastic AND feeling good in a gorgeous fair trade ensemble of course!!! :)

Here are just a few of my favourite fair fashion finds:

• The Girl's Zebra Tee from Johari is so cute! Every item is handmade in Kenya under fair conditions and by wearing Johari you are empowering vulnerable young adults to build a living for themselves and their families.

• The Atlantic Playsuit by NearFar makes me so happy! I adore playsuits and this one errs on the side of super chic. NearFar garments are produced ethically and locally, and are handmade by artisans in Sierra Leone, Africa.

•  The Curry + Silver Triangle Tassel Necklace from Raven and Lilly not only looks beautiful but it carries a beautiful story along with it! After the gorgeous designs, one of the things I love most about this brand is how transparent they are. You can read about how items were made and who they were made by!
  

• The pink Hi-Lo Henley Dress from 4 All Humanity makes my eyes happy! I love colours that POP, especially combined with interesting silhouettes. This lovely has been handmade in Uganda under fair trade conditions from 100% organic cotton. The talented women who crafted this dress were paid 3 times the average factory wage.

• The black Men's Cotton Tee from Ananda Pascual is deliciously simple and stunningly sophisticated menswear. This tee was crafted in partnership with fair trade organisation Creative Handicrafts (India), working to improve the lives of women living in the slums of Mumbai.  

• The Coral Summer Outfit from Eternal Creations is such a fun option for a vibrant young man who isn't afraid of a little colour! I especially love the marine print on the shirt. All Eternal Creation clothes are handmade under fair trade conditions at their Himalaya Tailoring Centre, located in Dharamsala in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas.

Here are 3 simple things you can do today to promote Human Friendly Fashion:

1.  Sign the 1% Campaign petition and demand that multinationals take responsibility for what happens in their name!

2. Check out the amazing ethical fashion blogs that make up the Human Friendly Fashion Blogger consortium. 

3. Connect with the Kindness by Design community on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest for more ethical fashion goodness!