Last month, on April 24, a revolution took place. This time it was about fashion and the idea was to commemorate the victims of the collapse of the Rana Plaza textile factory in Bangladesh one year earlier. The horrible accident killed more than 1 100 garment workers manufacturing cheap clothes for our "needs" in the West. Journalist Jason Burke challenges this mindless consumption in the Guardian: "People blamed the factory owners, the builders, or the government. But isn't the real culprit our demand for cheap clothing?" Indeed it is, but rather than pillorying anyone or everyone, our responsibility now as civilized consumers is to demand for more ethical and ecologically and socially sustainable clothes as was done during the Fashion Revolution Day.
The day consisted of different events around the world to gain attention to the poor working conditions in Asia and to the lack of ethics in fashion industry. Even the Italian Vogue participated in this fashion revolution (hypocritical?). With my flatmate here in Helsinki, we went to the cute and cosy art gallery Lokal to participate in a photo session organized as part of the day's events (they had great scones for breakfast too). The point was to take photos of people wearing their favourite clothes inside-out (showing the "Made in" label). I wore one of my favourite Marimekko dresses ("Made in China"!!!) that has attracted a lot of positive feedback from my friends and strangers alike (in a scout event a German guy told me that I was the best dressed scout ever - blush!).
Wearing one of my favourite Marimekko dresses inside out. More ethical fashion, please! (You can find more photos in Twitter with #insideout)
Unfortunately Marimekko, the most well-known Finnish fashion brand, has started to manufacture more and more of its clothes abroad. I'm obviously ok with EU countries, but I'm annoyed that some of the quite expensive clothes are nowadays made in China. Who knows how the subcontractor of a subcontractor is working. I've send a few emails to Marimekko complaining about the current situation: why isn't Marimekko making its clothes in Europe any more when it is at the same time celebrating loudly its Finnish design tradition? The excuses have been weak ("there is no machinery in Finland any more" - hmmm, I wonder why) and, to my humble opinion, it's just about making more profit for the stock holders (well, of course it is). It's a pity because I'd love to buy more Marimekko clothes and wear them proudly in Finland and abroad (I should actually be given some kind of a Marimekko promotion prize for all the publicity I've done for the company outside Finland - except for this blog piece maybe...).
In the Guardian, Jason Burke continues: "Executives from big brands all make similar points when talking about the Rana Plaza collapse. They express their shock and grief... They also emphasise the importance of the garment industry to the Bangladeshi economy and the social transformation brought about by the employment of millions of young, rural women, albeit in poorly paid, monotonous jobs. One company spokesman points out that otherwise 'these women would be in the fields, in ship-breaking or shrimp farming, working as maids'. Now, he says, they are breadwinners, independent, and often with the means to pay for their kids to go to school." It is true that withdrawing the garment industry from Bangladesh would leave millions of people without a job (altogether the livelihood of 8 million Bangladeshis depends on this industry). That's why it's imperative to improve the working conditions out there. There is a need for global solidarity even though that sounds like a quite unrealistic solution.
Personally, I think we could afford to pay much more for our t-shirts - and for ecological reasons we should pay more and buy less. However, it's sad what the business is saying (again a citation from Burke's article): "Companies do very precise work to understand the consumers and what level of quality they are willing to pay for, and a large number of consumers prefer inexpensive over respect for human rights or environment. After all, if you buy a pair of jeans at $9.99, what are you really expecting about the working conditions of those who made them or even just the environment in which they live?" This is why the strict regulations should be in the law and not in the hands of the consumers. Couldn't the EU do something (why not ask your EU parliament candidate!)?
I've discovered recently the brand Cotélac, which I really fell in love with and I think it must be somewhat ethical as the clothes are made in France and in their shops they are very willing to talk about the production. However, when I tried to inspect the issue more, I couldn't find information on the internet after a quick look. But well, Cotélac's clothes are so expensive that it is by necessity ethical and ecological as you can only buy very few of them... However, this just exemplifies how difficult it is for the consumer to know what they are buying and where all the pieces and bits are made in. Nowadays it is not even necessary to have the label of origin in the clothes; I find this actually quite shocking considering how much effort the EU is putting on the labels of food for example. I want consumer protection here too - protection against bad consciousness (or is knowing worse? it's made in China and I buy it anyway...).
Cotélac print from this spring's collection.
After the few negative words about Marimekko spelled above, I have to say that at least they have their corporate responsibility agenda clearly visible on their website. It is by the way surprising that of Marimekko's total production only 23 per cent are made outside of the EU. Surprising because each time I look at the "Made in" tag it says China, which after all only represents 8 per cent of Marimekko's manufacturing. All in all, Marimekko's website is a great source of information. This is already quite good while it doesn't impede me from challenging them to work more ethically and ecologically by sending them an email every now and then reminding them that there are consumers who care - by the way, you should do that too with your favourite company.
p.s. Here are some tips for sustainable fashion brands from Finland.
