Reflections on the United Nations DPI/NGO Sustainable Fashion Briefing
I woke up on the morning of the UN DPI/NGO sustainable fashion briefing to this Business of Fashion article, 4 Anxieties Keeping Fashion CEOs Awake at Night. After reading through Tim Noaks’ four anxieties, which include the outdated business model, the rise of AI, human resources, and environmental sustainability, I thought to myself, but isn’t this all just a symptom of the outdated business model? This could easily be condensed into one overarching issue of an industry stuck in the past, with subheadings for technology, fair and safe workplaces, and sustainability.
Improving these standards and embracing a people-planet-profit triple bottom line seems to be the answer for the 4 anxieties, and I was excited to go to the United Nations to hear more about how we are working towards this as an industry. As I got ready to leave for the briefing, Marie-Claire Daveu’s words from the article stuck in my mind, “We cannot advance alone.”
The UN DPI/NGO Sustainable Fashion briefing has been buzzing around online between thought leaders and influencers in the fashion industry. With the weight of the UN behind it, the event garnered a lot of attention and (at least for me personally) high expectations for solutions and steps forward for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The panel comprised of leading actors in various arenas of the sustainable fashion industry, from transparency within artisan cooperatives, private public partnerships and socially conscious fashion brands, to nonprofits saving the world’s endangered forests. Patrick Duffy, the founder of the Global Fashion Exchange, served as the moderator and panelists included, Shivam Punjya (Founder and CEO of behno), Andrea Reyes (Fair Trade Advocate, Educator, and Small Business Owner), Amanda Carr (Director of Strategic Initiatives at Canopy), Ashia Dearwester (Chief strategy & Partnerships Officer at Nest), and Lilian Liu (Manager of Partnerships & UN Relation at the United Nations Global Compact).
After listening to the panelists and talking to students, business owners and advocates attending, I came away from the panel discussion with the following two conclusions: 1) Like Daveu stated in the BoF article, collaboration is how we’ll move forward in sustainable fashion, and 2) we have an information problem. Consumers are either unaware of how their clothes are made, or even if they are, they are overwhelmed about the idea of shopping sustainably.
Collaboration for Sustainability
All panelists highlighted collaboration as a way to accomplish the UN SDGs using fashion as a vehicle for change. From bringing together communities and working with garment workers to improve labor standards to leveraging corporate power for change.
Specifically, three panelists struck a chord for me on the impact of working with profit driven companies to drive social change. Amanda Carr from Canopy, Lillian Liu from the UN Global Compact and Ashia Dearwester from Nest all told stories of collaborating with major corporations from Patagonia to H&M in order to accomplish their organization’s missions.
Canopy has been particularly successful in working with big name brands to persuade them to change their policies and stop sourcing from endangered forests for their rayon and viscose fabrics. Starting in 2013 with no brands committed to eliminating endangered forests from their fabrics, Canopy has been able to garner the support of 105 brands in just 4 years to commit to the initiative. The UN Global Compact guides corporations on how to partner with the UN to accomplish specific SDGs. They have focused on eliminating competition between companies and creating a collaborative environment for corporations to solve the SDGs. Ashia Dearwester spoke of Nest collaborating with West Elm to create artisan made baskets in the Philippines, all while maintaining a transparent supply chain.
The bottom line is to get rid of barriers for solving the increasing sustainability problem in fashion. Although it’s slow going, this mentality is catching on throughout the fashion industry from large luxury conglomerates like Kering to fast fashion brands like H&M and American companies like PVH and Gap Inc. As these policies are put in place and organizations like Canopy unite brands for sustainable causes, I’m interested to see how the impacts are measured and in company environmental, social and governance (ESG) tracking and corporate social responsibility reporting.
Breaking Through the Noise
Reaching consumers and building a movement is challenging when people are over stimulated by smartphones and so far removed from the problem. They don’t see the on average 20 hands their clothes pass through to get to them and therefore don’t think about these people when they’re buying a $5 t-shirt. (This Fashion Revolution video is a great example of this) Or from an environmental perspective, there’s the fact that a t-shirt takes 2,700 liters of water to produce, enough water for one person to drink for 900 days. Another factor that is not a part of the average consumer’s buying decisions.
On top of that, there are a vast array of causes to get behind in the realm of “sustainability” and it can feel daunting the throw your weight behind the whole cause. The UN Global Compact has taken on this challenge as the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative and has identified 17 SDGs. But even with these defined areas and the trendiness of sustainability, people still don’t understand the scope of the problem and how they can be agents of change on a personal level.
I was surprised that at an event like this, where people are aware of sustainable fashion issues, the audience was shocked to realize that production of fabrics like rayon and viscose are made of wood pulp and are leading to deforestation of endangered forests. It also made me wonder how many issues like this are swept under the rug because people are not looking?
I didn’t come away with a strong sense of how to fix this issue, and it’s something I’ve struggled with since starting on my conscious fashion journey. You want to have everyone care about sustainability, but it tends to move in increments with topics that are trending. Right now there is the viral videos about plastic micro fibers being washed into our water streams as the result of washing our polyester athleasure wear, but there are so many issues that deserve their own viral videos.
I’m hopeful that every step helps, building a movement is by nature a slow build. We’re at a tipping point of making sustainable fashion top of mind for consumers as they walk into their favorite store, and maybe they’ll start moving to clothing swap memberships instead or deciding that they don’t need anymore clothes.
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The panel discussion was concluded with a fashion showcase of sustainable designs, which were a beautiful reminder of what is possible and a welcome departure from discussing the complex issues of low-income populations having access to sustainable fashion, deforestation in the amazon, and subcontracting issues in garment manufacturing. I look forward to strengthening this community in future events and allowing space for the teamwork that was championed during the panel.
Fashion Model Activism – The New Era of Woke Models
The fashion industry is known for it’s vapid obsession with clothing and image, especially with outward facing marketing like high fashion runway shows and major marketing campaigns. As the face of these campaigns, models often become scapegoats for the vanity of the industry. Movies and TV shows like Zoolander and America’s Next Top Model have only added to the perception that models are merely a canvas with no agency of their own. But, in the era of Instagram influencers, and social business, a wave of model-activists are changing the game.
With fame comes power and responsibility. Many may want to shy away from the pressure; but when done right, this can be a positive tool for making a difference. Cameron Russell is credited for starting this trend with her TEDtalk on how looks aren’t everything. Her movement has grown into more than just scrutinizing the modeling industry and has developed into a platform for the fashion industry to discuss global issues such as climate change, race inequality and women’s rights. In 2015 Cameron Russell represented Vogue at the United Nations summit on climate change (COP21) in Paris, where she covered the talks and deciphered the issues for their fashion audience. Her activism has led her to start her own platform, Model Mafia, which brings together models to fight for causes. As she says, “Models are uniquely poised to become fantastic activists because they are some of the few women who have very direct access to media.”
The trend of model activism and “woke” models comes at a time where fast fashion is growing dangerously out of control. There are more than 15 million tons of textile waste produced every year in the United States. If we were to extend the life of clothing by just three months, we could reduce water and carbon consumption by 5-10%. In addition to the waste created by the industry, the globalized manufacturing that makes these cheap fast fashion prices possible, is resulting in unfair working conditions, child labor, and hazardous working environments. All while industry professions from CEOs and designers, to models are profiting from these exploits of both environmental and human capital. This dirty industry needs ambassadors to fight for change, why not the models that have the platforms and the influence to reach an audience that care about clothing?
Consumer pressure is a strong driver for what kinds of products get developed. Imagine if young girls had role models to look up to for guidance on how to be conscious consumers, this could cause a dramatic shift in consumer behavior. Models with large followings can potentially help us lift the curtain on the industry and lead the charge in bringing some desperately needed transparency. With authenticity, and engaging story telling, model’s have the tools make real change.
Woke models like Leomie Anderson, who publishes articles by women and combines fashion with activism to make clothing with empowering phrases, are leading the pack in the model-activist phenomenon. One of Cameron Russell’s Model Mafia members, Renee Peters, advocates for ridding our oceans of plastic, and for a more transparent fashion industry, while another (Hawa Hassan) is fighting to solve the refugee crisis and battle climate change. The list goes on, and it’s amazing to see the projects these models have started. I look froward to seeing this trend grow, and can’t wait to see the impact. Marketing and influencer networks have such a big influence on public perception and I am excited to see that models are using their platform and engaged following to drive positive change.
I personally love filling my feed with powerful female role models, and the models highlighted in this post are perfect additions. Seeing what these women are doing makes me excited by what is possible and also how we are stronger when we work together. It would be amazing to see Model Mafia groups pop up around the country and the world. If you’re a model, I encourage you to get out there and use your platform to encourage others to do good. If you’re not, support them. Find those role models that are advocating for what you care about and help them spread their message.
A Letter to the Editor: Alternative Avenues for Development in East Africa
The following is a letter to the editor I wrote and submitted on October, 18th 2017.
To the Editor:
Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura highlights a key issue at the crux of the fast fashion crisis, excessive textile waste, but brushes over the environmental impacts of this ever increasing problem. Ironically, the garment manufacturing industry that these East African countries so desperately want to establish is the very cause of the waves of unwanted clothing arriving at their doorstep.
The booming fast fashion industry has pushed garment production into hyperdrive with little consideration for the end of product life-cycle. East Africa’s answer to the pitfalls of globalization should not be to follow the well trodden path of low cost manufacturing, but to monetize the clothing others see as waste by investing in textile recycling. How can East African countries capitalize on the growing trend of shifting the fashion business model from “take, make, waste” to “cradle to cradle”? The unrelenting consumer appetite for new trends and cheap clothing is unlikely to subside in the near future, and with major clothing brands like H&M, and Uniqlo implementing recycling programs, this is a growing market and an opportunity for development.
Sincerely,
Camille Mori
What do you think? Do you agree? I would love to hear from you, feel free to leave a comment.
The Best of the Bushwick Thrift Store Scene – A Farewell to the Neighborhood
I apologize for the silence, and promise it won’t be a trend throughout graduate school. This first month has been a perfect storm of adjusting to graduate school life, marathon training, seeing friends and family, and moving. I have to admit though, it’s been exciting to have new challenges and to be busy again.
As I begin this new chapter, I’m starting fresh in a new neighborhood as of this weekend. Which means a bittersweet goodbye to Bushwick, and hello to Prospect Park South.
Bushwick will always remind me of ethical fashion start-up madness, the buzz of being around creative energy, and of course, thrift shopping. As an ode to my old neighborhood, I thought I’d compile a “best of” list of vintage and thrift stores nearby. It’ll be strange to live in a neighborhood without a mobile vintage shop, but I guess my new neighborhood will have it’s own charm.
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Collections
Best Window Displays
This cute little vintage shop draws you in with their $12 rack outside, and their staff is always smiling and willing to help. The pieces I love tend to be a bit out of my price range, but she does a great job at curating her collection and has truly unique vintage finds.
I would come here if you’re looking for a special occasion or to make a dramatic statement with a one of a kind vintage piece.
I’ve got to say though, the window displays and good vibes drew me in countless times, but I never really found anything that I loved there. But I think it has more to do with a difference in style than their selection. It’s a small space and doesn’t really allow the space for exploration.
Their instagram is fun to follow, you should check it out 🙂
Location: 16 Wilson Ave
Beacon’s Closet
Best Value
By far my most frequented thrift shop in the area. You have to dig quite a bit to find the good stuff, but that’s what I enjoy about thrift shopping. It’s like a treasure hunt. You have to have patience and know how to spot good quality when you’re at Beacon’s closet.
What blows my mind about this place is that you can have a pair of Brother Vellies sandals next to a pair of Zara loafers, you really never know what you’ll find. If you don’t look hard enough, you might miss it.
I got in the habit of wandering through once or twice a week to glance through the merchandise and see if there was anything new. If I was looking for a pair of black loafers I’d go in and look at the shoes almost every day to see if anything new was out.
With the store on my walk back from the subway, I practiced a lot of self restraint, only allowing myself to buy pieces that I already identified as a necessity before entering. I think it’s good practice in general and keeps you from having an out of control wardrobe or just helps with keeping on my shopping budget.
One of the biggest cons is that the staff is extremely rude. I love searching for and finding great pieces at the store, but I do my best to avoid interacting with anyone working here.
Location: 23 Bogart St.
Urban Jungle (Part of L Train Vintage)
Best for Basics
I almost always feel overwhelmed as soon as I step foot in this place. The shear amount of volume is a lot to take in. Unfortunately there’s very little in this store that works in my closet. Although, I did find one of my favorite jean skirts here, it’s a great place for denim and t-shirts. I also got a coat that I refurbished, and is a good basic.
Urban Jungle has a lot of 90s dresses, vintage fur and simple denim and t-shirts. Want to find a cheap aloha shirt? Go to Urban Jungle. I feel like this place is great for costumes, because the prices are so low and I wouldn’t mind destroying a shirt I got there to alter it for a one time outfit.
Location: 120 Knickerbocker Ave
Friends NYC
Best Store
One of my favorite stores in Bushwick. Their vintage section is small but I always love their pieces and have bought several items from them. On a side note, their regular clothing merchandising is pretty good too, and includes some sustainable brands. I have a fun fair trade block printed cover up from them.
What is so great about Friends NYC is that I feel at ease when I enter, once you walk in the staff is friendly and willing to help. It reminds me a lot of the stores I loved in Shimokitazawa as a kid, with a fun mash up of cool clothes, gift cards, books, jewelry and other fun novelty items.
Location: 56 Bogart St
Worship
Best Unique Finds
I barely made is up to this vintage spot, but when I did I never regretted it. It was a bit higher price point than Beacon’s Closet, but I loved the pieces and the quality. Instead of searching through racks and racks I’d go through one rack and find 10 pieces I loved.
Since I only went there a handful of times I don’t have too much to say about it, except that if they were closer or more convenient I would have spent way too much money.
Location: 117 Wilson Ave
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Good bye Bushwick! This isn’t the last you’ll see of me, I’m sure the lure of amazing thrift shops will always draw me back.
Introducing the #HawaiiFiberProject
I’m back home in Hawai’i for about three weeks and am unbelievably excited about the #HawaiiFiberProject. There are three parts to the project, sakiori weaving (recycling old textiles), alternative fiber production (mainly pineapple and industrial hemp), and natural dyeing. During my time back on the island I aim to get to the roots of fiber and textile production, with the goal of accompanying each project with deeper research into how these core elements extend into the larger fashion industry.
I may pick up some other projects depending on what I can squeeze in. I would do infinite projects if I could, but I am supposedly on vacation, so I will be seeing friends and family, going to the beach, and just plain relaxing from time to time as well.
I chose these topics because they were projects that I can do with my Mom, who’s a textile artist, and also because I had some cool pieces in mind that I really wanted to make. I’ve never woven before, or made pineapple fibers, so there will be a big learning curve. I already started extracting pineapple fibers and setting up the loom for weaving, so far my hands are kind of sore and each step has been tedious and time consuming, but it’s very satisfying to create something with my own hands. My Mom is also pretty entertained by watching me, she keeps chuckling in the background.
These new research posts will be the start of a new chapter for Ethical Fashion Nerd, where I will produce more in-depth essays in addition to my regular journal posts. The nerd in me is so thrilled and can’t wait to get started.
To see more of the day to day process, I’ll be posting regularly on social media (mainly Instagram) about the #HawaiiFiberProject, follow along @ethicalfashnerd.
Why I Don’t Own a Sustainable Bikini
Nothing feels more freeing than swimming in the clear blue waters back home on the Big Island of Hawai’i. I just got back this week and am here for about a month, I can’t wait to reconnect with the rhythm of the ocean waves. The salt water smooths my skin and floating in the sunshine instantly cures any remaining New York City anxiety.
When packing for this trip I realized the only swimsuits I own are from a time before I fully committed to the conscious fashion life. One top was a bit worn out and the elastic was shot, but otherwise I had two sets of bikinis and a one piece for my trip. By my standards of only buying clothing when absolutely necessary, there was no need to buy another suit.
Part of the reason for starting this blog was to keep myself accountable, but it also has the power to make me insecure for those moments that I’m less than perfect. I am a conscious fashionista, but it can be hard to stay on track when there is pressure to stay on trend, have a head to toe sustainable fashion look, and not break the bank. Especially in this day and age with social media amplifying every imperfection, you can’t hide.
Even though the goal of my blog is not to post my #ootd, or promote brands, I do love clothes and if sharing my style inspires people to get involved I’m more than happy to share. Before leaving on this trip, however, I got extremely nervous about the idea of posting pictures of myself in a non-sustainable swimsuit. I found myself seconds away from impulse buying an adorable made in Hawaii swimsuit, from a brand that happened to be having a flash sale. The credit card was out, shipping was selected, all I had to do was push one button and it’d be mine, but I paused. WHY I was purchasing the swimsuit? After some deeper thought, I decided it wasn’t necessary.
One of the biggest tools in conscious fashion is being mindful of your actions and what’s truly motivating you to buy a garment. Our society has trained us that impulse buying is natural and that if we want something we should have it. As soon as there’s a new trend, ditch the old piece and get the new one. We’re taught that all occasions should be celebrated with a new outfit. A friend’s wedding coming up? Buy a new dress. A beach vacation booked? But a new swimsuit. This mindless pattern of consumption results in a closet full of one hit wonders leaving you wanting more, instead of timeless treasures.
Usually before buying an item, I identify a hole in my closet, then I exhaustively research online for brands I trust, or I’ll hit the thrift shops (almost daily) until I find a piece that fills that hole. In the case of this swimsuit, was there a hole in my closet or was there another motivating factor? When it came down to it, I realized that I wanted to buy the suit for the Instagram post. To post myself in a bikini that was in line with my ethical shopping guidelines. That’s all well and good, but it was more for my ego and consumerism than anything else, motivators that don’t justify a shopping spree.
I have been upcycling, thrifting and buying sustainable for four years now, but I’ve had some lapses, and have always had a hard time with swimsuits. It’s not that there is a lack of sustainable swimwear, they’re just a bit pricey, and I’ve never been able to bring myself to buy a used swimsuit. I usually keep on budget by frequenting thrift stores and buying vintage, but without that option I ended up buying non-sustainable options in my budget with the intention to wear them as long as I could. This is not the perfect answer to the problem, but it’s what worked for me at the time, and I’m not about to throw away a perfectly good swimsuit just because it’s not ethically made. After all, waste is one of the biggest issues of the sustainable fashion world and I do my best not to contribute to this ever increasing problem.
If I was still living in Hawai’i or frequented the beach or pool throughout the year I would consider buying a new swimsuit from one of the many sustainable swimwear brands out there. The reality is, however, that I’ll be in New York City for the next two years studying with my nose in a book or writing research papers. When I wear out the one’s I have now, I’ll gladly buy a new sustainable suit, keeping in mind my conscious fashion principles. Until then, I’ll be checking myself to make sure I’m not purchasing just for the sake of having something new to wear or to share with you all. I’m happy to have this blog to keep me on track and accountable.
What I Learned Working in Fast Fashion
Stepping into the office every morning felt a little like working for the enemy. My constant mantra was, “This is just to understand the problem, to gather information, to expose fast fashion.” Curiosity and eagerness to learn kept me upbeat, even when I was faced with their questionable business practices.
I left my comfortable ethical fashion start-up job in October 2016 knowing that grad school was on the horizon, but still had almost a year before it started and was pondering my next steps. Since arriving in New York City I had the luxury of staying in my bubble working at a brand where I trusted the product, knew exactly who made the clothes and the materials going into them. The mass market, price-driven fashion world was foreign and incomprehensible, yet this was the world I was going back to graduate school to change. It dawned on me that I needed to have that understanding in order to become the impactful leader that I was striving to be. So I started applying to production jobs at mainstream fashion brands.
Cautiously hopeful – this was my attitude on the first day. It was all a bit of chaos, no one knew I was coming. For the first couple weeks I just sat there, observed and listened. They made off-price mens clothing and I was managing production. The work was a bit monotonous, but I grew to really enjoy my co-workers. A couple of them had been in the industry for decades and I loved hearing about the good old days when the NYC garment district was bustling.
My last day was June 23rd and I walked away feeling grateful for the experience, and also incredibly relieved I no longer had to pretend. I’m happy to be able to carry what I’ve learned into my next chapter, here are three of the biggest takeaways I had from my time there.
Throw away culture – from product to people
Now, I don’t want to over generalize and say that all fast-fashion companies operate in this way, but the one I worked for did and I have a suspicion that many others do too. There is a lot of turnover within fashion as a whole and a lot of this is due to do with the volatile market and an uncertain future for retail. Yet, the “employee as dispensable” is very different from a struggling business model trying to find it’s place in an ever-changing market.
From the moment I started, I got the feeling that if I left they’d just go find someone else eager to break into the fashion industry. Pay was horrible, there were no benefits, zero vacation, and we worked most holidays. I would get into the office at 9:30am and would stay till at least 7pm, sometimes staying till 8pm or later. I wasn’t the only one that felt under-appreciated and cast aside, my co-workers would rant about being talked down to, and overworked.
This sense of being expendable wasn’t just with the employees, it started with the product. When developing pieces and producing for customers, the product just had to be good enough; most important was affordability. There was no pause to question, what is the process of creating this wash effect? Or, how are the factories sourcing their materials? It just had to look like the CAD (kind of) and be at the right price. A product isn’t coming out right? Cancel the order and move on, create more. Employee not working out? Get rid of them and find someone who will do the job, for the least amount of money.
100% trend driven – constant pressure to copy
This might be obvious, but it shocked me to what extent the designs were merely copied. I had heard the horror stories of independent designers getting their designs ripped off, and have seen how quickly the trends go from the runway to Forever 21, but the blatancy of it was unsettling.
If we didn’t have the specs for style, we’d go out and buy one from a competitor and copy it. I understand buying reference samples to base a design off of, but to make no tweaks or adjustments didn’t feel quite right. Maybe I was living in an idealized world before but I had seen designers work hard to create new shapes and innovative designs, and to see that is being stolen without any thought was tough. Especially since this was so normalized and encouraged.
One day we got some samples from a factory, we opened the box to discover that the designs were not ours. Seeing the fresh new designs, our boss loved them and wanted to produce it for ourselves. Immediately the designers were told to tweak the colors and and make CADs for the next sales meeting. These decisions were made without even the blink of an eye.
Business is booming – Americans want a deal
Even with retailers facing uncertainty and consumers shifting their buying habits, the off-price market seems to be having a moment. Most Americans are looking for cheap clothes that they feel like they’re getting a deal on. I had no idea that new garments were being made with price stickers advertising reduced special pricing even though they were never sold at the higher price. The mind game had sure worked on me, they got me fooled. Many Americans are falling for it too, feeling good about all the money they “saved”.
The off-price market is huge, and although it might be a little daunting to try and make it more sustainable or ethical, the potential is massive. It’s not really about the consumer, they don’t particularly care if it’s sustainable. It’s about creating new methods and technology to make sustainable practices a better business model, think Ray Anderson and how he radically reduced waste and environmental harm in his carpet company by adopting sustainable business practices. It’s not a necessarily a marketing tool or value add like it has been in the luxury and contemporary markets, although it could be as our society shifts towards a more sustainable future. With a combination of making sustainability more attainable and shifting the mindset of the consumer, there could be an amazing opportunity to crack into this market. It’s probably all a bit idealistic, but I’m a bit of a dreamer.
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I never went overseas where the clothes were manufactured, but I could only imagine the working conditions. I saw the prices we were buying the clothes for and knew that only about 10%, if that, would go to the person making the garment. It made me sick. Not to mention the washing, dyeing and sandblasting done on the jeans creates hazardous environments and were probably making the workers sick. This would be a whole other research project, something I hope to better understand and figure out solutions for while at NYU.
Ultimately, I’m left with more questions than answers. I saw the inside of a very small price-driven fashion company, but one that is making a significant impact in the world of off-price fashion. I feel more motivated than ever as I enter graduate school, knowing that I have more clarity on the industry I’m trying to innovate and change.
Next Chapter: Graduate School – Impacting the Global Fashion Industry
I’ve been hinting at something big on the horizon for a few weeks now. This Friday is the last day at my job and I think it’s about time to let the cat out of the bag. After two and a half years in New York City, reinventing myself and adjusting to the curve balls thrown at me, I’ll be starting a new chapter: Graduate School.
As of this Fall, I’ll be pursuing an Master’s in Public Administration at NYU, studying international human rights and environmental policies. It might be a bit crazy to get a second graduate degree, but I couldn’t think of a more natural step. My work had me feeling stunted, I was learning about the intricacies of the fashion industry, but not how to impact change in the global community.
So how exactly did my NYC journey lead me here? I left Hawaii in January 2015 hopeful that New York City would be the answer, that the city would take me in and cultivate my curiosity for sustainable fashion. I imagined a world that would be hard, yet gentle and guiding. What I found was infinite opportunity with people stepping all over each other to grab it.
To be honest, my life since landing at JFK has been filled with uncertain, anxious and overwhelming experiences, with some splashes of accomplishment and excitement. By far the most challenging part has been finding my own balance and acceptance as part of this chaos. It was a crash course in dealing with stubborn, aggressive and erratic people. That’s not to say that New Yorkers aren’t friendly when they want to be, it’s just a different kind of human interaction. Coming from Hawaiian and Japanese cultures, it was a culture shock.
I still remember my first day working in the industry, running around picking up markers, visiting sample makers and checking-in on the factory, all within a few blocks in the garment district. I thought “I’ve done it, I made it, and it will all work out”. How cute I was, thinking it was that simple. Maybe if I had moved to the city to work in fashion, but I hadn’t, I moved to the city to disrupt the fashion industry, to be a changemaker.
At the very beginning, seeing the process from design to delivery at a small Brooklyn start-up helped ease me into the industry. As my role grew and the responsibility piled on, strains in working with complex personalities were magnified. Even more revealing, my limitations were made painfully clear. We were a young team, I craved mentorship and cross industry development. Learning about the fashion industry was important, but I wanted to reach beyond to understand the complexities of community organizing, creating policies and shaping the industry both locally and abroad. So I left, even though I loved the job, the company, and the people.
I’m not entirely sure where this degree will lead me, but I’m excited at all the possibilities and opportunities it will open up. Maybe this is my ever-optimist mindset, but I’m confident that this will unlock the roles that I’ve been craving and the the jobs I’ve been dreaming of (as cliche as that sounds). I can’t wait to share this journey with you and bring you along as I find out where I can make the most impact to make the garment production more sustainable and ethical.
In the Beginning – The Start of My Conscious Fashion Journey
The beginning of my conscious fashion journey can be separated into two chapters, the dream and the mental process. The dream kickstarted my discovery of ethical fashion and kept me motivated, but it was changing my consumer mindset that transformed me into who I am today.
The Dream
Where did it all start? It started as a crazy dream, as a vision board on my wall. I imagined myself as Camille, the sustainable fashion designer. There I stood in the middle of the board next to two models wearing my elaborate designs. It was a fairy tale, but I didn’t know that yet.
My naïveté was propelling me into an industry more complex, cut-throat and nasty than I could have imagined. I moved forward into the darkness, wide-eyed and making every mistake. Decisions were made based on gut feeling not cash flows. But within the uncertainty something beautiful and unexpected began to take shape. Yes, there were some cute clothes, but most importantly, I began cultivating a community and bringing people together.
From the moment I consciously chose sustainable fashion as my life’s purpose, there seemed to be a path emerging with opportunities piling up. I started a blog, chronicling my upcycling adventures. An Etsy store was created to sell the upcycled creations. I committed to buying only thrifted (mainly Kaimuki Goodwill) clothing for a year. Started volunteering, then organizing events for Hawaii Fashion Month. This all culminated in founding a conscious fashion organization with fellow sustainable fashion nerds.
I wasn’t designing the elaborate gowns that I saw on my vision board, but I was empowering others to grow their ethical fashion brands and reaching out to people in the community who hadn’t been exposed to conscious fashion. I came to realize that although design is important to the process, my ability to see the bigger picture, and inspire through story telling made me more impactful to the cause as a writer and organizer.
I look back fondly now, proud of myself for pushing through. It allowed me to find my place in the fight against fast fashion and gave me the direction I needed before throwing myself into the New York fashion world. Even though my early sustainable fashion days in Hawaii pale in comparison to what I have faced since moving to NYC, and what I’m sure I’ll face in my next chapter, it’s comforting to know that I’ll have the strength and self-accountability to keep going.
The Process
On a more personal level, the act of changing my consumer behavior proved to be the most crucial and challenging part of my journey. If you’re going to preach it, you better practice it. This forced me to examine what sustainable fashion meant for me and how I could fit it into my broke just-out-of-grad-school budget. For me, this meant thrifting and upcycling.
The first few months of committing to a sustainable fashion lifestyle was rough, it was hard to wrap my head around spending more money on quality products or buying thrifted goods that were bold fashion statements. I had panic attacks about how to buy clothes, and what sustainable fashion really meant. I lectured my friends whenever we went shopping that they shouldn’t buy clothes from the store we walked into, and would constantly be checking tags to see what garments were made of and where they were made. It was paralyzing.
Yet, as I went deeper into the world of thrifting and learned how to tweak pieces to make them my own, and I fell in love. By giving each garment a special touch and buying unique quirky pieces, my wardrobe was completely mine. Each piece of clothing had a story and I began to feel a deeper connection to what I put on my body.
Switching from a fast fashion to a conscious mindset is an ever evolving process, one that demands patience and curiosity. I’m still on my path and am far from perfect. Tools like this blog, surrounding myself with a supportive community and inspiration from designers and change-makers help me stay accountable. It’s been four years, and I’m still excited to learn more and find new ways to express myself through ethical fashion choices.
A Guide – Three Steps to Avoid Falling for Fashion Greenwashing
I walked through Times Square the other day and was faced with H&M’s massive billboard advertisement, touting it’s clothes as the sustainable choice and highlighting its recycling program. The first thing I saw was a video of heaps of clothing headed for recycling, and was intrigued. As I watched, the video shifted to models wearing cute clothes and H&M branding displayed loud and clear. I felt a pang of disappointment. I started to wonder, how many people walk by this and think “awesome, I can buy cheap cute clothes and save the planet too!”
It’s no secret that sustainability is affecting consumer habits, and companies are cashing in on this. The term greenwashing was coined in the 1980’s, but it’s been happening ever since we as a society, have been fighting to protect the planet. The fashion industry has become increasingly rampant with it, from companies like H&M, Zara and Uniqlo starting recycling programs, to misinterpretations of textiles as sustainable.
I’m generally skeptical when any brand makes lofty claims about their environmentally friendly mission. Our generation is generally weary of marketing messages and hate the feeling of “being marketed to”, but we still get caught in its trap. Brands are catering to our desire for a sustainable alternative to fast fashion, and have become really good at doing so.
Instead of taking these campaigns at face value, I like to dissect them and understand what value they’re really bringing. Through reading the fine print on the label and website and asking, “Is what they’re saying true? And if so, is it actually sustainable?”, you can cut through the greenwashing.
Look for the facts – is what they’re saying true?
These days looking for genuine sustainable fashion brands is like looking for facts in a sea of fake news. It can be overwhelming to get through the bullshit when there are so many companies attempting to capitalize off this trend.
If a brand is making bold claims about their clothes but offer little information to back it up, this should raise red flags. Also, if the facts are mysteriously missing from their site and all they offer is a general sustainability statement, not good. These are signs that the marketing campaign was meant to lure you in with it’s eco-conscious messaging and nothing more.
The boom in bamboo fabric as a sustainable alternative is a great example of greenwashing gone bad. It was early in the rise of sustainable fashion, and few consumers knew what to look for when considering sustainable sourcing. Although harvesting of bamboo can be more sustainable than other wood pulp based textiles, the process of making the textile was chemically intensive and harmful to the earth. Yet, bamboo’s association with zen buddhism helped to drive sales of this fabric as the sustainable choice in yoga studios, and activewear brands. The marketing worked.
It wasn’t until reports started coming out that bamboo fabric was not the miracle sustainable textile people were hoping for, that brands started to back off of their bamboo greenwashing.
Ask questions – what sort of impact are they making?
In some of the more convincing greenwashing campaigns everything might technically be true, but you have to dig a little deeper to understand if it’s a truly sustainable claim. For example, yes you can drop off your clothes to be recycled at H&M, but what happens to them? What kind of an impact does this make on our planet?
In the recent Copenhagen Fashion Summit, closing the loop was the main focus, and many fashion brands are following suit. This could be game changing, as a circular fashion system would solve one of the industry’s biggest environmental conundrums, waste. Yet, we are seeing recycling programs popping up at many unlikely brands such as H&M, Zara, and Uniqlo, are they really helping to solve the issue of waste in the garment industry?
Lucy Siegle summarizes the issue well in her article on The Guardian, “…if 1,000 tons is recycled, that roughly equates to the same amount of clothes a brand of this size pumps out into the world in 48 hours. Then there are voucher schemes, which often fuel more purchasing.”
It is clear that through this program they are fueling more waste than what they are able to take in, and encouraging consumers to buy more and more. All in all the program is just a way to make them and their consumers feel better.
Read the fine print – learn to navigate the labels, sustainability statements and certificates
One of the most basic ways to cross check and research a brand’s sustainability claims is by reading the clothing label, analyzing their sustainability mission on their website, and seeing what certificates they have.
A clothing label isn’t everything, but I like to start there. It nice to have the basics, the country of manufacture and content. Here you can see if the material is 100% recycled or if it’s mixed with others, or you can confirm that the clothes really are made in America.
Next, I do I quick once over of the site, do they have a commitment to sustainability? And if they do, what does it say? Many corporations have a very generic sustainability mission on their site, since it’s pretty standard at this point, and if that’s all they have they probably don’t really care. Brands that are fully committed to the cause will include the details on their site, they have nothing to hide.
Lastly, do they have certificates or standards that they adhere to? Are they Fair Trade or GOTS certified? Are they a part of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition? It’s important to note that although these are a good marker for bigger brands, I wouldn’t hold smaller companies to the same standard. It can be pretty expensive and time consuming to get these certificates, and for innovative start-ups and independent designers that just might not be in the cards.
Keep in mind, not all certificates are created equal. Some are more respected than others based on what their standards are and how they enforce them. There are some certificates that brands may pay a lot of money for so that they appear more sustainable to their consumers, but at the end of the day, doesn’t impact their product very much. I think it’s helpful to know of three to four quality standards and certificate that you stand behind and support brands that are committed to those standards.
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Now you can go forth and feel confident that you can side-step the alluring greenwashing campaigns. It takes a little bit of extra effort, but it will be worth it. Ultimately we need to see a cultural shift where people think about their clothing purchases and understand the human and environmental implications of their choices. If we can achieve this, eventually corporations will realize this is what people want and shift their ways, or at least I hope so. No matter how dire the situation gets, I’m a steadfast optimist.