My Ethical Stance

Over 50% of clothes bought every year are put into landfills which emits about 1,000kg of CO2 per person; which is about half the amount of a small diesel car. This contributes significantly to our carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions.

Recycling is being promoted more and more by the fashion industry using ideas such as hacktivism and upcycling; taking old clothing garments and re-vamping them to produce new and individual garments, which allows people to express themselves more through clothing and wear something different as most high street clothing is standardized to keep production costs to a minimum and cheaper for us to buy.

Cotton is one of the most used fabrics in the fashion industry; it is the 2nd largest produced and consumed natural product in the world after food.

Uzbekistan is one of the worlds’ largest exporters of cotton. Many people that are in debt to the government get taken out of well-paid professions such as doctors and lawyers to pick cotton, as well as children being taken out of schooling and education. Uzbek cotton farming has also taken gallons water from the Aral Sea, which has now droughted 60 miles off shore making living conditions extremely hard. Many pesticides are used on these crops and are not disposed of properly, which has lead to the local drinking water supplies being contaminating. These pesticides are also highly toxic on contact with the skin, and the majority of people who pick the cotton cannot afford to wear protective clothing, due to their poor wages and working conditions.

I have chosen to use recycled fabrics as I believe that until these poor working conditions and unfair trade to the workers and farmers have been properly addressed, and we in the Western World of fast fashion and throwing away should not encourage this outrageous behavior to human kind and the environment; and re-cycling and up-cycling could be fashions response to this.

As I have decided to use reuse and recycle fabrics, as producing new fabric, even if sustainable, such as cotton, has a huge effect on the environment; and therefore have tried to source fabrics which have not been dyed or treated with harmful pesticides, which has lead me to my colour palette of neutrals, creams and browns, which are common colours in natural fabrics before being treated.

After looking at designers that reuse and recycle, such as Martin Margiela and Alexander McQueen, I became inspired not only by the way in which garments were changed but also the idea of deconstruction. I decided to reuse and recycle textiles and garments. I have also introduced the idea of deconstruction into my designs through the recycled items to create new and different one-off lengths of fabrics.