Less Clothes, or Better Clothes?
15 MAY 2020
We love fashion. Like for many others across the world, and whether we acknowledge it or not, it’s one of the ways where we get to express ourselves visually every day. However, as consumers it’s often difficult to know where to find the right information, and what are the actions that we can take against the industry.
Well, no more! Explore these clips for conversations with some of the leading activists bringing transparency and accountability to the fashion industry.
Rethinking our Power as Consumers
Jonas Schneider describes the significant role the customer plays in the fashion supply chain. Fashion is not a one dimensional conversation, and the shopper has the power to change the industry through their own decisions.
Jonas Schneider shares the origins of Slow Fashion Season.
Our favourite quote:
Our mission is to leverage technology to show that no one is too small to make a difference and to also praise the individual importance of consumption and consumer behaviour.
Anna Masiello shares the origin story of R-Coat.
Our favourite quote:
What I love most is R-Coat is now a community based project. Everyone can donate their broken umbrellas to their collection points and we will make them into coats, therefore saving the umbrellas from landfill.
Abbie Morris and James Omisakin share the origins of Compare Ethics.
Our favourite quote:
We want to make it easy for consumers to see ethical and transparent brands in an easy and practical way. We are on a mission to bring awareness and avoid greenwashing.
Molly James shares the origin story of Know the Origin.
Our favourite quote:
We are an ethical market place. We have created our own standards around people, planet and purpose so our customers understand how ethical and transparent each of our brands are.
Anna Masiello reveals her best tips for living a zero-waste lifestyle.
Our favourite tip:
Zero-waste doesn’t mean not shopping, everyone can be zero-waste in their own personal way.
To Anna, it means shopping in a very conscious way and she follows two simple rules when shopping: only shop second hand, or brands that are fully circular, and only buy clothes that are made from natural fibres.
Abbie Morris and James Omiksakin discuss why transparency in fashion is so important.
Our main conclusion:
Transparency is such an interesting concept. Transparency does not equal ethical and sustainable, it has to be underpinned by data and verification. Transparency just for the sake of it is as vague as a garment label.
Why is transparency in fashion so important? Molly James has the answer.
Our main takeaway:
Transparency is a vague term. A brand could be transparent, but it does not mean that they are actioning against any injustices that are happening within their supply chain. We must hold brands accountable for their actions.
Abbie Morris and Molly James explain how we can trace our garments.
Our favourite tips:
Abbie: Tracking our garments movements is difficult, but there are many tech-based companies that are tracing where the fibre in our clothing has been grown.
Molly: Ensuring that the clothing you are buying is certified: either by GOTS, organic fair trade or better cotton initiative.
Abbie Morris shares why it is important to know who has made our clothes.
Our main conclusion:
Purely, there is so much corruption within the supply chain. Sometimes, brands do not have awareness of where their clothes are made, meaning that workers may have poor working conditions, little agency and unfair wages.
How do we change our purchasing habits? Anna Masiello shares her best tip.
Our favourite tip:
First of all we need knowledge to inform ourselves on the dangers of fast fashion, and then through education we will have inspiration to change our behaviour.
Molly James explains why we should change our purchasing habits.
Our main takeaway:
It’s easy to get detached from a product we are buying. This is a consumer mindset of not knowing the impact our money has (labour, wages, manufacturing). Once we learn how we can help, our purchasing habits will change.
Connect with our panellists
Abbie Morris
Abbie is the CEO and co-founder of Compare Ethics; a sustainable company that connects conscious shoppers with brands leading by example. Abbie is also a sustainability and policy expert, and has previously worked with the United Nations, World Economic Forum and Confederation of British Industry (CBI).
Jonas Schneider
Jonas is an ambassador for Slow Fashion Season. Slow Fashion Season aims to raise awareness about the fashion industry and how you as a consumer play a role in it, while providing you with a concrete action that has real impact and brings you into a community.
James Omisakin
James is the CPO and co-founder of Compare Ethics; a sustainable company that connects conscious shoppers with brands leading by example. James is also an innovation and product specialist and certified Agile PM Practitioner and has grown funds on behalf of Times Top 100 businesses before turning his focus to the use of tech for good.
Molly James
Molly is a conscious living buyer at Know the Origin. Know the Origin was founded in 2015 by Charlotte Instone; she had a dream to build a new system that elevated fashion, empowers livelihoods, lifts people from poverty, builds communities and feeds, creates, loves and restores. Succeeding in her dream, Know the Origin is now a home for the richest choice of certified brands.
Anna Masiello
Anna is a prolific environmental activist, entrepreneur and zero waste influencer. She has a Masters in Studies of the Environment and Sustainability by ISCTE and is a member of the Global Shapers Lisbon Hub of the World Economic Forum. She is also the founder of R-Coat, a community-based brand of circular and sustainable fashion that transforms broken umbrellas into clothing and accessories.