BY: SETH STEVENS
Americans have become more sophisticated consumers in the last 20 years, trending towards a holistic approach to their spending.[1] An increasingly large market consists of “socially responsible” consumers who care about the ethical context behind their products.[2] Organic foods line the local supermarket; business giants Apple and Amazon have adopted (and heavily advertised) their respective climate pledges, and black-owned businesses have become household lingo in the backdrop of the Black Lives Matter movement.[3] Clothiers have undoubtedly tapped into this market with their branding—two giants include Everlane and Reformation—but to what standard are they held to?[4] Moreover, how will consumers know that their labor practices are indeed equitable?
Portlandia: Farm (AMC broadcast Jan. 11, 2011) (parodying a Portland couple that wants to ensure the chicken they’re eating was raised with care).
As I swiped through Instagram ads at home or straightened a set of polo shirts at my retail job, I grew frustrated with this ambiguity. I could not tell whether a company’s sustainability policy was anything more than a small charitable donation or an annual company nature retreat. There was no apparent system to reward companies that do things the right way since their fair labor claims are just as appealing—or just as suspect!—to the socially responsible shopper as companies that embellish their ethics.[5] Congress and Executive Agencies are equally impotent to enact change on the international scale that the fashion industry inhabits.[6] Despite this lack of governmental oversight, if I had read those polo shirt labels more closely, I still could have gotten a snapshot of their environmental history and the labor that went into its production.[7]
Fairtrade is one of many international organizations that monitor business practices and labor conditions for a suite of industries.[8] These organizations reward companies that meet their ethical standards: The company can include certifications on their respective clothing tags.[9] However, issues arise at this stage as a garment may involve multiple fabrics that were farmed or woven by different providers.[10] However even barring that issue, while Fairtrade’s intentions are laudable and its certification communicates essential information to the consumer, the problem remains that information is only as valuable as it is transmissible.[11] If consumers do not check—or know to check—the label for a garment’s ethical history, the point it makes is moot.[12]
I propose a two-fold solution: Fairtrade and all alike organizations should develop a holistic system to certify mixed-fabric garments and offer more visible signifiers of their certification. In plain English, these organizations should offer stickers and promotional materials to clothing companies for single-origin garments and multiple-origin ones alike so that they can better articulate their social responsibility. Whether these companies’ business practices are sustainable, fair-labor, diverse, or otherwise, these promotional materials would serve both the consumer and the business. The socially responsible consumer becomes more confident in their purchase; the socially responsible business profits from their ethical practice. This system would have the ancillary benefit of incentivizing ethical business in general. When businesses can fully show off their good behavior, there will be a growing market to meet them with open arms.
[1] See Marina Azmy, The Rise of Conscious Consumerism, DAC Grp. (Nov. 20, 2018), https://www.dacgroup.com/blog/the-rise-of-conscious-consumerism/.
[2] See Portlandia: Farm (AMC broadcast Jan. 11, 2011) (parodying a Portland couple that wants to ensure the chicken they’re eating was raised with care).
[3] Apple Commits to be 100 Percent Carbon Neutral for its Supply Chain and Products by 2030, Apple (July 21, 2020), https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/07/apple-commits-to-be-100-percent-carbon-neutral-for-its-supply-chain-and-products-by-2030/; The Climate Pledge, Amazon, https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/about/the-climate-pledge (last visited Apr. 25, 2021); See Nicole Saunders, 200 Black-owned Businesses to Support in 2021, NBC News (Feb. 27, 2021), https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/black-owned-business-guide-n1258948.
[4] See, e.g.,
[5]See Choose Fair Labor, Green America https://www.greenamerica.org/choose-fair-labor (last visited June 2, 2021).
[6] See Elizabeth Segran, President Biden, Appoint a Fashion Czar!, FAST COMPANY https://www.fastcompany.com/90595661/president-biden-appoint-a-fashion-czar.
[7] See Id.
[8] How FairTrade Works, Fairtrade International, https://www.fairtrade.net/about/how-fairtrade-works (last visited Apr. 25, 2021).
[9] Kasi Martin, Why Food has Fair Trade Labels, but Clothes Don’t, The Peahen (Jan. 3, 2017), http://thepeahen.com/fair-trade-clothing/ (discussing cotton fair trade labels on clothing).
[10] Id.
[11] See Id.
[12] See Id.