ethical is fashionable!

I’m not usually interested in the glitz and glamour of Fashion Week – or the painfully underweight models (unless you think of it as an extreme sport, in which case size 6 is errr… extreme) but this year started out a little differently.

Ginger & Smart and Lisa Ho opened the show basking in the glow of their new ‘sweat-free’ accreditation from Ethical Clothing Australia. Is that a big deal? Yep, I think it is.

The question has to be asked: Are these labels leading the pack in the fight towards ‘fair’ fashion, or are they the clever first to locally respond to changing consumer trends in the EU? The answer: it doesn’t matter.

Ethical is becoming fashionable, and that’s a good thing whichever way you look at it.

At the other end of the ethical scale, American craft site Etsy has brought the concept of handmade into the view of millions of consumers – and they’re loving it to the tune of tens of millions of dollars each year.

Who would’ve thought that crochet could be so marketable? It well and truly is, and the crafters at the forefront of the ‘handmade revolution’ may just be the grassroots prelude to the ‘next big thing’.

Is there really a new generation of consumers wanting to re-group in a world that is moving faaast? I think so.

It seems impossible that we have been able to collectively turn a blind eye to the reality of overseas, local and locally outsourced sweat-shops. We all know what happens, and I would think that we all do care – but it’s just too hard, too big, too pervasive to do anything about. Or is it?

It’s been incredibly difficult to buy ethically – not withstanding a complete restyling to suit the latest loose-fit hemp fashions. But times, they are a changin’ and choice is a wonderful thing.

Every time you choose to buy something that is handmade, ethical or fair trade you are giving confidence to designers and artisans to move, or continue moving in that direction. Alternative economies have an enormous transformative potential… and it’s exciting to see where we are headed with ethical fashion in Australia.

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Jen Djula is the founder of Bluecaravan!

Have a look at what Bluecaravan has been doing to promote independent ethical design.

– Jen Djula