My name is Julia and I'm a 22 years old business student (soon graduate!) in the UK. Although, now I moved back to France (oh yeah I'm French by the way!) for the summer and currently look for a job in London for next year!
So let me tell you why I started this blog.
You see, as a fashion lover, for my final year dissertation last year I had to choose something fashion-related – yes because, the more interest you have in the topic, the less procrastinating you will do. Supposedly. So I chose the topic of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Clothing Industry (well yeah, being a business student it had to relate to what I studied during my Bachelor degree too). Researching this topic opened my eyes to all the opportunities the fashion industry had at hand to manufacture clothes in a more responsible way, yet few brands initiate change. Producing ethically would most likely mean increasing the end price of the merchandise (considering workers' wages would have to be increased too) yet in this era of fast fashion, it seems most likely that only a small number of consumers would choose to pay more for ethically-made clothing. Even if the prices are not necessarily dramatically expensive. By the way, by ethically-made I mean made in a way that respects workers' rights and offers them fair treatment and wages, and/or that respects the environment in the processes it uses to produce clothes.
Anyway, so I handed in this dissertation, loads of things happened in my life and later on I was too busy with my Masters degree to further think about that.
Fashion Revolution Day, 24th April 2014
Exactly one year after the Rana Plaza garment factory collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh killing at least 1,133 and injuring 2,500 workers. This factory complex supplied to major brands such as Benetton or Zara. Yet one year after, most of the families of workers who died in the collapse, and survivors themselves have not received any compensation from brands and retailers.
Exactly one year after the Rana Plaza garment factory collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh killing at least 1,133 and injuring 2,500 workers. This factory complex supplied to major brands such as Benetton or Zara. Yet one year after, most of the families of workers who died in the collapse, and survivors themselves have not received any compensation from brands and retailers.
This made me wonder, how can multinational companies that make millions and even billions of profit each year (e.g. Benetton made 188€ million gross profit for the first quarter of 2012 only) not have the funds to compensate those workers and their families? Why would they not do so, even if not out of kindness and fairness, but in a business state of mind, considering previous examples of unfair labour conditions that deeply affected brands' reputation, sales and hence profits in the past (e.g. Nike sweatshops and children labour associations)? That made no sense to me and so I decided I did not want to fund brands that did not seem to care for those workers who are the source of their wealth. I know it's not that easy to deal with external suppliers and to reach transparency, but it can be done. I also know not every company tolerates unfair practices. But for me that was the point where I decided enough was enough and I was only going to purchase from ethical brands or vintage shops.
THAT SAID, this blog will not be about ranting against evil fashion companies unscrupulously exploiting poor workers in 'Third World' countries. I just wanted to set the foundations for why I chose to do this and what were my beliefs on the topic. I'm still a fashionista at heart and I still appreciate the beauty of a clothe whether it was or was not manufactured responsibly. I just won't purchase it if it was not! :)
Where on Earth am I going to shop?!
So I had to start researching on ethical brands and the only one I knew was People Tree. The brand sells a lot of really nice clothes as well as jewelry but to be honest it's not the style I'm used to, very beautiful yes, but often a bit too 'adult' for me (it's more professional, but that said, if I'm to find a job next year, these are the kind of clothes I'll need to start wearing!) and a bit more pricey than high street retailers. By the way in terms of price, if you think about it, if you only purchase a few pieces of clothing a month or every 2 months it can easily amount to the numerous items you'll buy at Zara or H&M (and that you often clearly don't need!). Been there, done that, I'm not judging! :)
So I had to start researching on ethical brands and the only one I knew was People Tree. The brand sells a lot of really nice clothes as well as jewelry but to be honest it's not the style I'm used to, very beautiful yes, but often a bit too 'adult' for me (it's more professional, but that said, if I'm to find a job next year, these are the kind of clothes I'll need to start wearing!) and a bit more pricey than high street retailers. By the way in terms of price, if you think about it, if you only purchase a few pieces of clothing a month or every 2 months it can easily amount to the numerous items you'll buy at Zara or H&M (and that you often clearly don't need!). Been there, done that, I'm not judging! :)
Because the choice was quite limited, I started to extend my search. Ok now that sounds fancy, I really just googled 'ethical fashion'. I found the Ethical Fashion Forum and started to then google all of their partners and I found a surprisingly good amount of really varied brands (including underwear, because yes it's not something you think about, but it's quite hard to find in ethical brands or vintage, no thanks!). All added them to my favorites! Same for vintage retailers such as Rokit. And surprisingly Asos too! They have a bunch of ethical brands represented on their website :) I also wanted to point out that anything manufactured in the European Union (e.g. in the UK, the Cambridge Satchel Company), or in the US (think American Apparel) is most likely safe from an ethical point of view considering the labour laws implemented in both regions. I'll put all links at the end! Another retailer that will make my life easier is Marks & Spencer! They have been named 'Most Ethical High Street Fashion Retailer' of 2014 by Ethical Consumer magazine, so although I'll keep my purchases from M&S to a minimum (their score was not so great, it was just better than other retailers), it will be handy for some stuff!
Reactions from friends and family
Now interestingly the reactions from my friends and family were not as... supportive as I'd have expected! My mum (fellow fashionista, that's where I got it from) rolled her eyes at me and said I'd never last a month let alone a year. Some of my friends acted like I was some kind of hippie (you know who you are, it's ok I still love you), others were a bit more tempered but still thinking of some past stereotypes that I'd end up only wearing burlap clothes (it's 2014 people! Clothes can be ethical AND fashionable too) or elderly clothes (vintage = old) and all tended to agree with my mum that I'd never last. A handful were very supportive and admirative too, so that was nice! I'm not someone who gets discouraged easily so I took all this jokingly and light-heartedly! And as a very stubborn person it made me want to do this even more!
Now interestingly the reactions from my friends and family were not as... supportive as I'd have expected! My mum (fellow fashionista, that's where I got it from) rolled her eyes at me and said I'd never last a month let alone a year. Some of my friends acted like I was some kind of hippie (you know who you are, it's ok I still love you), others were a bit more tempered but still thinking of some past stereotypes that I'd end up only wearing burlap clothes (it's 2014 people! Clothes can be ethical AND fashionable too) or elderly clothes (vintage = old) and all tended to agree with my mum that I'd never last. A handful were very supportive and admirative too, so that was nice! I'm not someone who gets discouraged easily so I took all this jokingly and light-heartedly! And as a very stubborn person it made me want to do this even more!
Completely Ethical Fashion Lifestyle for a year, and maybe longer!
I set this challenge for a year (at least!) so 24.04.2015 and so far I managed to do well (to be fair I had a crazy, unhealthy amount of studying to do, so I didn't really have time to go shopping!). I intend on continuing after if it's not too hard, hopefully, but this year is more a trial to see if this can realistically be done and sustained! Also, I'd like to lead a more ethical life in general but I found that focusing on one aspect first would be easier! Maybe then I'll move on to consuming local food (I'm already trying to, but not as hard as I should) and maybe even purchase one of those Fairphones!
I set this challenge for a year (at least!) so 24.04.2015 and so far I managed to do well (to be fair I had a crazy, unhealthy amount of studying to do, so I didn't really have time to go shopping!). I intend on continuing after if it's not too hard, hopefully, but this year is more a trial to see if this can realistically be done and sustained! Also, I'd like to lead a more ethical life in general but I found that focusing on one aspect first would be easier! Maybe then I'll move on to consuming local food (I'm already trying to, but not as hard as I should) and maybe even purchase one of those Fairphones!
So what will this blog be about exactly?
This blog will be about how I get on with this, what I bought, how I style it and also some DIYs! Because I love doing things myself (thanks Pinterest for all the tutorials!), and although it is quite time-consuming, hopefully this summer I'll have more time to spend on that (last summer as student aka 4 months of summer.) Yay!
This blog will be about how I get on with this, what I bought, how I style it and also some DIYs! Because I love doing things myself (thanks Pinterest for all the tutorials!), and although it is quite time-consuming, hopefully this summer I'll have more time to spend on that (last summer as student aka 4 months of summer.) Yay!
Wow that is a really long post! I promise to keep it short from now on!
Wish me luck and hopefully you'll read more from me soon!
Bisous,
Julia
Bisous,
Julia
(some are more pricey than others, it might be worth checking their sale section!)
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