5 Ways to "Fair Trade" Your Wardrobe

It is a sad fact that many large corporations base their factories in developing nations in order to slip under the radar of regulation that is protected in the West. These sweatshops often have poor working conditions, gruellingly long hours, unfair wages and child labour. According to dosomething.org, an estimated 250 million children aged 5-14 are forced to work in such environments.

     It can feel like there is nothing we, the average person, can do to resolve an issue that is hundreds of miles removed from us. But there are small changes we can make that can lead to a better situation for these workers, because if we change our spending habits to purchasing fair trade, then clothes manufacturers will feel pressure to follow. Here are some suggestions to fair trade your wardrobe.

1.      Shop second-hand

While technically most clothes found in charity shops and second-hand stores were probably made using unjust labour practices, buying them used breaks the chain since your money won’t directly support those companies who use sweatshops.        

    2.      Fix your old clothes

So you have a hole in the elbow of an old jumper? Before you replace it with a new one, see if you can mend it. That way you’re not buying more unnecessary and unfairly produced items, and also by recycling you’re helping cut down on waste.

    3.      Make your own clothes

This may seem daunting at first, but there are countless resources and classes for making your own clothes. It is a great creative outlet too and when you get compliments on your new attire, it will be extremely satisfying to respond, ‘Oh this old thing? I just made it by hand.’

    4.      Hold a ‘swap party’

You may be bored of your clothes, but your friend, sister or next door neighbour might secretly covet them. Invite a small group round and ask them to bring five items each that are still in good condition and that they would want to swap for something else.

     5.      Be brand aware

Although the choices are admittedly still somewhat limited, the list of companies who provide fair trade apparel is forever growing. Online retailers Indigenous, Everlane and Helpsy are all entirely sweatshop-free, as well as big names such as American Apparel and People Tree.

(photo via pinterest)

“I am an impulse buyer! I have the tendency to buy things without looking at the label."

We asked people on the street what their fashion downfall is, this lady's answer was:  “I am an impulse buyer. I have the tendency to buy things without looking at the label."

Where Fashion and Ethics Overlap

In H&M there is a cotton jumper for €19.99, and in American Apparel there is an almost identical version for €48.99. Which one do you chose? But before you decide, consider this: Whilst the workers for H&M based in Cambodia receive $0.26 per hour, American Apparel, based in Los Angeles, pays workers $11. The CEO of America Apparel calls it, “the fucking industrial revolution” before commenting, “we will end Gap in my time”.

So what’s so bad about Gap and why should we care? Should we really equate the cost of an item of clothing with the quality of life of a textiles worker?

Sadly, the Western fashion market does. The development of the free-market has distorted working standards, and allowed clothes to be manufactured at very low costs whilst being sold at relatively high ones. H&M, for example, gained a $10.4 billion profit in 2013, very little of which made it’s way to the manufacturers in Cambodia. 

I decided to take these questions and ideas to the streets of Utrecht:

The first man I approached was with his wife and young child in the Oudegracht. He admitted that prior to raising a family he hadn’t considered where his clothes were sourced. However, raising a child had put into perspective how important quality of life is. The whole family now buy the majority of their clothes from a German designer and manufacturer.

Similarly, a young woman said that she had not held the sustainability of her clothing as priority until the fur-scandal reached the Netherlands. She had taken part in demonstrations and happily showed me her jeans that were made by Kuyichi, a biological cotton brand.

So, this marks the beginning of an ongoing project – How much do we really know about where our clothes come from? Are we aware of the unethical distribution of wealth by clothing companies, or do we just choose to ignore it for the sake of our own pockets? I look forward to finding this one out.

(photo via pinterest)

Inspiration