Fashion: Buy less, buy ethical

The collapse of a garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, last month drew worldwide attention to the fashion industry's production processes. It was Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster, with more than 1000 people killed. Eighteen garment factories have since been closed with textile minister Abdul Latif Siddique publicly stating that safety was being given the "highest consideration". That's a good start.

But events such as this raise the question, what can we, the individual consumers, do? The cold reality is that the West's constant drive for cheap, throwaway fashion is driving the exploitation of labour markets in Third World countries. Again, what can we do?

There is an answer - buy less, buy ethical, buy local. "But buying local is so expensive!" I hear you say. "Not everyone can afford Kiwi designer threads."

Not true. I know this is a fashion column, but bear with me as we do some sums.

Say you buy a $20 cotton T-shirt, which you wear twice a week for three months until it's faded, worn, the seams twist and it's lost its shape (or shrunk) and ends up in the bin. How many of those T-shirts would you need over a two-year period? Eight. Multiply that by $20 and those not-so-cheap tees have cost you $160.

Alternatively, you could buy an ethically produced, organic cotton tee. My friend has one such black tee, which she has worn with equal frequency for two years. One tee, two years, still going strong. It's made by Wellington brand Kowtow, who take pride in using organic, ethical production methods from seed to garment. The cost for that guilt-free tee? $95.

So, while the initial outlay is more expensive, in the long run it costs you (and the landfill) less. The cost-per-wear of high-quality garments that you'll wear for years to come is always lower. And just think, while you gradually put aside money for that quality garment, you're also learning valuable saving habits. It also means you're less likely to buy items on a whim that you won't wear.

The other thing consumers can do is buy less. I once heard that we wear 20 per cent of our wardrobes 80 per cent of the time. Surely it makes more sense to have smaller, carefully curated collections of garments that you wear regularly, than to have a wardrobe so bulging you don't even remember most of what's in there?

This is a question Starfish designer, and long-time eco warrior, Laurie Foon, also raised. Starfish always had an ethical stance, using fabrics sourced ethically and, where possible, from New Zealand. But Foon also questioned how fashion in general adds to continual consumption in her New Materialism campaign. She highlighted how we often buy things just because of want, not need. And rarely do we question how they are made and what that adds or takes away from the planet.

"We love to have and create beautiful clothes, but we also care about how they're made, where they're made and what they're made out of," Foon says.

It's all about changing your mindset to consider what you're buying, how it was made and whether you actually need it.

Unfortunately, last week news broke that Starfish has gone into liquidation. Foon's business has become a victim of the effects of what she has long campagined against. The end of another Kiwi fashion label is a salient reminder of why we, as consumers, need to support them.

On a personal note, Laurie - we wish you all the best for the future and are sure this won't be the last we'll see of you.

Next week we'll look at what pressures there are on New Zealand designers, what financial support is available and what's at risk if we don't buy local.