(Photo source: "4 Charts that Prove Fast Fashion Can’t Be Sustainable", thecommons.earth. I highly recommend reading this piece!)
As long as I've had this particular platform, I've written little about the work I do daily - the work of a designer and garment-maker.
So!
Let's get to it.
I make clothes. I conceptualize, design, sketch, draft, assemble, fit, embellish, and construct garments from the ground up. I've made thousands of pieces. My clothes last years and years and years! Most my clients - when their beloved piece finally starts showing wear - don't want to have it repaired because they don't want to go even a few days without!
My garments are custom-fit, they are made in a (near-)zero waste studio, they are constructed in humane conditions - and I don't use animal products in any way.
My quality and breadth of expertise continues to deepen.
My work is part of solution set for the horrors of fast fashion - i.e. most of the clothing that most Americans purchase.
I'm sad to say that most Americans, these days, act as if they are helpless to do anything about these corrupt systems.
And Americans - as is our global reputation - purchase, make (for the home sewists), and discard far more than anyone else on the planet.
(Photo source: ibid.)
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I am a custom designer, which means I make pieces one at a time. Many people respect what I do. But my work is somehow seen as separate from "clothes".
You might think this is because of my relatively high price-point; but please know that when I offer low- and no-cost services and products, people overlook these too.
When I share my skillsets at no cost (as I did two days ago in an in-person workshop) there is dwindling interest every year.
In short: people are demanding more from their clothing, yet becoming further disconnected from the realities of producing clothing.
I mean, it's just Capitalism - and many people are brainwashed. It's all about quantity of clothing, and appearance of affluence and abundance (although few people would admit to that). It doesn't really matter if these clothes last - because they can get new ones. For the home-sewists, quantity is key. Keep those new looks coming to satisfy the IG followers! Whether they make or purchase the clothes, influencers need a new cute look daily.
All these unmitigated growth demands are sought a savvy maladapted use of the social justice phrase: "accessible".
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We are currently experiencing a downward spiral in terms of retail clothing quality.
Clothes are cheaper than ever, generated at record speed in horrible environmental and humanitarian conditions.
Do you remember when it used to be a scandal, to be associated with a sweatshop?
Well, not so much any more.
Any brand can simply slap, "ethical and sustainable" on their website - there is no oversight nor regulation on these terms. Brands know that people care about workers (in theory anyway) so they misrepresent or flat-out lie about their production ethics. Some clothing lines, like shapewear Yitty (championed by self styled liberationist Lizzo, but merely another Fabletics offshoot) egregiously claim to empower women and all genders even as copious amounts of polyester are churned out via the hands and exploitation of (mostly) women of color, mostly in the global south.
I could go on about the falsehoods in the fashion world, but I'm actually too tired.
I have some resources (below), and also some practical assistance.
I always try to offer solutions, not just talk about problems!
Given we have no regulatory bodies regarding using the words "sustainable" or "ethical" on clothing websites, I have adopted a new approach: I need to be able to see the factory floor before I'll believe the pieces may be "ethical" in any way. I am not saying this is a perfect metric to determine how well a brand is doing. I am saying it is the first, bare-minimum standard I have now adopted.
And this standard is not unreasonable. These companies could let us in on factory conditions - no matter how complex they claim this would be. They don't do it because they don't want to do it. When these corporations want to do something, they spend big bucks, Think of all the clever tech employed to spy on our every transaction, even our not-so private conversations in our home!
The tech is there, for us to see a chain of production!
This is the bare minimum for me. Obviously it's narrowed my ethical purchase list down immensely. Which ultimately, helps my life a great deal.
Decisions are easier for me now.
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People who make clothes are disappearing even further from public discourse.
In fact a while back a podcast (their entire platform is built in opposition to fast fashion) invited me on their show. In our pre-interview I told the host I intended to discuss global garment worker rights and conditions.
I was promptly un-invited.
This podcast like so many other influencers in the soi disant "slow fashion" movement, they aren't really about the values of liberation. They set up fast fashion as a convenient punching bag but ultimately they're looking out for themselves.
In the case of this specific podcast, they want a bigger audience, a good-paying job - and a book deal.
It would bother me a lot less if these types didn't position themselves as activists or change-makers.
They are not speaking truth to power.
They're trying to get more power, for themselves.
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As a maker I am vegan, (near-)zero waste, and I don't abuse my employees (me, lol). Every step of the way I look into how I can do things better - technically better but also more wholesome for the planet. A few months ago I saved up to buy a new label printer - one that uses zero ink, less paper, and utilizes a post-consumer full recycle label liner. I am constantly doing these sorts of things.
I apply my standards of excellence to every facet of my business, every day.
So if you want a piece from me: read my Policies and engage with me!
And if you want makers like me to survive and hell, even thrive? Support me, tell press about me, donate to my efforts (here at the end of the post) -
Because trust me, it is a lot harder to do this with ethics, than without!
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Fast fashion is a race to the bottom, emphasizing unmitigated growth, terrible worker conditions, and increasingly small margins (which will always result in poorer quality over time).
To the extent people buy these garments - they fit poorly and wear out quickly. The worst part is that as we buy more and more fast fashion, we guarantee fewer choices that are sustainable, well-made, and long-lasting. Buying fewer pieces of garbage-quality clothes to save up for a well-made piece by an ethical maker - it's life-changing, especially for the ethical maker!
Work like mine and other ethical makers, is only going to get better (provided we survive). Because we're not in this for tight margins: we're in this for quality and for Triple Bottom Line values.
Support us while we're still here!
(Infographic source: "Unsustainable Consumption: Fast Fashion in the United States", Emily Schroeder, Medium.com)
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Some concluding thoughts:
Makers like myself are largely unrecognized as part of a real, practicable solution to our fashion waste crisis - a crisis in terms of land use, water pollution, environmental racism, and human and non-human animal rights.
This is exactly backwards. Makers like myself have so much to offer, and we should be provided leadership opportunities, press opportunities, or at the very least afforded coverage for what we do.
Even if our work is a moderate or high price point most of us offer payment plans, as well as low-and no-cost work. Given our quality, our cost-per-wear is comparable to cheaper alternatives.
In addition: we are primed perfectly as consultants. We usually have transferrable and scaleable skillsets for those wishing to expand into cottage-scale mass manufacture, or those who want to connect with better ways to produce.
Above all, I'm sad to see so many who have housing, who have relative financial privilege, continue to ignore the plight of garment workers.
I am doing my part to bring change, by spending time and effort on this post.
Thank you for reading.
I'm launching a few new things soon, so if you like my non-writing work, you know the things I create - make sure to get on my email list. That's the best way to stay connected.
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Sources and resources:
No Pride in Sweatshops, LGBTQ+ justice project re: garment production
"Fast Fashion Explained in Under 5 Minutes", Kristen Leo, Youtube.com
"Fashion's crippling impact on the environment is only getting worse", Vice.com
"4 Charts that Prove Fast Fashion Can’t Be Sustainable", thecommons.earth
"Garment workers' suffering in fashion supply chains", Collective Fashion Justice
"The True Cost of Fast Fashion", Foundation of Shared Impact