Behind the ethics aesthetic
Ragtrader sits down with design house Mission Brown MD Emma O'Connor who has recently launched ethical production house Golden Jasmine.
How has the industry positioned itself to become more ethically minded over the past few years?
I feel that over the years ethically manufactured clothing and production have come to the forefront of media (and consumer) interest; resulting in consumers becoming far more conscious and scrupulous of not just the styles and quality of their fashion purchases, but also their origins. I firmly believe that over the past few years retailers too, have become more aware of the demand for ethically produced product and many (not all) have started to move away from factories and processes that are not considered to be ethical. Every day I am seeing a new campaign shining a spotlight on ethical practice – outlining ‘where’, ‘how’ and by ‘who’ the clothing is being produced – it’s a shift, and great to see the masses starting to join forces.
What are some of the key challenges retailers and designers face when it comes to building a transparent supply chain?
The main obstacle I see when building a transparent supply chain (that is fully vertical and ethically manufactured) is that it can be an extremely expensive venture to delve into – especially if it’s in an offshore location that is a developing country. Not only is being totally transparent expensive, managing teams offshore can be challenging due to language barriers and cultural differences. Additional challenges, sometimes unforeseen, are ensuring that compliance codes are continually met, briefs are being understood by the workers and production teams are being managed in compliant conditions that are regularly audited. Retailers and manufacturers need to work hand in hand and ensure that they have the same vision on ethical manufacturing – and that the product is produced, manufactured and supplied in an ethical manner – this also poses a challenge as management teams working offshore need to be quality controlled to ensure ethical manufacturing standards are being adhered to.
How are consumers becoming more switched on about where their clothing comes from?
With the continuing rise in media interest and ethical consumer bodies such as The Baptist World Aid Report naming and shaming retailers for not doing the right thing, it has become very hard for consumers not to be well versed on ethical affairs. It seems that every second media bulletin has some form of evidence shaming a retailer or organisation for not doing the right thing. On a positive note, retailers that are doing the right thing are educating consumers too. Campaigns that are shining a spotlight on all the good particular retailers are doing are making their mark on the industry, and I do believe consumers are becoming more switched on as a result of this. On a side note, one brand that I have seen that is continuously leading the pack is Everlane – I feel that their approach to ethical manufacturing is both holistic and inspiring.
How can retailers and designers implement positive steps to ensure better ethical and sustainable practices?
I strongly believe that retailers and designers need to make the right choices to move towards implementing ethical and sustainable practices. These days, consumers are smarter and are making the choice to buy ‘ethically’ and so they should. In my 20 year career, the question I get asked more often than not from consumers (and retailers) is; – Where did my clothes come from? – Who made them? – Are they happy? – And, are they safe? I felt responsible as a manufacturer to be able to confidently answer these questions and to provide retailers with ethical solutions to their manufacturing chains – It was then that Golden Jasmine was born. Golden Jasmine is an ethical design and production house based in Southeast Asia’s emerging garment manufacturing market, in Myanmar. We are interested in working with retailers nationally and internationally who require garments of high quality volume, who visualise ethical sourcing as their core value. I’d love to see retailers who have not made the positive shift to work ethically starting to think about doing so, to join forces with a venture such as Golden Jasmine or other like-minded organisations. If retailers are unable to implement ethical manufacturing standards themselves, they should be looking at partnering with organisations that see ethical manufacturing as their core value too. Ethical doesn’t need to be associated with dollar signs.
If you could action one major change within the garment industry, what would it be?
If I had the power to action one major change in the garment industry, it would be to cease outsourcing high-volume production to low cost and exploited nations. I’d love to see retailers stop producing ‘cheap as chips’ garments at the expense of the workers in offshore factories who work in unregulated environments for little pay. I’d love to know that all factories that were being used offshore were quality controlled and not putting their workers at risk by exploiting and exposing them to unfair, unregulated and illegal working conditions. The fight for the cheapest t-shirt really needs to stop!