FASHION KILLA

While most of this blog may seem depressing because of environmental and social impacts that come from the fashion industry, there is hope. The growth in ethical consumption behavior and sustainable fashion is increasing. To an outsider, “fashion and sustainability may seem like two inherently contradictory concepts; the former is defined by hedonism and short product life cycles, especially in fast fashion, while the latter implies ethics, durability and the reuse of products” (Lundblad). Sustainable fashion is not easy to define as the concept encompasses a variety of terms like organic, green, fair trade, sustainable, slow, eco and so on which all attempt to highlight the wrong doings of the fashion industry such as animal cruelty, environmental damage and worker exploitation.

Many brands have taken on sustainable initiatives and have created new business models that involve new processes in order to minimize their impact. Consumers are also becoming not only aware but have developed a sense of responsibility when it comes to shopping.

Patagonia is a widely known example of how a company can make clothing sustainable while also generating profit. Their success stems from their mission statement,

“Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis”

They monitor every aspect of their company through their Corporate Social Responsibility sector from raw material sourcing to how they sell their product in retail. They have been selling fleece clothing made from post consumer plastic sofa bottles since 1993. This recycling process takes clear plastic bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), melts them, and reconfigures them into fibers that can be woven into fabrics and other applications. Between the years of 1993 and 2006, it is estimated that 86 million soda bottles were saved from a landfill. While this is a great example of how a company can withhold a high standard of efficacy, this great social and environmental responsibility comes with a cost. Because they don’t participate in sweatshops and recycle, their products come at a higher price which can limit their range of customers as well as create a sense of “luxury.” While this is one of the “higher end” companies, it gives a great example of how brands can make a difference, where little changes in the life cycle can create a large impact.

Citations:

Lundblad, L., & Davies, I. A. (2015). The values and motivations behind sustainable fashion consumption. Journal of Consumer Behaviour J. Consumer Behav., 15(2), 149-162.        doi:10.1002/cb.1559

Claudio, L. (2007). Waste Couture: Environmental Impact of the Clothing Industry. Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(9), A448-A454.

Patagonia

One of the major concerns behind the production of fashion is the idea of fast fashion, especially those products made in sweatshops. We have all heard of the term fast food, where we can purchase relatively unhealthy foods on-the-go in order to suit our fast-paced lifestyle, fast fashion serves on the same platform. Fast fashion is “an approach to the design, creation, and marketing of clothing fashions that emphasizes making fashion trends quickly and cheaply available to consumers” (Webster). Globalization has made the production of goods cheaper, but the impacts greater. Because prices are low, consumers consider this clothing to be disposable, where the investment is seen with very little risk. But, the cost that goes into this production is quite large.

It is very common for companies to outsource their product to a different country where both materials and labor are cheap and regulations are low or easy to counter. The term “sweatshop” is not defined very easily, as most anti-sweatshop groups describe it as “an institution where employers violate two or more labor laws- from the prohibition of child labor, to health, safety, fire and building codes, to forced overtime and the minimum wage.” But, many favor a looser use of the term sweatshop because this definition “can oversee the many low-wage employers who might meet minimum wage and safety requirements, but seldom provide their employees with an adequate standard of living” (Miller 2004).

Some of the common social impacts of sweatshops are low wages, poor working conditions, and often forced child labor. Common themes are chemical health hazards, crowded working areas, and unsafe equipment and facilities. Even with these conditions, people line up begging for work. An interview with a sweatshop inspector quoted a sweatshop employee,

“We work so hard for so little play. If you don’t work hard today, look hard for work tomorrow” (Frank 2008).

In most cases, ending the practices of sweatshops would require great political and social interference and actually wouldn’t even benefit the employees. Most, if not all the time, working in sweatshops is the only answer to escaping poverty so shutting down a sweatshop or refusing to buy from a specific company wouldn’t do any good. The responsibility lies with the business, and shouldn’t fall on the workers. Businesses should be held accountable for where they source and produce their products; ignorance is not acceptable. How should we do this? The Anti-Sweatshop Movement is a campaign that tackles many of the problems previously stated, where corporations have been attacked, protests have been held, and treaties have been signed as a consequence of the coalitions (Bartley 2014).

Citations:

Webster Dictionary

Miller, J. A. (2004). Teaching about Sweatshops and Globalization. Review Of Radical Political Economics, 36(3), 321-327. doi:10.1177/0486613404267694

Frank, T. A. (2008). Confessions of a Sweatshop Inspector. (cover story). Washington Monthly, 40(4), 34.

Bartley, T., & Child, C. (2014). Shaming the Corporation: The Social Production of Targets and the Anti-Sweatshop Movement. American Sociological Review, 79(4), 653-679.

Clothing, dating to its origin, was supposed to serve a function. Now, fashion does much more than that as

it is a way people choose to express themselves. Whether they want to dress aligning with cultural standards or exceed those, there is an emotional attachment to fashion. “Keeping up” with appearance and trends can result in stress, depression and quite the investment. Judgement from peers arises as opinions constitute how “stylish” one is, where one can be either approved or rejected by social groups. One’s taste in relation to cultural consumption is relied upon their standards in society, “Taste is the expression of cultural capital and it becomes embodied in practice” (Rafferty 2011).

One’s social status can be defined by their personal commodities, some may be even given a price to their self-worth based on how much their clothing is. While reading this might sound crazy, it is very obvious there are positive and negative connotations by the types of brands people wear. A study found that many parents, the ability to dress their child in designer labels is seen as “good parenting.” Further, parents are judged by how much money they spend on their child rather than the actual care they take. They also feel responsible for how they dress in that many of the times, their child’s social inclusion depends on it (Pole 2007).

Cognitive age also acts as mediator between fashion attitudes and fashion behaviors. The fact that personal possession of fashionable clothes or accessories is considered an extension of the self, many pay much attention into what they buy based on their age, in order to fit into society. Studies have shown that when people pursue a high fashion interest, they think of themselves as being younger than their chronological age, while people with a conservative style have relatively older cognitive age. This plays a role in the willingness of consumers to adopt certain fashion products, and even trends (Lin and Kang‐Ning Xi 2012).

 

Citations:

Rafferty, K. (2011). Class-based emotions and the allure of fashion consumption. Journal Of Consumer Culture, 11(2), 239-260. doi:10.1177/1469540511403398

Pole, Christopher. 2007. “Researching Children and Fashion: An Embodied Ethnography.” Childhood: A Global Journal Of Child Research 14, no. 1: 67-84. ERIC, EBSCOhost (accessed October 12, 2017).

Lin, Yu‐Tse, and Kang‐Ning Xia. 2012. “Cognitive age and fashion consumption.” International Journal Of Consumer Studies 36, no. 1: 97-105. PsycINFO, EBSCOhost (accessed October 12, 2017)

From visiting the Pickens Recycling Facility, I learned about the operations as well as the impacts of recycling. When we think of recycling, we almost always just think of materials such as plastic, paper, glass and so on…. never usually clothing. Recycling seems great in itself but in terms of it actually making a difference depends on the people who use the system. For example, Greenville county doesn’t recycle glass unless it is dropped off because it isn’t economically profitable. This obviously goes the same for recycling clothing, but there is a market for it.

As we learned from the Recycling center, recycled plastic can be turned into polyester and therefore clothing. Sustainable clothing could potentially be the next big thing. But, while it seems like a cool idea, more manual labor would have to go into the making of it therefore making it more expensive. Because it is more expensive, it wouldn’t appeal to the same audience as a store like Forever 21 would even though it would have a better life span and be made with good intentions.

 

Sustainable clothing recycling isn’t the only process that can make an impact; clothing doesn’t always end at a landfill. There are two other ways in which clothing may be recycled besides being mechanically recycled into raw materials: resold by the primary consumer to other consumers at a lower price or it may be exported in bulk for sale in a developing country. Consignment and thrift shops, sites like Ebay, and donation charities are all examples of how we can salvage clothing for a second life, at least. While there are some lazy and careless people out there, a 2006 survey has shown that 12-15% of Americans shop at consignment or resale stores. The Council for Textile Recycling estimates that 2.5 billion pounds of post-consumer textile waste (anything made of fabric) is thus collected and prevented from entering directly into the waste stream (Luz 2007). For some middle and upper-class civilians, shopping at these types of establishments is uncommon as they have the resources to shop at other places, but would make a great impact on the waste system.

 

Citation:

Claudio, L. (2007). Waste Couture: Environmental Impact of the Clothing Industry. Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(9), A448-A454.

Shoppers rarely think about the footprint their clothing contains, but the clothing life cycle generates a massive amount of environmental and occupational hazards. The earth was not always as threatened by the fashion industry as it is now. World War I is an example of a time where most clothing was repaired, mended, or tailored to fit other family members, or recycled within the homes as rags or quilts. While the reasoning behind this was not because citizens cared about the environment, but rather the simple fact that it was a governmental campaign to conserve, it still resulted in an estimated 10% reduction in the production of trash. This decrease didn’t last very long once the campaign was over and consumption habits returned but it does send us a message that we can create change, specifically de-growth in our production of fashion goods.

“Make economy fashionable lest it become obligatory”

To start, one of the most common materials used in the clothing industry is polyester, which is made from petroleum. As we know, petroleum is a nonrenewable resource that has many environmental impacts. The production of polyester has doubled in the last 15 years, and doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon. The process in which polyester is produced requires large amounts of crude oil and releases a variety of emissions such as volatile organic compounds, particulate matter, and acid gases like hydrogen chloride; all of which can cause or aggravate respiratory disease. While many consumers feel distant from the impacts their clothing has, we should all feel a little more obligated to tackle this issue in that it is not just an environmental subject, but a human health problem. Waterways are also polluted by the addition of volatile monomers, solvents and other by-products of polyester production in factory plants (Claudio 2007).

Cotton, one of the most popular and versatile fibers used in clothing manufacture, also has a significant environmental footprint. This crop accounts for about a fourth of pesticide use in the United States. These pesticides run off into streams and eventually enter our human system in relation of health. The U.S. is the largest exporter of cotton in the world, as subsidies keep prices low and production high, driving the globalization of fashion (Claudio 2007).

Only about 1/5^th of clothing donated to charities is directly used or sold in their thrift shops. “There are nowhere near enough people in America to absorb the mountains of castoffs, even if they were given away” (Claudio 2007). Meaning, there are too many clothes being produced than necessary or that we can even begin to handle. With our trends of great production and consumption of fashion goods, the only feasible sustainable option for the future is to recycle these products after their life with the consumer (Claudio 2007). Innovative eco-fashions are being developed and made available to consumers at different prices. See tab “The Future is… Near” for more information on recycling efforts.

 

Citations:

Claudio, L. (2007). Waste Couture: Environmental Impact of the Clothing Industry. Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(9), A448-A454.

Why does the ethnography of fashion matter? Clothing, by definition, is supposed to serve the function it was produced for, whether it be to simply cover the body, provide warmth, or be able to perform in a certain activity. But, this functionality has transformed into a form of personal expression which comes along with unnecessary consumption and a shift in societal trends. This website serves to inform one of the history, social impacts, and environmental impacts that come along with the consumption of fashion by the use of research and field work. This information is vital because the analyzation of this commodity can help us determine how fashion impacts people directly and indirectly around the world. The name “Fashion Killa” was inspired by the song produced by rapper A$AP Rocky, to give even more of an emphasis on how involved fashion is in our society.

Businesses rely on external factors, such as culture. Culture, as described by Peacock, refers to “the taken

for granted but powerfully influential understandings and codes that are learned and shared by members of a group; it is shared, learned, taken for granted, patterned, “a silent language” and is real” (Peacock 2001). The success of a business is determined by how their environment responds towards their products. As we all know, marketing strategies can alter the way we view and desire products. Institutional structures, like malls and shopping plazas can influence the way we perceive products, usually as a “necessity”. While we have the freedom to make our own decisions, the structure of our (American) society influences our decision making so much that our thought structure may say otherwise about this freedom. Fashion trends have a psychological effect on the self and capitalism enhances their possibilities for profit.

 

With these social trends, comes with an immense amount of environmental impacts. Once a fashion trend goes “out of style” another one is always bound to come in, in turn creating a never ending cycle for consumers and the environment. The consumption of fashion has impacts all throughout the lifecycle, from the extraction of materials to the emissions produced in the production process. These direct effects have lasting change on the environment and unfortunately, these trends don’t seem to be slowing down any time soon but rather speeding up.

 

“Fast fashion encourages consumers to buy heaps of items, discard them after a few wears and then come back for another batch of new outfits”. “In 1985, we bought roughly 31 clothing items per year; now [in 2012] we snap up twice that many thanks to “fast fashion” -Azeen Ghorayshi

This website also gives research of possible solutions that give way to sustainable fashion. Ethical consumption, sustainable business models, and anti sweatshop campaigns are all necessary in the path to a greener future for the fashion industry.

Citations:

Peacock, J. (2001). The Anthropological Lens: Harsh Light, Soft Focus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139164924

Ghorayshi, A. (2012). Quick Reads: “Overdressed” by Elizabeth Cline. Mother Jones.

 

1790 – 1897

Women Communicate Clothing Information

Throughout the 1790s, women relay cutting and styling information for clothing through fashion plates, miniature garments made for dressmaker’s dolls, descriptive letters, and copies of other items of clothing

1807

Sweatshops were made illegal

1850

First Department Stores Open

1856

First Synthetic Dye Invented

1870

Abba Gould Woolson Promotes Ready-to-Wear Clothing in Place of Custom-Made Clothing

1885

Bloomingdale’s Starts Mail-Order Catalogs

1909

International Ladies Garment Workers Union Founded

1911

Natural Rayon Invented

Nov 22, 1911

Garment Workers Strike

1939

Glamour Magazine Published

1967

Academy Awards Bans Miniskirts

1972

Richard Nixon creates the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) in order to impose trade barriers on foreign goods

Jan 1, 1994

NAFTA goes into effect. The agreement creates a free-trade zone spanning Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

2001

Vietnam Trade Impacts Textiles by 6,000%

Dec 2003

American Textiles Protected: issued 12-month import limit on Chinese made bras, gowns, and knit fabric

Feb 2005

Virginia Underwear Bill Ridiculed: “below-waist undergarments, intended to cover a person’s intimate parts, in a lewd or indecent manner.” Violators would be subject to a $50 fine

Jun 11, 2007

Saggy Pants Outlawed in Delcambre, Louisiana to a fine of as much as $500 or six months in jail

Jul 20, 2007

Hillary Clinton’s Cleavage Discussed

 

Dec 10, 2007

Atlanta Schools Ban Baggy Clothes

(Shmoop Editorial Team, 2008)

I found these dates to be of significance as laws and regulations have been put in place surrounding fashion, which encrypts on personal freedom. Fashion has evolved over time with trends and beliefs have been shared, all surrounding to how we think of the commodity itself. What first was meant to serve a functionality purpose, serves way more than that now.

 

Citations:

Shmoop Editorial Team. (2008, November 11). History of American Fashion Learning Guide: Citations. Retrieved November 28, 2017, from https://www.shmoop.com/history-american-fashion/citations.html#16

One of the major concerns behind the production of clothing and fashion is the idea of fast fashion, especially those products made in sweatshops. We have all heard of the term fast food, where we can purchase relatively unhealthy foods on the go in order to suit our fast-paced lifestyle, fast fashion serves on the same platform. Fast fashion is “an approach to the design, creation, and marketing of clothing fashions that emphasizes making fashion trends quickly and cheaply available to consumers” (Webster). has made the production of goods cheaper, but the impacts greater. Because prices are low, consumers consider this clothing to be disposable, where the investment is seen with very little risk. But, the cost that goes into this production is quite large.

It is very common for companies to outsource their product to a different country where both materials and labor are cheap and regulations are low or easy to counter. The term “sweatshop” is not defined very easily, as most anti-sweatshop groups describe it as “an institution where employers violate two or more labor laws- from the prohibition of child labor, to health, safety, fire and building codes, to forced overtime and the minimum wage.” But, many favor a looser use of the term sweatshop because this definition “can oversee the many low-wage employers who might meet minimum wage and safety requirements, but seldom provide their employees with an adequate standard of living” (Miller 2004). In most cases, ending the practices of sweatshops would require great political and social interference and actually wouldn’t even benefit the employees. Most, if not all the time, working in sweatshops is the only answer to escaping poverty.

 

“Fast fashion encourages consumers to buy heaps of items, discard them after a few wears and then come back for another batch of new outfits” “In 1985, we bought roughly 31 clothing items per year; now [in 2012] we snap up twice that many thanks to “fast fashion” –Azeen Ghorayshi

 

While most of this blog may seem depressing because of all of the environmental and social impacts that come from the fashion industry, there is hope. The growth in ethical consumption behavior and sustainable fashion is increasing. To an outsider, “fashion and sustainability may seem like two inherently contradictory concepts; the former is defined by hedonism and short product life cycles, especially in fast fashion, while the latter implies ethics, durability and the reuse of products” (Lunblad). Sustainable fashion is not easy to define as the concept encompasses a variety of terms like organic, green, fair trade, sustainable, slow, eco and so on which all attempt to highlight the wrong doings of the fashion industry such as animal cruelty, environmental damage and worker exploitation

Many brands have taken on sustainable initiatives and have created new business models that involve new processes in order to minimize their impact. Consumers are also becoming not only aware but have developed a sense of responsibility when it comes to shopping.

Patagonia is a (common) example of how a company can make clothing sustainable while also generating profit. ***facts about Patagonia***

It’s easy for someone, like me, to go into Forever 21 knowing that many of their items are produced in sweat shops but it’s another thing for me to care and restrict myself from purchasing, which is a common gap for many that we must bridge. Studies have shown that there is an increasing ethical concern in the context of fashion, and consumers are more concerned with their purchases if the products have