Ethical fashion describes the whether impact of the clothes we buy is fair on the people who make them, as well as the planet. Ethical fashion focuses on the social impact of the clothing industry, covering a wide range of issues such as living wages, working conditions, health and safety, forced labour and child labour. Ethical fashion can also include vegan and 'cruelty-free' clothes.
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Oxfam campaigns to create a fair fashion industry,
Fashion brands have been told they must do more than just make “commitments” to ethical practices, with experts saying that unless words are followed by actions it amounts to very little.
A report from Oxfam and Monash University released last month urged brands to commit to purchasing practices that reduce human rights risks in their supply chains, and to work towards ensuring safety and living wages for garment workers.
Dr Harriette Richards, an honorary fellow of cultural studies at the University of Melbourne:
“We’re currently valuing things based on end cost, not on quality,” she said.
“I think we need to rethink the value of clothes. Price should be about where the garment has come from, who the people are across the supply chain. You’d also consider how long it’s going to last, what it’s end is going to be.”
The push for fair pricing
Richards said rethinking value shouldn’t mean garments become more expensive, but that the price incorporates a fairer supply chain. She said that a higher price doesn’t always mean a higher quality garment, but it should.
She said better purchasing practices could potentially result in a shift away from disposable clothes that are cheap, poorly made and with questionable elements to the supply chain, and instead result in higher quality, ethically produced garments that would last longer.
More people are interested in buying ethical fashion.
Ethical clothing brands in the Oxfam Shop
- Brands we stock that are considered ethical, e.g. Patagonia, Finisterre
- Types of ethical clothing we sell: Sports / Active / Outdoor, Men’s, Babies / Children, Women, Dresses, Maternity (these are high volume searches)
