Unless You are a Naturist — You’ve Got Skin in The Game
How Localism Can Save the Planet and How You Can Help
Shipping large containers of cheap clothing from The Indian Subcontinent or the Far East needs to stop.
In both the UK (where I am) and the US, we import over 90% of our clothing. After the production of the cloth (known as “textiles”), the biggest cost — financially and ecologically — is transportation. Environmentally it is extremely damaging to make virtually everything overseas and ship containers half way across the planet, belching oil into the oceans as they go.
“The fashion industry is responsible for 10 % of annual global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. At this pace, the fashion industry’s greenhouse gas emissions will surge more than 50 % by 2030.”
Source: The World Bank “How Much Do Our Wardrobes Cost The Environment?
The West’s reliance on the East’s ability to live below the poverty line in order to satiate our desire for new clothes, is not a good enough reason for it to exist. It is massively damaging to the environment, and human exploitation is rife in the sector. The counter-argument is “but what will all those people do for jobs?” if we decide to produce our clothing domestically. Well, they are extremely resourceful and will do what people in the West had to do when these jobs went off-shore during the 1970s and 80s.
If this sounds harsh, that’s not the intention. Evidence of rapid climate change is abundant. Over the last year or so, we have witnessed devastating fires in Australia and the Pacific Northwest, fatal floods across Germany and Belgium, and New York City experienced apocalyptic scenes of passengers attempting to navigate flooded subway stations.
Climate change deniers need to get real.
“Globalisation is a policy, not an act of God.” Jimmy Carter
Whether you are interested in fashion — or couldn’t give a fig, my guess is that right now you are wearing some sort of clothing item. So, unless you are a naturist, you have skin in the game. Pardon the pun. Right now, you could be reading this wearing a robe, workout gear, swimwear, all the way to corporate uniforms or formal business attire.
Before they came into your possession, all these garments will have been:
- Designed — dreamt up by a Designer (yes even really naff clothing has to be designed)and made into a drawing so that…
- The design can be translated from a 2D image into a paper pattern by a highly skilled Pattern Cutter.
- It is then made into a “toile” a French word for a mocked-up garment in cheaper cloth to check that the pattern works, by a highly skilled Sample Machinist.
- Then, most likely, it is mass-produced. By other Highly Skilled Garment Makers
None of the above jobs are unskilled — or even low skilled. These are highly skilled practitioners and arguably those with the highest skills are the lowest paid.
Out of sight and Out of Mind.
As illustrated in the table below, only 6% of the garment’s retail price covers labour. “CM” means Cut and Make and within that, we can see that overheads and profit for the factory owner are also part of this 6%.
The skilled maker is at the very bottom of the food chain in this transaction.
There is always downward pressure on price from retailers, so the trend within the industry has been to “chase the cheap needle around the planet”. Now, relationships with China are becoming politically unstable and their labour costs are rising, eyes are on South America and Africa to supply cheap labour.
But it does not have to be this way.
The term “Fashion Sustainability” is a misnomer. At worst, it is the latest trend in an industry that thrives on trends. At best, it has the potential to drive real and lasting change which could positively benefit both the planet and the people making our clothing.
There is, and increasingly should be, another way.
Localism
Of course, if all of our clothing is made off-shore, in lands far, far away — we are completely disconnected from how, where and by whom they are produced.
However, if they were produced locally, then there would be a greater awareness between the customer and the maker.*
*It is important here to again emphasise the immense skill involved in making garments to a commercially high standard. Wrongly described as “factory workers” this demeans the level of skill involved. This is not unskilled work. If you have ever made a piece of clothing yourself, you will know.
There is a Joy in Making Something Yourself.
Over the last three to five decades, the decline of home sewing and repairing skills has been as rapid as climate change. Coupled with mass-offshoring in the US and UK, it has resulted in further loss of knowledge in basic garment construction and repair methods.
Whether it is crafted from wood or cloth, the end result of making something, after hours of toil, can be hugely satisfying and long-lasting.
In Sweden, there is an education system called Sloyd. Mainly involving woodwork, it has evolved to encompass all thing made by hand. There is even a claim that the act of “Sloyd” can improve cognition and make you smarter!
In a previous article, I wrote about how I gave up buying clothes for a year and how it reset my levels of consumption. This was coupled with an increase in utilising what I already had in my wardrobe, repairing, shortening or upcycling to transform my old outfits into new ones.
There are signs of optimism.
The disruption of the global pandemic has created a time to pause, reflect and reset. An article by Mary Gale Smith, discussed the English saying “A Stitch in Time Saves Nine”. This is about repairing immediately before the problem becomes bigger, and more expensive. It is similar another phrase popular during the Second World War “Make Do and Mend”. Both of these phrases most likely were born of financial necessity, but they can also be applied in the quest to save the planet.
If developing your own sewing skills is not for you— and come on, even sewing on a button is a start! — then perhaps instead, you could be more mindful of your purchases. Around the world there are many locally based fashion brands that produce conscious clothing.
- Hiut Denim are based in Wales and make only jeans. Yes, the denim is shipped from Japan (we can’t grow cotton in the UK), but the jeans are produced in-house.
- In New Zealand, a high fashion brand called Maggie Marilyn takes pride in using only locally based factories. They see these factories as “part of the family”, thus supporting both the environment and the local economy.
- Alabama Chanin has championed local skills and has also opened a “School of Making” holding sewing workshops.
To conclude, as evidence illustrates, what we wear, where we chose to buy it and how we then use it is important.
Really important.
It is vital for the replenishment and continued health of the planet. It’s real. So, I invite you to consider seeking out who makes clothes locally to you. Yes, these clothes may be a little more expensive. But it is more likely they will be made from natural fibres, which don’t shed plastic particles into the oceans (and end up in drinking water) and biodegrade more easily.
Also, and of equal importance, you are helping to end human exploitation as you may even get to see the person making it for you.
