The world we live in is not black and white. But from a young age this has been the way my mind thinks. Christian or not? Republican or democrat? Wrong or right? As a teen and young adult, I viewed many things as decidedly one way or another and struggled to see the wiggle-room within.
But as the years and life experience accumulate, I realize I have been so wrong. Few things are black and white. Most people fall in the shades of gray – for better or worse.
[ shirt (similar) / vest (similar) / jeans, thrifted 501’s, try these or these or goodwill ;) / shoes / purse, vintage Dooney & Bourke / bracelet ]
Ethical fashion is one of those things. I wasn’t exactly thinking about it in the past, but it’s something my black and white mind wishes to see in cut and dried terms. But there are so many levels, degrees and schools of thought on it. I shared a few weeks ago about how I first wrote certain brands off my list and later changed my mind after learning more.
When we’re considering ethical choices sometimes we can choose to look at the bigger picture. For example, H&M’s new conscious line. At first thought I was dubious at best. This retailing giant that feeds into the spinning wheel of fast fashion is coming out with a ‘conscious’ line?! Why isn’t it ALL conscious?!
Upon further thought, my attitude changed. What if this was the beginning of a shift in the industry? Shouldn’t we support the line in hopes that it becomes massively successful and H&M expands it to their entire business? I’d call that a victory for the ethical fashion realm. And more importantly, a victory for the people whose fingertips are on the clothes we wear.
“Through our 900 suppliers, we’re connected to 1,900 factories and about 1.6 million people. This means we have the potential to create a huge positive impact.” -H&M website
But as with all new things we should approach cautiously and with a sharp eye.
What do you guys think? Do you agree? Would you support this line? Leah, I am especially interested to hear your thoughts!
xo,
Andrea
My first instinct was NO WAY!!!! But you do have a point… shift in the industry? clothing giant making small changes? I mean, I guess it could be the start of something.
It does seem a little contradictory at first glance. Are they using profits from their mainline business to support it? Can it stand on its own? Be scaled up? (Hello, business school nerd alert.) However, I do see the other side – if we support it, then it can cause a huge shift in the industry. If we don’t, and it isn’t seen as successful (and for H&M, that’s measured in dollars earned) then they fold it up, put it on the shelf, and nothing changes. This is a really interesting thing to be considering, and of course I’d have to read up on it before making any big decisions. Thanks for mentioning it today!
I’m not sure how I feel about it – ethical is such a buzzword right now that part of me wonders if they’re just trying to follow a trend or if it really is a genuine attempt to start shifting over. I know with the current “bring in your old clothes to be donated” H&m is turning around and selling those back to the charity stores which makes me a little uncomfortable. But as you said, sometimes it is one step at a time and hopefully it could be the start of an overall shift.
I’m really interested in this… I sew my own clothes, and have basically avoided shopping at non-ethical and/or made in the USA retailers when I can. H&M has been on my “no way” list for years because everything is so cheap… I know that things like a tank top should never cost $2.
BUT! I’m really excited to see that a lot of the items on this conscious list are maternity, as I happen to be 23 weeks pregnant. I’ve made bras, but I’ve been a bit nervous about making nursing bras, etc and they have those! I still feel like there is a lack of information though, like when it says “imported” but not from where. Or any other information about the origins. It seems like just labeling something “conscious” isn’t quite enough… But I probably would’ve purchased some of these items from some other anonymous origin just out of necessity, so it’s worth a look!
Definitely! That’s interesting perspective. My nursing days are behind me, but sourcing ethically made bras has been a big challenge for me! I have seen some, but they just don’t have the support (okay, okay, padding) that my post-nursing body needs. Congrats on your pregnancy! So amazing that you can make most of your own clothes!
H&M Conscious is something that I’ve mostly made peace with in my own “ethical” fashion journey, so long as I feel like I will actually wear a piece for a long time. I LOVE that it makes choices like like organic cotton super affordable, but I’ve also learned that sometimes something cheap is gonna feel and look cheap, so I still have a quality standard. I recently bought some lycocell shorts from the line and they are shockingly nice in fit and quality. Have you seen they just put out their yearly report? It has a bit more info on how they quality “conscious.” http://www.hm.com/us/conscious-highlights
So true Lo, I agree, you get what you pay for. I am to the point where I mostly want pieces that will be with me for a long time, not seasonal stuff that wears out quickly. But still, if I find myself downtown I might have a look at the conscious line. Checking out that link now, thank you!
Great food for thought. One of the biggest reasons I’m opposed to fast fashion is because the quality of the clothing is so low. I’m glad that HM is trying to be more ethical and I hope this is the new trend in fashion. Still, I’d rather hunt for higher quality items at the goodwill :)
I hear that Katherine!
I love H&M Conscious pieces. Not necessarily the business, but what win me over every time, is that it is affordable and wearable and trendy pieces that I love to wear over and over again.
The way I see it, is that they can change a lot. They are supposedly the biggest purchaser of Organic Cotton worldwide, and though it is a small percentage of their own overall cotton use, it is massive in terms of scale.
I feel weird about supporting them, because I would rather spend my money on smaller designers, but I do think they are changing something.
Also; I don’t think it’s a bad thing that Sustainability, ethical issues etc becomes a buzzword or a marketing word; I believe it can be a good thing that it is a marketing factor, that companies will start compete about having a sustainable line.
Also; I truly believe H&M are on this path, and there is no stopping them, so I’d rather support that – when the pieces are just my Style, as an other commenter also mentions.
Great points Johanne! Thanks for weighing in.
This has made me think about my stance on H&M Conscious, turns out I was being really black and white as well and in a similar way.
I recently came across the idea of ethical off-setting as a business model (kind of like carbon off-setting) on this pod cast: http://bit.ly/23DEkcY. To me I feel that H&M is basically doing this to make them look and feel better about themselves. However this is not necessarily wrong and could be a great step forward with a positive effect. Who knows this path might end up in a this ‘retailing giant that feeds into the spinning wheel of fast fashion’ becoming a leading light for slow fashion, who knows.
That would be amazing, right? I suppose only time will tell!
This was on Eco Cult this morning, you might be interested in it! http://ecocult.com/2016/i-talked-to-hms-head-of-sustainability-heres-what-he-said/
So good! Thanks for pointing me towards it!
I’m all for baby steps, especially from huge corporate giants that have a lot of influence over what other companies do. If H&M can push the whole industry forward, that’s a good thing. And in some ways I’m just relieved that all my angst over the last few years – along with the demands of other conscious consumers – is making some sort of impact.
That being said, I’m wary of greenwashing that obscures real progress and convinces a large part of the thoughtful population to stop at one step forward without going all the way. I’ve never been totally opposed to shopping companies like H&M (or Target, now they they carry some fair trade and organic products), but I also want more than small change. I want lifestyle change that helps us value the makers – designers, planet, and factory workers – so a truly ethical framework would be small scale and would offer totally original design. In the short term, though, it’s unrealistic to adopt a small business approach – we’re already too far gone – so seeking commitment to positive change from global companies is the most effective approach.
On a related note, I have made peace with the fact that some items I prefer and wear regularly are not sourced from ethical companies. I would rather buy a quality product that fits correctly and then write a letter to the company to ask for higher ethical principles than buy a fair trade item that fits poorly and won’t get used.
It’s always about balance and transparency, I think.
Alden at EcoCult just published her interview with H&M’s sustainability director. It’s really good: http://ecocult.com/2016/i-talked-to-hms-head-of-sustainability-heres-what-he-said/
Could not agree more with being all for the “baby steps”! And really your entire comment encompasses my take as well… (in part with Doug Gardner’s too).
If an individual can make the decision to commit to something like say, sourcing and eating local organic whole foods in one day but then take months (years even) to flesh that out into existence — given the constant influx of new information & lifestyle habits that need addressed — then how could we ever expect a monster industry to take the same metaphorical leap?? Baby steps.
Balance, transparency, commitment and (honestly?) grace.
Thank you for weighing in Leah, I always appreciate your well thought out perspective. You touched on a great point about a lifestyle change. I think a big part of this equation is us, the consumers, shifting our mindset about the goods we demand to purchase. We need to stop viewing apparel as something we use up and instead something we invest in. Maybe then companies would stop hocking cheap goods all the time.
I’m all for big companies starting the conversation on important topics – as long as they are completely transparent. My understanding was that the Conscious Collection was more focused on sustainability than ethical manufacturing but reading their yearly report it seems they have good vendor partners. Maybe I’m too big picture, but it begs the question, why can’t they just switch all production over? My other issue with H&M is that their big Recycle Week just happens to coincide with Fashion Revolution week and the anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh…which just feels greenwash-y to me. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/03/rana-plaza-campaign-handm-recycling?CMP=share_btn_fb
I think collections like H&M’s latest is a step in the right direction. And regardless of their motives (almost) if enough people shop exclusively in THAT department I think they will see a difference and preference. That said, although locally owned and ethical brands will be more expensive, but I would rather support them as opposed to a big name store (generally speaking). My pink tee I bought for my spring capsule is from their line as it was the only one I had located up to that point that fit my criteria, lol. I can’t say it is up to par with some of my nicer pieces, but not shabby considering it was $10. Which still sounds too cheap….