So What's the Deal with Sustainable Fashion?
Sustainable fashion refers to a movement and process to change fashion products and the fashion system toward greater ecological and social justice.
Ok cool but what does that even mean?
Basically, the way the fashion industry is run is super backward. Have you ever thought of what even goes into making the clothes that you wear every day?
Let’s follow the life of a standard t-shirt:
- Cotton is grown and cultivated
- Cotton is harvested
- Cotton is shipped to a mill for carding, spinning, and weaving (i.e. It’s made into actual fabric)
- Fabric is shipped to a factory to be made into the t-shirt
- T-shirt is then washed and dyed
- Packaged and shipped to the a distribution center
- Then sent out to stores
- Where you’ll buy it and where it for awhile
It’s pretty amazing actually! Until you think about that you really don’t want to pay for every step of that process. You really just want a $5 shirt that you can wear a few times until the next big thing comes along.
Except that $5 shirt went through a lot to get to you! The farmers had to actually grow and harvest the cotton! Someone was opperating the machines as the cotton was taken from it’s natural form and transformed into real life fabric! Multiple people took the time to design and fit that shirt both at the company and manufacturing level. Factory workers actually stood and cut out the pieces to make the shirt. Even more people sat in front of actual sewing machines and stitched each piece together to form a shirt! Others packaged it, put it on a truck, took it to the boat, shipped it to the DC, shipped it to the stores, unpacked, steamed, folded and displayed it. You see where I’m going here?
That’s a long process for a $5 shirt! And how many times do you expect to wear it?
That’s why sustainable fashion matters! There are real people behind the things that we buy and so easily dispose of.
Tune in over the next few weeks where I’ll be sharing more info and tips on sustainable fashion and how we can make an impact!