Photographer : Platinum
I like to think of myself as an ethical shopper. I use green bags (when I remember). I buy Christmas presents from Oxfam. I’m a long-term acolyte of the Body Shop. But stand me in front of a rack of pretty dresses and I forget eco-shopping faster than you can say ‘Stella McCartney for Target’.
Yes, I was there. I was one of the many who thronged their local Target stores hoping to get their hands on Stella McCartney’s limited range, designed and produced with ordinary budgets in mind. But, amidst the bustle of women and $200 coats strewn about the Target floor, I had to wonder if my fashion choices were intelligent style, or had I once again succumbed to the vapid distractions of well-cut pencil skirts and oversized jumpers.
Ms McCartney, daughter of prominent animal rights activists Sir Paul and Linda, has been noted for her refusal to use leather and fur, and been adopted as something of a poster-girl for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). PETA is often criticised for its positions, (notably its recent stand against the Australian sheep farming practice of mulesing), and gimmicky stunts, such as in 2006 hitting party-girl Paris Hilton with flour bombs after she appeared in a fashion show for Julien McDonald, who uses fur. But, importantly, PETA engages the public in the animal rights debate, proving there to be no black-and-white-striped answer to ethical questions about using animals and animal products in clothing.
In the case of Stella and the sheep, I could at least excuse myself from accusations of unethical shopping practices (I say, hiding my leather boots under the desk). But then I noticed that production of the range was outsourced to China. Should this prick my new-found clothing conscience?
Conditions for textile and clothing workers have been among the most prominent labour-rights issues of modern times. Even in Australia, where tighter restrictions have led to sweat shops closing down, home workers are often paid as little as $3 an hour, 47 % of whom work more an average of more than 12 hours and day and the majority of whom are migrant women with limited English skills who aren’t aware of their rights as Australian workers. It’s easy, however, to access information about labour conditions for the workers producing the clothes sold in Australia. No Sweat Shop Label (
www.nosweatshoplabel.com) lists signatories to the Home Workers Code of Practice, requiring signatories (Target amongst them) to make their production chains transparent, right down to the home workers, and to make addressing concerns about exploitation easier.
But it’s not just animals and workers and who are affected by the garment industry—the environmental impact of clothing manufacture should be high on every ethical fashionista’s radar. And luckily there are many environmentally-friendly options—from recycled car parts being made into dresses to more practical alternatives like organic cotton. Organic cotton—free of pesticides and/or genetic modification—is increasingly popular amongst environmentally-conscious manufacturers and consumers. Although it’s not yet a big seller in Australian stores, organic cotton clothing is appearing in more and more online boutiques, and has hit the mainstream in the USA. Levi’s recently released its ‘Eco’ range, using 100 % organic cotton, natural dyes and recyclable tags printed with soy ink. Don’t be surprised to find, not so far in the future, that even the old fetishist staple of edible underwear has gone organic.
This isn’t to say, ditch your leather boots and tear up your sweat shop-made stockings. But by making ethical choices in the future—say, spending time researching the ethical practices of your favourite stores—it’s possible for us, Australian consumers, whose households spend up to $19 billion on clothing every year, to effect real change in the industry. Rather than making eco-chic a seasonal trend, why don’t we turn it into a fashion staple, a Little Black Dress for the new millennium?
How do I know this?
Christina 2006, ‘Sweat Shops in Australia’,
ActNow http://www.actnow.com.au/Issues/Sweat_shops_in_Australia.aspx
Jana, R 2006, ‘Green Threads for the Eco Chic’,
Business Week Online,
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/sep...
No Sweat Shop Label, http://
www.nosweatshoplabel.com
Patty Huntington 2007, Stella!!!!!! Definitely no fur - but iffy merino - in a (luxe) streetwear collection named desire, SMH Online,
http://blogs.smh.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/archives/2007/03...
SMH Online 2007, Battle of the Trench Coats,
http://blogs.smh.com.au/sit/archives/2007/03/...
