Block Printing Traditions of Bagru – A Tour of Block Print House
About an hours drive outside of the city of Jaipur in Bagru, I met Deepak Chhipa, who runs his family’s block printing business called Block Print House. I drove up along the long dirt road to his home and was welcomed by brightly colored textiles drying on the lawn. Walking into the complex I saw the block printers rhythmically stamping away at their fabrics as I passed the workshop.
The Block Print House largely works with international brands to produce custom orders, they develop some designs for local markets as well. Deepak also gives tours and holds workshops for tourists who would like to learn more about the process. He also has some stock in the showroom for purchase, and it’s hard to leave without getting something. After seeing the artists in action and the skill they have to create such flawless pieces, I just had to take some fabric home with me for future projects. Not to mention, the prices was extremely reasonable for beautiful artisan-made products.
The Process
The process for each textile is different depending on the design. I’ll take you through the basic steps of creating block print textiles – carving the blocks, block printing, mud resist dyeing and dyeing the textiles.
BLOCK CARVING | First, they source the fabrics locally and wash and dye the
BLOCK PRINTING | The blocks are then used to print designs on the textile. This is either done with azo-free dyes, mud for resist dyeing and a bleaching solution to create different effects. In the picture to the right, the artisan is adding a second color to the floral pattern. This is very difficult because you have to match up everything perfectly. I had a chance to try block printing (with just one color) and it was extremely challenging to maintain consistency. Mine ended up too blotchy or slightly crooked, even though I was trying so hard to match up to the patterns and not put too much ink or press too hard.
I loved seeing the range of different designs, it would have been fun to just experiment and make designs at their workshop for a few days. The mud resist dyeing, in particular, would have been interesting to play around with. He showed us designs where they did mud resist printing before dyeing the whole textiles and others later in the process after block printing a pattern onto the fabric, and before dyeing the fabric for a second time. For example, in the picture below, she’s using mud resist dyeing to keep the flower part of the design pink, the whole fabric will be dyed with indigo next. It seems like there are endless possibilities.
The opportunity to try the craft hands-on was so helpful to understand how hard it is to master. The artisans in the workshop go so quickly and make it look easy. If you’re in Jaipur, you should definitely check it out. You can connect with him through Instagram, @blockprinthouse.
Moving Ethical Fashion Forward – Reflections on the 2018 Fashion for Freedom Event
I’ve been spending the last few weeks digging a bit deeper and taking a look at what ethical fashion really means, interviewing fair trade artisan brands, and talking to ethical apparel manufacturers abroad. Producing ethical fashion requires patience and thoughtfulness to navigate complex apparel supply chains and slow industry progress, there is no quick fix answer. There’s a reason why ethical fashionistas turn up their noses at brands like H&M who produce sustainable clothing at impossibly low prices. These low prices are a sign that something isn’t right. They might be using organic cotton or tencel fabric, but they are still producing in conditions where the (mostly) women making their clothing do not make a living wage. Consumer culture is conditioning consumers to expect low-cost clothing and companies are applying this framework to create greenwashed clothing, the fabrics might be sourced a little more consciously, but they’re still producing extreme excess and exploiting workers.
Last Saturday I attended Free the Slaves’ Fashion for Freedom Event in NYC to learn from their speakers on ways we can move forward and drive change as a community. Keynote speaker, Safia Minney, kicked off the event explaining the trajectory of her fair trade work in the fashion industry and how it’s led her to develop successful brands like People Tree and Po-Zu as well as write some foundational books in the industry like Naked Fashion, Slow Fashion, and most recently, Slave to Fashion. The keynote address was followed by a panel with Safia; Rebecca Ballard from Maven Women, a sustainable fashion brand based in DC with a radical approach to design and fit; Aaron Halegua a Research Fellow at the NYU Law School, he is an expert on labor rights, human trafficking and access to justice in the U.S. and internationally; and moderated by Executive Director of Free the Slaves, Maurice Middleberg. The night concluded with the 2018 Fashion for Freedom Award Winner, Flor Molina, telling her story of survival from being trafficked from Mexico to LA to work in garment production. After Flor’s escape from enslavement, her determination and perseverance have led her to play an instrumental role in passing the California Transparency Act and being appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the first-ever U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking.
Even though researchers estimate that 40 million people are enslaved worldwide, and 50% of slavery victims are in labor slavery, many people in the U.S. are ignorant of this. The harsh reality is that many of the goods in our homes have been touched by slave labor, yet your average consumer is completely unaware. The Fashion Industry has a responsibility to take action, as one of the least transparent and complex supply chains. The question is how to move the needle forward? Even ethical fashion veterans like Safia say that we’ve only just got the ball rolling, there is still so much to be done.
The Fashion for Freedom Event was a snapshot of what ethical fashion can be at its greatest and reminders of how we need to keep pushing for change. There were three main points that were driven home during the panel:
- Governments around the world, especially in countries with booming garment industries, need to create policies to eliminate modern slavery and find ways to enforce them.
- Consumers, particularly women, need to speak up, demand a better product, and hold brands accountable.
- Garment workers need the freedom to associate and collective bargaining power to stand up to their employers and ask for better working conditions.
These are three complex and tedious steps to eliminate modern slavery from the fashion supply chain, but policies like the California Transparency Act and the Modern Slavery Act (UK), as well as organizations like Fashion Revolution and the Clean Clothes Campaign, are helping to inch the industry forward.
Although big-name fashion brands are slow to take on social issues in their supply chains, disruptive social enterprises have stepped in with innovative solutions for decreasing poverty and helping women through economic development. Before and after the speakers, we got to shop a marketplace of fair trade brands like zero-waste fashion brand made in Cambodia, Tonlé; High-quality basics made by free women in India, Causegear, a brand sourcing locally in Haiti and empowering women, Deux Mains; a jewelry line designed in Maine and made impeccably by artisans in Nepal, Mulxiply, Scarves made by women who escaped trafficking or were at risk in Kenya, RefuShe and more.
Even though there was a sense that this is only the beginning and that enormous efforts still need to be made, there was excitement in the air. The room was full of a supportive community ready to take action and find ways to drive policy, consumer behavior, and industry change to protect people at every level of the supply chain.
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Learn more about the Fashion for Freedom campaign on their website, http://www.ftsfashionforfreedom.com/.
Inside Wildlife Works: Protecting nature while producing ethically made clothing
You can’t answer the question, “what is ethical fashion” without looking at the process of cutting, sewing and finishing goods. You need to ask complex questions like, who are the people that make my clothing and are they working in a safe environment where they are being paid fairly? The apparel supply chain is very complex and it’s rare that you can pick up a t-shirt and know exactly where it was made and if the people who made it are making fair wages.
As consumers become more aware of working conditions and as brands are starting to cater to these customers, the intricacies and importance of ethical manufacturing have come to the forefront of many discussions. One organization driving change is Wildlife Works in Kenya. They’ve seen ups and downs and have watched the industry grow and develop since they were founded almost 20 years ago.
Wildlife Works approached apparel manufacturing as a market driven solution to their conservation efforts, resulting in the world’s only carbon neutral, fair trade factory protecting wildlife. When they started the facility in 2000 they were way ahead of the curve and had to work hard to create a market for their product. Now they are seeing big name fashion conglomerates like Kering and fast fashion brands like H&M engaging in sustainability practices.
I spoke with the Marketing and Creative Director of Wildlife Works, Joyce Hu, who oversees operations for the apparel manufacturing facility in Kenya, as well as overall messaging and branding. She told me about how Wildlife Works began and how it’s evolved over time in the rapidly changing fashion landscape.
Can you tell me a little bit about how Wildlife Works was founded and how you got involved with the organization?
The company was founded back in 1998 by Mike Korchinsky. Before then, he had a very successful consulting firm, working with clients from fortune 500 companies. He had an opportunity to go on safari in Kenya, and while he was there, saw a cycle of violence between the poachers, rangers, and community that was caused by the lack of jobs. The community needed jobs and a lot of the existing organizations weren’t filling that need. Because of this unemployment, poaching and deforestation were happening at a high rate.
He had a vision to create a market based solution for conservation, to combat unemployment. In 2000 he set up a factory. He focused on apparel manufacturing since sewing is a low skill job that people can be trained to do where there is very little job opportunity. Also, a lot of the communities had a sewing background already. He started with 10 seamstresses.
I connected with Wildlife Works in 2006 and thought the brand was amazing. I ended up helping them produce a fashion show for World Environmental Day. Then I went off to pursue other opportunities and got back in touch with them in 2009, when they were on hiatus after the recession. Mike was getting more involved with REDD+ and carbon offsetting and was starting to gain a lot of momentum. Through that, he met a lot of great customers and investors and hired me when a big investment came through. I was hired to take on the factory for a relaunch of the brand, manage the factory from product development and production management to marketing and branding.
What was it like to relaunch the brand, was the market ready for the product?
We first relaunched with graphic tees and trendier silhouettes and we did that for a few years. It was a time when fast fashion was really dominating the fashion market, and we were doing things so differently with logistics and manufacturing. The wholesale market was so different then. We didn’t have a million dollars to put into marketing, so we switched gears and moved to doing private label production for brands. That’s how we are able to support ourselves, doing private label with sustainable brands. That’s what we’ve focused on for the past years. We’ve tied our brand to movements like Fashion Revolution and brands are asking for ethical manufacturing now.
As the factory has developed, how have you determined fair wages? Have you always been a Fair Trade Certified factory?
We’ve always paid at an urban minimum wage level, most people train up in skill and are paid more than that. But low skilled labor is paid the county’s minimum wage.
As for certifications, we are Fairtrade International and USA Fair Trade certified, it’s very important for us to have that transparency. Puma, one of our investors requires us to be Puma Safe certified, which is mostly safety auditing. A lot of our brand partners don’t actually need the fair trade certification since we are already very transparent. Especially a lot of the smaller brands we work with, they are very transparent and are able to support their claims by showing who they work with and storytelling.
Fair trade certifications are very expensive and are mostly for larger brands who lack the transparency and they really need that sort of certification in order to legitimize whatever they are trying to say on the marketing side of things.
Do you feel now that ethical fashion is being talked about more, how has the landscape changed?
People are way more open to the conversation now. It also helps that we have some big name carbon credit customers, for example, Kering. Because of working with the carbon credit program, Kering is now open to talking to about manufacturing opportunities. We now can have conversations with bigger brands like the Gap Incs of the industry who never would have before considered talking to us when we first got started.
We’re still quite far from producing with them, not only are we a bit small for them, but we are also against the direction of mainstream fashion right now. But, at least they know about us and they are willing to have a conversation. It’s opening up a market.
Do you have your own definition of ethical fashion?
I think it’s really doing everything you can in your power to make decisions that make the least amount of harm on people, planet, and wildlife.
It’s a great question, it shows that you’re really deep in it. It’s easy to say that you’re a brand that does sustainable fashion using organic cotton or does sustainable production. But the deeper you get into it you see how grey it is and how the lines are so blurred because the global supply chain is very hidden and not transparent. It’s so hard to make the right decisions because the system doesn’t allow you to.
Are you optimistic about the future of sustainable fashion?
Yeah, I see a lot of progress. The fact that our business has been able to grow is a great indication. I am hopeful, but I don’t think that solution is what we think it is going to be. I think the solution is going to be something that is very technology driven, that we don’t even know right now. We are up to our head in the current global supply chain and we are blinded by it, something needs to come from nowhere really fast and that’s how change is going to happen.
Inside Dunitz & Company: Beautiful artisanal jewelry and fair trade values
Many consumers hear about ethical or fair trade fashion and don’t understand what this means, does a portion of profits go to charity? Do they give a pair of shoes to kids in need? These guesses only barely scratch the surface of the intricacies of an ethical fashion business. As part of a series that takes a closer look at how to produce and run an ethical fashion enterprise, I am featuring Nancy Dunitz, founder of Dunitz & Company, who started her own fair trade artisan business over 25 years ago before it was the trendy thing to do.
We talked about how shifting consumer habits has made more people attracted to her brand, but has also changed the way people shop. For a small artisan brand, these changes in the industry demand adaptability and making quick high-risk decisions in order to keep supporting and providing work for rural artisan communities. Read more about her journey in the interview below.
As a company that has been doing fair trade fashion for a while now, how have you seen the industry change?
When I first started my business in 1989, the term “fair trade” was not in my working vocabulary. I don’t think it was in anyone’s. What was clear to me, for me, was I wanted to live by the golden rule and treat all people I worked with with the respect they deserved.
I was driven to create a fashion line that was well designed and fashion forward. Obviously, the goal was to create demand for what at the time was a new look. It was also important to pay the artisans we worked with fairly. I always assumed if I was fair and took care of the people I worked with, they would do the same for me.
Until recently, I exclusively wholesaled my designs to boutiques, gift stores and museum shops primarily in the USA. For years, imported traditional crafts were perceived as cheap and not well made. Elevating a collection that higher end shops chose to carry was our goal. And we were successful.
I started hearing the term “fair trade” in the mid 1990s. And from there, awareness of fair trade has slowly and steadily grown. For many years, people purchased our line because they thought it was beautiful. As awareness of fair trade grew, most customers found that the “fair trade” aspect was a bonus.
Has the increased awareness about fair trade helped your business?
There was a time that some retail shop owners bought from Dunitz & Company because we were Fair Trade Federation members (and/or said we practiced fair trade) before they even studied our line and decided it was attractive. Unfortunately, in recent times there has been a lot of ‘greenwashing’ and people using the buzzword “fair trade” because they think it will garner sales. There has also been an influx of compassion marketing. I believe many customers are exhausted by the constant badgering to help this charity or that charity. I think this leads to a lot of confusion. I even have a few recent wholesale customers who now tell me they buy my line because it’s pretty. Full circle.
What was the process like to decide on a specific fair trade certification for your business? These days there are many routes a company could go, you could become a B Corporation, USA Fair Trade, World Fair Trade, Nest Seal Approved, etc.
Dunitz & Company is a verified member of Fair Trade Federation. Honestly, when FTF first launched in 1994, I was approached to be one of their founding members. My colleagues informed me that in order to be a member, I would have to allow the group to audit our financials. As you know, I studied business at NYU and worked in corporate finance before launching Dunitz & Company. That concept made me uncomfortable and I declined. I mean, I knew in my heart I was doing things “right”. But the ‘audit’ aspect made me uncomfortable.
Do you remember my mentioning all the people using “fair trade” as a buzzword to obtain sales? This is why I finally applied for Fair Trade Federation membership. I knew with all the noise out there and people saying they did what they didn’t, it was imperative to be screened. Let me be clear, Fair Trade Federation members are screened and verified. We are not certified. The organization does not have the manpower to send representatives to workshops all over the globe. I can tell you, just the same that the screening process is quite rigorous. A large percentage of applications for FTF memberships are denied. And FTF depends on member dues for survival. That says a lot. Dunitz & Company is also a gold-certified Green America business.
I’ve heard that becoming Fair Trade certified can be cost prohibitive for small businesses, and the records needed to be produced can be time-consuming. Did you face these challenges?
I’m almost certain there isn’t a way for craft items to be certified. The verification process for the Fair Trade Federation is rigorous, but it is not impossible. Dues are based on gross sales. It can be significant, but it is not prohibitive. And if a company passes the screening, it absolutely makes sense to be part of this group. For more than 25 years, I’ve almost exclusively worked with two groups of artisans. I confess, this made the screening processes a lot easier on us.
While you were getting your MBA at NYU did any of your classes cover business and human rights? What was your most important learning experience since running your business on balancing business profitability and fair working conditions?
When I first went to NYU, I had no idea what I wanted to do with an MBA. I was encouraged by my parents to get a practical education and this was viewed as such. The truth is I had always wanted to go to fine art school. When I finished school, I pursued and landed a position in the entertainment business, actually at Warner Home Video. It was not an artistic or creative position. I did, however, have the opportunity to go to a lot of movie screenings! After several years working in financial planning, I naively jumped ship to start something of my own. Honestly, starting a small fashion company involves a lot of hip shooting. At Warner Bros., I was involved with projections and multi-million dollar budgets. With a small business, one bad trade show throws any projections out the window. I always say the first 5 years of my business was my tuition. I lived hand to mouth until I created a jewelry line that customers wanted to buy. I was lucky. It happened.
What is the design process like for Dunitz & Company? Are artisans involved in the process?
I do a lot of homework before I travel to Guatemala each season. I study fashion and color trends diligently. It’s a lot easier these days than when I first started. In the early 1990’s there was no such thing as email or SKYPE. Almost all of our design work was done down there. Now we can do a lot of prep work before I arrive. Communication is so much easier. I concept a good majority of what Dunitz & Company shows. I also absolutely collaborate with the artisans I work with. Very often they show me designs they’ve created. And often I say “Yes”! Let’s create your design in Dunitz colors and see what consumers in the US think. I have to admit, I’ve had a few best sellers I didn’t personally design.
What has been the biggest success for your company up to this point? What does the future look like for Dunitz & Company?
I think the biggest success is that after more than 25 years, I’m still working with and collaborating with the same community of artisans. I’ve frequently been told that without the orders Dunitz & Company generates, the bead workshop I source from would not exist. Unfortunately, a majority of folks who managed similar types of operations are no longer in business. As I mentioned, for more than 25 years, Dunitz & Company exclusively wholesaled our work to fine shops nationwide. The nature of wholesale has dramatically changed. It’s no secret that many specialty shops (and big box stores too) have closed. Most of the major wholesale gift shows have closed. And the ones that remain have become smaller. The way people shop has completely changed.
I’m optimistic for the future. However, it is clear, to continue sustaining the artisans I’ve worked with for so many years, Dunitz & Company must build a significant retail arm. We’ve launched (what I think is a beautiful retail website) www.shopdunitz.com, recently opened an Etsy shop and have a few items selling at Amazon Handmade. I’ve been working diligently on social media and am hopeful it will pay off.
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Want to support Dunitz & Company? Shop www.shopdunitz.com, use code EFN15 for 15% off your order!
Social Entrepreneurship: Disrupting the fashion industry
For the last feature in this Fashion Revolution Week series, I’m focusing on social entrepreneurship in the fashion industry. It’s been great to see many businesses popping up disrupting the industry and providing sustainable and ethical clothing consumers are demanding. As a consumer, I am thrilled to have more choices and it is refreshing not to have to worry about where my clothes were made. As more entrepreneurs are entering the market with their products, it brings more awareness to the realities of the environmental and human rights issues along the supply chain and ultimately pushes big apparel brands to follow suit.
NYU naturally fosters an entrepreneur community and creates countless opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds to connect. In an environment where people are pursuing their passions, pushing boundaries and challenging their preconceived notions of what is possible. It is a breeding ground for creative thinkers to come together and make projects, organizations, and businesses come to life.
There’s no better example of this than how Lian Wairimu Kariuki and I connected through our Politics of International Development course this semester. Both of us are MPA students at NYU Wagner specializing in International Policy and Management. We realized our mutual interest in ethical fashion when we found ourselves advocating for using handicraft and sewing skills to help empower people in developing communities during a class discussion. Lian – a budding social entrepreneur interested in starting a social apparel factory in Kenya, and me – an ethical fashion advocate wanting to make a positive impact along the apparel supply chain. Lian asked me to help establish and grow her new business, Loocid Global, and I excitedly agreed.
Originally from Kenya, Lian has always been passionate about making a difference in her country. Growing up it was everyday life to walk outside and see poverty, especially among the youth. After high school, she took a two year gap year and started her own nonprofit, Adopted Dreams which provided business and entrepreneurship training to youth in Kenyan slums. Simultaneously, Adopted Dreams partnered with Uzima Center an organization that teaches youth useful skills like welding and seamstressing, allowing them to make money for themselves and motivate them to start their own businesses. Around 80% of the youth involved in the program are now employed or run their own businesses.
While running her nonprofit, she had one program that generated money for the organization, relieving some pressure to apply for funding elsewhere. The project involved women making eco-friendly shopping bags from kanga, a traditional Kenyan textile. Not only were the products providing revenue for the organization, they also empowered marginalized women in the community and gave them opportunities to earn a living. Lian was inspired by the positive social impacts of this program and sustainability of this type of a structure.
Starting the MPA program she wanted to learn more about social entrepreneurship and the social impacts it could have back home in Kenya. Seeing the success of the shopping bag program, and having connections with the garment manufacturing industry in Kenya, Lian plans to start her own ethical clothing manufacturer, Loocid Global. The facility would provide fair wages, health insurance, and programs for their workers to further their business and leadership skills. Although the company is still formulating and taking shape, Lian would like to use her time at NYU to take advantage of the resources available to get her business off the ground.
Benefits of having resources on campus like the Leslie eLab, professors and classmates to learn from, as well as the flexibility to build a business, make it an ideal environment to be an entrepreneur. Lian has already spoken with professors about her idea and has gotten valuable feedback and support that will help her get started. Partnering with classmates that have the skillset and background to fill the gaps has been instrumental to move forward as well. The MPA program has also given her the tools to run a financially stable organization that also drives economic development and leverages policies in the area.
The Leslie eLab is a great resource to help guide students through their entrepreneurship journey. Their funding and competitions provide opportunities for students to launch their businesses and develop their ideas. With competitions like the Changemaker Challenge, D-Prize Social Venture Competition, and Green Grants, there are several avenues for social entrepreneurs to realize their vision of social impact.
The NYU entrepreneurial spirit has already led to a few successful socially conscious fashion businesses, including Thando’s and Sukoon Active, and I look forward to seeing many more. Since the main driver of the fast fashion movement is our consumer culture, it seems only natural to fight this mindset by introducing better business models and products to choose from. Instead of an industry that exploits people in developing countries, through disruptive social entrepreneurship, we can shift to creating models that empower the people who make our clothes.
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To follow our journey with Loocid Global you can follow us on Instagram @loocid_global
Policymaking: A way forward from advocacy
Since I’m currently pursuing a Masters in Public Administration, policy-making seemed like a good place to start this Fashion Revolution series on ways in which we can drive change in the fashion industry. I started the MPA program at NYU Wagner in the fall of 2017 and have been pleasantly surprised by the school’s attention on human rights issues along the supply chain. From learning about the start of the labor rights movement and the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911 to reading case studies about the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013, even though they are 100 years apart, the root causes and issues seem to be the same. Exploitative and forced labor of garment workers in lower Manhattan has merely moved into communities further and further away, where laws and regulations do not protect them.
Advocacy and disruption go hand in hand with radical shifts and policy change. This was true with the beginning of the labor movement during the era of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, and it is still true now with the rise of the widespread and quickly growing #MeToo movement. How can we take lessons learned from these cases and apply it to improving labor standards along the global supply chain? Admittedly, the process of international policy change has different layers and intricacies from a local state legislature, but the methods of building a movement, laying the groundwork and telling your story remain the same.
Last week, the NYU Wagner Women’s Caucus held a policy formation workshop that centered around the partnership between Assemblywoman Nily Rozic and Founding Director of the Model Alliance, Sara Ziff and their efforts to pass a bill protecting models against sexual harassment. Due to the way in which models are hired as independent contractors, they have few legal protections and no human resources department to turn to when they are harassed on the job. The workshop served as a tool for students to understand how advocacy and policy-making work together to build new laws to shift industries.
In a quote from a New York Times article on their partnership, Ms. Ziff explains that “There has been a sense that simply speaking out is enough” and goes on to assert that “It’s an important first step, but it does not solve the problem. If there aren’t basic legal protections in place, then real change does not occur.” This sentiment was echoed in the NYU event and underscored the importance of taking action and partnering with organizations and people who can drive change through altering the legal structure and governance. As the #MeToo movement has gained traction, many have wondered what about the next steps and how the movement could result in an actual change in behavior. For Ms. Rozic and Ms. Ziff, the answer is through policy-making and establishing laws to protect workers from a harmful and toxic workplace.
The case of the Model Alliance’s partnership with Ms. Rozic is a great framework for looking at how to move the fashion industry forward towards a more sustainable future. Now that the Fashion Revolution movement has raised awareness, and educated consumers on the reality of the garment industry, it is time to find opportunities to impact change from a policy standpoint.
During the workshop last week, Ms. Rozic recommended four steps towards introducing new legislation.
1) Find your allies – who will be the sponsor to shepherd the bill through the process?
2) Build a coalition – who will back you up and lobby legislatures?
3) Get committee members to sign on – who will join in to support you once you have the bill together?
4) Push it on the agenda so you can vote for it.
In addition to these steps, the role of media and communications is crucial to galvanizing support and getting the bill on the agenda. The timely breaking of the Weinstein scandal allowed for their work addressing sexual harassment in the modeling industry to come to the forefront. Just like how the Rana Plaza disaster brought labor rights issues in the garment industry to the forefront. In order to take advantage of these unexpected situations, I think it’s important to have a two-tiered approach. Firstly, have an arsenal of policies backed by research and key influencers ready to mobilize when these situations arise. Second, building relationships with media partners and those who will champion your story when the timing is right is crucial.
This workshop challenged me to think about solving fashion’s sustainable and ethical problems through policy-making, especially in countries and regions where the government is receptive to protecting workers rights and where there is a coalition of supporters to engage governments, factories, and brands in supporting their cause. We saw an outcry from the apparel industry after the Rana Plaza disaster that resulted in the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, the Accord on Fire and Safety in Bangladesh and the Bangladeshi government’s National Initiative. Five years later there are some improvements, but a lot of work is left to be done. These initiatives brought the industry in the right direction but we need to continue to fight for better laws and regulations to protect garment workers. Hopefully, it will not be another factory collapse to shake the industry into acting again, but an advocacy and awareness campaign ready to take action that can continue to move these efforts forward.
A Year of Firsts, Growth and Inspiration for Ethical Fashion Nerd
Today marks Ethical Fashion Nerd’s one year anniversary. It took me two years after moving to NYC to find the mental space to start my blog. Now that I’m a year in, I am so happy that I took the plunge. I’ll admit, there are weeks where it’s hard to find the time to keep it going, but my stubbornness to keep promises to myself has kept me chugging along.
I started Ethical Fashion Nerd when there were many uncertainties in my life – I was unemployed, Trump was about to be inaugurated and I was waiting to hear back about graduate school – I wanted something that I had complete control over. I wanted to make a platform that reflected what I had been craving in the ethical fashion space. I wanted to be a part of something that was deeper than styling tips, brand guides, to take a deeper look and figure out how we can really change the industry. So many times I had heard about sustainable fashion burnout, where people throw themselves into changing the industry but see little or unsatisfying change. It became so clear to me that we needed a place for change, a place to learn, and a place to come together.
This first year has been a huge learning experience. I am grateful that you all have followed me on this journey and I look forward to a great second year of continued growth. I couldn’t have gotten this far without the support you have all shown me and the valuable feedback you have given me to keep flourishing.
In the interest of keeping this short and sweet, THANK YOU for inspiring me to keep writing. And in the spirit of the New Year, I’m including a list of resolutions for Ethical Fashion Nerd below, please keep me accountable 🙂
- Write. Every. Single. Day.
- Get outside my introvert bubble and attend more sustainable fashion events in NYC.
- Widen my network of Ethical Fashion Nerds.
- Give myself a break when I need it.
- Do my very best, and help others achieve their best.
- Try out other formats – interviews, collaborative writing, short stories, etc.
Systemic Change – Better Labor Standards in Cambodia
When you start looking into the world of fashion corporate social responsibility, it is not uncommon to stumble upon big game changers that somehow haven’t trickled down to the media. These are often actions taken by corporations out of necessity and have good timing to thank. International trade negotiations in Cambodia during the rise of their garment manufacturing sector are a clear example of this case, which I like to call “accidental ethical fashion”.
One thing I’ve learned since starting graduate school at NYU is that policies may seem to sometimes pop out of nowhere, but there is often a long history of hard work that is goes unseen. Interest groups and activist are waiting to pounce on those perfect, unpredictable opportunities to push forward their initiatives. It’s our job to be ready, and know how to mobilize quickly when those windows open.
In the case of Cambodia, and confluence of multiple factors led the country to be the first to partner with the International Labor Organization (ILO) to monitor labor standards in garment factories. This partnership resulted in working conditions in factories being directly tied to how many garments they were able to export. The pilot program sparked a new era for the ILO and Better Work organizations were formed in other countries to continue the program around the world.
Cambodia has grown from being completely a closed market from 1975 to 1989, to now having 32.65% of the global garment sector share. The country’s entry into the market in the early 1990’s allowed them to sidestep export quotas allowing their garment sector to flourish. The rapid growth in the industry led to growing pains in the workforce and when stricter trade regulations needed to be put in place in 1998 this allowed for the perfect climate to create the first ever trade laws developed to incentivize ethical labor standards.
During the 1990s when Cambodia was stabilizing, the government saw garment manufacturing as a low capital plan for economic development in their country. Cambodia looked to their neighbor’s economies booming after establishing successful garment manufacturing sectors and wanted to reap the same benefits. The state had a large population of unskilled workers looking for jobs and the garment industry’s low barrier to entry was ideal. Minimal capital investment and training were required to get the industry started, so Cambodia jumped on the opportunity to bring economic prosperity to their people.
Seeing the opportunity to work around the Multi-Fibre Agreement (which set strict export quotas in other countries), investors from Taiwan, China, and South Korea descended on Cambodia to build garment factories and attract foreign brands who were limited by quotas system in other countries. This served Cambodia well, and the market grew rapidly from $80 million in exports in 1996 to $6.8 billion in 2015. The rise of Cambodia’s garment industry owes its success to their opportune timing of market entry. The lack of restrictions allowed them to thrive as other developing countries’ manufacturing sectors were dampened.
In 1998 when the US government faced growing pressure from domestic apparel manufacturers to impose restrictions on Cambodian garment imports, simultaneously Cambodian factories were experiencing increasing discontent from their workers leading to strikes and protests. News of the conditions in factories abroad prompted American supportive labor groups who in turn petitioned the US government to take action and review the claimed abuses of workers’ rights in Cambodian factories. This created the perfect climate for US and Cambodian governments to collaborate on a trade incentivized structure for monitoring working conditions in apparel factories.
With acknowledgment from all parties that government monitoring of factory labor standards was not credible, the ILO was approached to step in as a third party auditor. This was an innovative and groundbreaking partnership, at the time the ILO had never monitored private sector operations, nor had they been involved with on the ground audits of workplaces. The Director-General of the ILO at the time, Juan Somavia, cautiously accepted the proposal after much debate with the ILO bureaucracy and governing body. This agreement would prove to be successful and spark the Decent Work program at the ILO, which protects workers and advocates for fair wages and safe working conditions. The partnership also created a more cohesive ILO, and some would argue, more relevant in the increasingly globalized apparel supply chain.
The monitoring system faced some problems at the beginning, but they were amended quickly to ensure transparency and credibility. Firstly, the quotas were set for the entire garment sector in Cambodia, not by the individual factory, and it was not mandatory for factories to participate in the ILO workplace monitoring. This did not incentivize manufacturers to partake in the program, instead, they would be more likely to try and get a free ride off of other factory’s good efforts. Once this problem came to light, the Cambodian government limited availability of the export quota to the US to only factories participating in the ILO program.
Secondly, transparency of information was imperative for the industry but whether the ILO should name all factories by name or produce an aggregate report was left unresolved. In order to address this issue, the ILO came up with a two-step approach to their reporting. First, they would release a synthesis report of all factories, highlighting overall trends and problems that need to be addressed in the industry. Then, after a re-inspection for compliance, the ILO would name factories that weren’t complying by the ILO standards for labor rights and working conditions. This allowed for the transparency needed and did so in a more impactful way than comparable private monitoring programs.
The private sector responded positively to the ILO monitoring program, which allowed for risk mitigation for operating in Cambodia. Nike, for example, had left Cambodia due to labor rights scandals tarnishing their brand image. Once the ILO started their monitoring of labor conditions in factories, Nike returned some of their production to the country.
There have been debates whether these private sector fashion brands should financially support these initiatives since they are largely benefitting from them. This idea, however, raises issues of incentives. If the private sector is funding the monitoring, they could be driven by driving profits and improving public image, not necessarily by ensuring fair and safe working conditions. That being said, there is a trend in the market for brands to invest in complying with labor laws, so there is some hope that brands may become more invested in this effort in the future.
As the program continued to grow and response from the private sector was highly supportive of their efforts, Better Factories Cambodia was created to manage and oversee the monitoring program in apparel factories. This monitoring agency was founded in 2009 and has grown to offer training programs to help factories reach the ILO standards.
Although this ILO partnership was revolutionary for it’s time, we are still left wanting more. Working conditions in garment factories are still lacking, as seen by the mass faintings occurring in Cambodia in the summer of 2017. Now that we are creating better systems for monitoring and change, how can we inspire a higher level change in the way we conduct business?
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.
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.