Defining Eco-Fashion
From Ecouterre: Made-By Defines Eco-Fashion with New “Jargon Buster” Calendar
What is the criteria for fashion to be called eco-friendly, sustainable, green, or the myriad of other terms used to describe the rise of eco-fashion brands? I love fashion and any wearable art that adorns the body, particularly the marriage of native costume and contemporary design. The lofty dreams I hold in my head combine my love of travel, culture, language, and international relations with fashion, clothing, and adornment for the purposes of educating the wearer or the consumer about another culture, another way of life, another person. Using fashion and/or material culture to educate and beautify. Anyway, exploring the rise of ethical fashion seemed to marry these interests quite nicely. It’s a burgeoning sector of fashion, manufacturing, and design, environmental studies, and international development. Since the beginning of 2010, I’ve been observing the entrance of ethical fashion into mass culture. Ethical fashion is defined as clothing or accessories produced in response to environmental needs, producing with more sustainable materials, consuming less, recycling existing materials into new objects, as well as considering the lasting durability and timeless existence of an object. Moreover, ethical fashion considers the manufacturing and labor process involved, with particular focus on the working conditions of the laborers and in response to the exploitation of labor in developing countries. The labor portion of ethical fashion also includes utilizing co-ops, specifically sewing co-ops or employing otherwise disenfranchised women who carry on often fading traditions of native handicraft.
