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creative living •
we’re in a transitional period of awareness
So does this mean consumers, her
readers, are truly interested in the
provenance of their garments?
“Yes and no,” she says. “I don’t
have any statistics, of course, but I
feel we’re in a transitional period of
awareness, with half of the world still
not giving a toss where their polyester
comes from ... and the other half
seeing the issues in a sophisticated,
futuristic and more caring way.”
The latter half, of which she
considers herself a part, are “trying
to slow down spending on fad fashion
and thinking more about quality, backorganic
& ethical...
ETHICS – THE NEW TREND IN FASHION
There was a time when the words ethics and fashion had no business being neighbours in the same
sentence. There was a time when the world’s poorest people would have no involvement with the world’s
richest fashion houses. There was a time when discarded materials or ‘recyclable’ objects would never make
their way to the windows of department stores. There was a time when cashed-up fashion consumers cared
only how their garments looked, not what their impact on the earth and its inhabitants was. Times change...
These days we’re expected to
know the origins of so many of the
products we use, from the milk we
serve our children to the wood that’s
used in our kitchen tables. And
fashion is no different. Each week we
learn of new organisations that are
focussing on the behind-the-scenes
of fashion production and many
designers are doing amazing things
to give back to the communities
around the world who have long
provided labour in the name of style.
Jan Breen Burns, fashion editor
at The Age newspaper in Melbourne,
says the ethical fashion concept “has
been kicking around for a decade or
so” but used to be very niche and the
products often somewhat anti-fashion
- “hippy sacks” as she calls them.
“In the past four to six years there’s
been a steady increase in the number
of good boutique fashion brands also
mentioning ‘eco-friendly’ practices and
organic and ethical processes in their
marketing material,” says Jan. “I think
this is a natural consequence of global
conversations getting louder around
pollution and toxic industries, climate
change, Armageddon etc... .”
Get Creative Quarterly Autumn 2012 63