Fffound image here.
We don’t know where many of our purchases, for example our clothes come from. Maybe the label on your new t-shirt claims it’s eco-friendly because it’s made of organic cotton. Do you know why organic cotton is better for the environment? It isn’t what one could call friendly to the environment, being the most water-consuming crop (less when it’s organic though) it is just friendlier, a step in the right direction. But have you thought about how far it’s travelled before it landed in your (plastic?) bag? Was the cotton harvested by a 10-year-old in Uzbekistan? Then sent to China to get knitted into jersey to then sewn in Bangladesh in a sweatshop where people don’t earn enough to live off? … But then, how can we even worry about it if we don’t know? We should know (if it’s anything that is worth marketing and selling, don’t worry, we’ll definitely be informed in that case). Transparency is a key point at Patagonia, a California-based outdoor brand; I am impressed at the effort and thought put into the traceability of their garments online and their HONESTY.
Sorry about that rant, it just kind of burst out of me! The little wheels in my head haven’t stopped turning since starting Daniel Goleman’s “Ecological Intelligence- How knowing the hidden impacts of what we buy can change everything”. Admittedly a read that also makes me feel helpless, as I DO want to make the perfect garment that is both beautiful and also doesn’t hurt the planet or the people that make it and I WANT to live that way too but it feels like a feat impossible to accomplish one-hundred percent. So I’ll read on, get inspired, learn and do my very best. And then keep on improving.
Many of us in Europe are quite aware of green-washing and are starting to question the impact of our purchases, even or especially the ones labelled as “green”… However, many Indonesians aren’t even aware of environmental and social impacts of the fashion industry, any industry at all in fact or why they shouldn't use lots of plastic bags. Therefore, Anglindo has made it their mission to raise awareness in Indonesia. This is a nation of over 234 million people (4th largest population in the world after China, U.S. and India). Therefore, I have been researching general facts on ethical fashion (Kate Fletcher's "Sustainable Fashion & Textiles is being a huge help but I am frustrated to find some contradictory facts on the www) in preparation for a talk at Sekolah Tinggi Desain Indonesia (a design school in Bandung) on that topic. A talk I am doing with 2 out of the only 3 other eco fashion designers in Bandung* for educators and students alike with the aim of getting some wheels turning also in their heads...
I shall be documenting some of my findings on this blog. My mum read watched the vid on organic cotton and told be how shocked she was; she had no idea, in fact she thought by buying a natural fibre such as cotton, she was doing the environment a favour. A common misconception and to be honest what I thought when starting my collection until I started researching and opened that tin of worms...
* Maizir from Firebolt stocks a range of organic cotton tees with prints to raise environmental awareness. I bought some organic jersey cut-offs from him actually, to be used in the Anglindo Winter collection; they are knitted here in Bandung
And with Phae from Parental Advisory. He owns a 'distro' (independent streetwear shop) selling punk-inspired kid's clothing (well cute!) with a skate ramp in the back yard for his intiative called "Adikaka' for low-income kids, providing them with toys, skating&printing workshops to encourage them to finish their school education (amazing, will do another seperate post on that!).
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