AIBU to want to know who makes my clothes?

[Kabex]

As the title suggests really, who is making the clothes in the shops? Where are they made? What are they made from? What chemicals have they been treated with?
There is almost no way to find the answers to these questions.
Does anyone else care?

Nomad clothing is lovely and they have lots of information on their sources and process.

The attitude to clothes worries me. The low low prices have created a throw away clothing culture - how awful to have sweatshop clothes worn once. Disgraceful

“That’s an hours work. The fabric (full price, I got it in a sale as it was a slight second) is 22 quid a m.”

Anaridae I like the tshirt you made, but your examples of timings and cost per metre don’t really compare to mass produced garments made on a factory line, and produced from fabrics bought in bulk.

I also disagree that wool can be described as ethical, in fact PETA are running a campaign advising people not to buy it at all.

Synthetic fibres, including recycled ones, are now known to put plastics back into the oceans (albeit in very small pieces) every time they are put through a washing machine.

Basically the best thing to do is buy second hand wherever possible.

YANBU.

I also want to know who makes my clothes and the environmental impact of that production. It bothers me that there is little transparency.

I sew a lot of my own clothes now and try to buy fabrics made in the EU or AU/NZ where I believe there are stronger environmental protections. I also shop in charity shops a lot. All this takes up a lot of mental space however, and it's not cheap. Not everyone can do it.

I am prepared to pay for ethically-produced clothing made from natural fibres, but even at the higher end (hobbs, jigsaw etc) this is difficult to find. That's why I bought a sewing machine.

Yes I understand that one off garments can’t compare to a mass produced - that was my point. :) it’s not a cheap option for those on a budget.

Regarding wool - I’ve worked on sheep farms as a student in NZ - sheep had pretty good lives. They were ranging free over good country, checked daily, I saw them shorn, and participated in that. It’s done professionally and is a real skill. I saw nothing that made me think they had anything other than about the best life a sheep could have.

There are some companies that allow you to scan the barcode on the garment and see the station the sheep were raised on. The fibre is prepped and dyed in NZ where regulations are pretty good.

There’s plenty of UK grown wool, raised in hill country, spin in the uk, grown in the uk
Again, what is unethical about that? It’s renewable. The animals are treated well. The product is used - carpets for the rougher fleece and up to quite luxury yarn for the nicer stuff.

PETA are extremists, in my opinion.

I understand that plenty of merino is sourced from herds that are mulesed - that’s a practice that needs restricting then stopping. It also doesn’t happen in any supply chain for any product I use or buy.

I think wool, done right, is great. It’s renewable, it breathes, and it keeps you warm or cool.

Yeah, wool is probably the most ethical. The really harsh bleaches used in processing fabrics can't be used on wool. It just destroys it.

@Anatidae, I saw a beautiful article in Monocle magazine a few years ago about a farm in NZ that was providing fibres for clothes so I think having the ability to see that if you scanned a barcode on your clothes is a great idea, so you actually know where the fabric originated.
@MismatchedCat, I also like the aesthetic of Jigsaw, Hobbs, Reiss - in a way I think they are such good quality that they are more environmentally friendly as they last almost forever and still have a high resale value. What I would love is a second hand boutique of Reiss clothes for example - pocket friendly, a style you know you're going to like, needs washed less (if it's boiled wool dress for example, you probably only want to hand-wash it once a year )

I'm genuinely heartened to see so many people are interested in this issue and that there are people addressing it. Hopefully this post has even created some awareness and taught someone something about the fashion system, that they didn't know about it's ethics, and will help them make more ethical decisions where they can when buying not just clothes but anything.

I buy from here quite a bit and this page tells you all about their eco range

www.polarnopyret.co.uk/popcares-eco

Might be useful information for you (and handy if looking for kids clothes)

I work for a Scandinavian company, we know where our clothes are made, with what and who makes them, but I get a big twinge of guilt when I shop on the high street now. I love dress making but I hardly get the time.

visible.clothing/
I love that this website introduces the tailors to you.

labourbehindthelabel.org/resources/reports/

Lots of interesting information on this site.

Here’s a list of ethical suppliers in the uk

moralfibres.co.uk/ethical-clothing-brands-women/

There is some gorgeous stuff on that site.

I buy very little from high street shops. I only buy clothes made in the UK and the EU.

Missmatchedcat. Have you looked at Twicely? They sell loads of good second hand designer stuff.

I agree, I want to know. The only transparent brands are to expensive for me right now. No middle ground

Sorry zombie thread! 🧟‍♀️