Supporting emerging and small-scale designers costs more than buying clothes at a big retailer like the Gap or H&M. But if you have the extra cash, Erica Cerulo of Of a Kind (a fantastic site) explains why it’s worth investing in some emerging-designer pieces:
If a designer wants something custom-printed with a motif she’s dreamed up herself — something that makes the thing ultra-special — that’s a whole other story that Jesse Kamm (above), who has a cultish namesake line, is game to tell. “I come from a printmaking background and was hand-printing everything myself. When my son was born, I decided to outsource some aspects of my business because I wear so many hats. I found a place in California to do my printing, but it was so expensive. After I create the design, there’s a $300 to $500 setup fee just to get screen made. Sampling is a $75 setup plus a $35 per-color fee and then $5 per yard of fabric you have printed. If a dress takes two yards of fabric, then the print is $10 — and that’s not including the fabric itself or the sewing costs, tags, and whatnot,” she explains. “I visited a fabric supplier who said, ‘Jesse, why is your printing so expensive? We do ours overseas. They don’t have the EPA overseas.’ It was profound. So what you’re not factoring in is the cost on the environment — which will come back to get you. It was so much cheaper that I had to think, ‘Is this that important to me?’ Then I was like, ‘WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? This is all that matters.’” When manufacturing locally, those environmental costs have to be offset at the very least — you can’t just go dumping chemicals in the Gowanus in 2012.
Clothing production costs money, no matter who’s doing it. And if the clothing is cheap to buy, that means that someone else is paying the price — the textile-makers who are working under appalling conditions, the seamstresses who are paid pennies, the environment that’s being destroyed by contaminants and chemicals. Underpaid clothing laborers are disproportionately female, and are also routinely subjected to environmental hazards, sexual harassment and physical assault, with little or no recourse. Cheap clothing comes at a cost.
Of course, the economic realities even in “developed” countries don’t make real-cost clothing an option for many of us. So the point of this post isn’t to say, “Everyone must buy pricey but less exploitative clothing.” Many of us can’t afford that clothing but also can’t go outside naked, so we buy what we need. And large-scale change isn’t going to happen by buying sweatshop-free clothing alone.
But there are a lot of folks who buy far more than what they need, and from exploitative retailers (and I will absolutely cop to being one of those people). For many of us, it is worth taking a few minutes to think through our purchasing decisions. Actual laws obviously need to be implemented to protect workers and the environment, but clothing manufacturers also respond to buying patterns — if enough consumers are willing to shift their purchase patterns, manufacturers will shift their behavior. And articles like this are a nice reminder of what’s behind an $80 price tag — it’s not always just someone looking to line their pockets.
I’ll also put in a quick plug for Feministe friend Kate Goldwater’s store AuH20. All of her clothing is sweatshop-free and affordable — the $10 and $5 racks are always stocked.
Do also check out Of a Kind. It’s run by two fantastic women, and features a whole lot of female designers.
Other sustainable fashion suggestions are welcome in the comments.
Thank you for writing and posting this! “Cheap clothing comes at a cost” is certainly correct. The less we pay as consumers, the less is being paid all along the line — and likely least of all to the one, usually a woman or girl, who produces the clothing itself.
Indigenous Designs is only one of many companies that make or import “conscious” clothing. At Indigenous, the emphasis is on fair trade and organic material.
Since I generally can’t ever afford high-end clothes, and yet am loathe to buy from places like Wal-Mart or Target, I do a lot of thrift store shopping at Goodwill and Value Village.. has the double benefit of sometimes being able to find some really nice stuff within my price range, and also feeling like I’m not *directly* supporting companies with questionable manufacturing processes.
Eventually I’d prefer to just learn to make my own clothes, but since my sewing machine continues to baffle and scare the shit out of me, I’ll just do what I can.
JuteandJackfruit.com carries organic/fair trade clothing from a number of designers, and the owner, Shana, gives excellent customer service (Using a gift certificate, I bought a dress from her site that ended up being unflattering, and when I emailed her about returning it she was extremely helpful in suggesting alternatives based on my body type. The dress I ended up with, per her suggestion, was not only flattering but cheaper than the one I initially ordered, leaving enough $$ on my gift certificate for a lovely scarf!)
Horny Toad has excellent environmental practices (from their fibers to their energy resources). They also have some great partnership programs including one to provide jobs and training to people with developmental disabilities. And the quality of their clothing is excellent. I have a couple of their dresses that I’ve put through much abuse and they still look as good as knew.
One thing about our shopping choices that is important to me is buying quality products. And I’m willing to spend a little more (not much given my income, but some) on a well-made garment that will last me several years. As I’ve become more and more serious about my knitting, I’ve definitely learned that you get what you pay for when it comes to fibers.
Any sustainable fashion suggestions for those of us living off of a working class salary? Like Andie I try to stick to thrift stores, but unfortunately it’s nearly impossible to depend on them entirely (especially for extremely petite people like myself who have a difficult time finding clothes that fit to begin with).
I’m just curious if a supplier like Spoonflower would work for her? It’s a small company in which people can design their own fabric. I don’t think there’s a set up fee, and fabric designs can be made private (though many people sell their fabric designs through the site). I believe Spoonflower is here in the US. They are not the only one, either, just the one I am most familar with.
I do know that fabric choices are limited (cottons and silk, maybe linen, not sure), and price per yard is higher than say, JoAnn fabrics, but (having ordered from them myself) what they have is high quality stuff and the prints look good. For fabric for a few pieces, this might be an alternative.
Any suggestions for the plus-sized? I’d love to support emerging designers, but I have yet to find any that make clothes that will fit me. As a size 16, I’m just outside of the range of what most stores carry. This means that vintage/thrift shopping is usually pretty fruitless as well.
http://Alta Gracia Apparel/
produces college logo t-shirts and hoodies in a non-sweatshop factory where the workers earn a living wage
Autonomie Project has a small but quality selection of organic, fair trade shirts and footwear (i ordered a pair of Etheltic chuck taylor-style sneakers from them that i love)
I know I’ve said it before – but as someone who used to work as a union organising in the clothing industries – never assume that there’s a correlation between what you pay for hte clothes and what workers are paid for their work. Basically any designer who isn’t making everything themselves has opportunities to exploit people (either directly or through contracting) and I’ve seen horrific work practices in the tiniest of businesses. I’d have friends tell me how awesome certain designers they were, and in public the designers would talk about how important to them various values like New Zealand made clothes were to them – and they would treat their workers like garbage – in ways that made it difficult to live and also damaged people’s health.
The same goes for thrift stores – some of the most hair-raisingly awful stories of exploitation I have ever heard happened in thrift stores.
Buy clothes where you like – but unless you’re talking to the people who make the clothes totally off the record and in confidence. Then you don’t know the conditions they were made under.
@Maia,
Not *completely* true. If you buy from Walmart, you pretty much can know the conditions they were made under… unfortunately
One day, when I am not a student living off government allowances that pay for rent and groceries and not much else, I will definitely stop buying clothes at larger stores. But right not, $10 shirts really, really help me get by.
That said, I buy a lot of second hand clothes though, and I sew myself a dress from time to time for fun. Like my formal (prom equivalent?) dress at the end of high school – $60 for fabric, a couple of days work and my medieval/fantasy/Eowyn dress is done! Sewing is such a great skill to have. Makes me really appreciate how much work actually goes into creating something and why homemade clothes are so expensive.
It always shocks me back into class-consciousness when someone uses a brand above my paying capacity as an example of “cheap.” You did a good job of mentioning that in your post, though, so I’m not really complaining so much as just reacting.
Holy crap, I know right? GAP and H&M are a splurge for me.
I’m very much hoping Etsy consistently gives one enough awareness of who made it and how.
BUT WAT ABOUT THE MENZ????
No, seriously, anyone know of any good places to find more ethically-minded men’s clothing? A lot of the online boutiques mentioned are exclusively for women’s clothing.
Thrift stores! My 12 year old is developing her own style with second hand clothing at very little cost. The quality is better than what lots of her friends are buying new so they last longer and fit better. And that I sew helps, but it isn’t necessary.
Also check out these fantastic women in Burlington VT:
http://www.salaamclothing.com/shop/content/4-about-us
They aim to fit all sorts of body types as well.
And I second the Horny Toad appreciation. No, the clothes aren’t cheap, but they are reasonable and a couple pieces can last years and be worn over and over.
@Ladeeda
Don’t worry, launching July 4th is TrendSeeder which will feature Mens and Women’s apparel and accessories from emerging designers.
Yes our pieces will be more expensive than your Gap and H&M stores, but every design will be produced in limited runs, numbered, and exclusive to our store. Check us out!
Hey, anyone have good suggestions for ethical clothing for fat chicks? Particularly from young designers?
I’d prefer if it wasn’t total muumuu realm and not crazy expensive, but, sigh. I recognize when I’m hoping too high.
I agree in supporting emerging designers versus buying mass-produced clothing. In addition to clothing unique jewelry created by emerging artist is favorable too. Check out http://stylecaper.com to find hot fashion jewelry created by artist in major cities.