fairFashion-why you should care who makes your clothes

Today's society is a fast moving, ever-changing and hungry one. Hungry for the latest trends, for cheap clothes, lots of  cheap clot...


Today's society is a fast moving, ever-changing and hungry one. Hungry for the latest trends, for cheap clothes, lots of cheap clothes, available always and everywhere - quantity over quality. That's the concept of fastfashion which unfortunatley but undeniably has been a very successful one. There are more new trends than ever and enough people are willing to follow them if only it is for one season. Don't get me wrong- I do like fashion, a lot, its a form of personal expression to me and I love experimenting and discovering the variety and possibilities fashion provides but what has become of the fashion industry nowadays is just disgusting and it's one of the largest most damaging industries existing nowadays.

Consumers have stopped asking where their clothes come from, how they're produced and what they are actually paying for, it's only the look they care for. If they would actually ask themselves these questions the answers would be: Your T-shirt was one of hundreds a young (15,16,17?) woman had to sew that day for less than 1$/day. When she leaves her work space, which by the way is poorly lit, got the worst air and forget about air conditioning whatsoever, after having been there for 12 hours she can't go home because there is no such thing as "home" without paying a rent which isn't possible if your salary barely covers your basic needs. If she is lucky enough she manages to eat more than 1000 calories that day and if she is really lucky she can buy herself something nice such as some 2$ jewelry (after having saved up for that, of course) As sad as it sounds it is 100% true and unfortunatley not an exception but even more sadly many people actually know excactly how our clothes are made, in ways no one could possibly imagine. 
But when they go shopping they are overwhelmed by the prints and promises that come with clothes so they just wipe out the things they've heard and images they've seen just as they do with many other things.
The problem is: only that we cannot see certain things does most certainly not mean they don't actually exist. All the things you may or may not have heard (if the second applies to you, watch the documentaries linked in my guide!) are true, the reality of millions of people who are not as priviliged as you, reading this article. 
Measuring by the success fastfashion lables producing predominantly in sweatshops are having, I assume that most of the people are a) not aware of the cruelty behind the products there are buying or b) are ok with contributing to it.
For a long time I would count myself to category a) and for an even longer time category b) (which is even worse!) until I eventually realized that I cannot possibly call myself ethically conscious, environmentally friendly etc. if I'm still contributing so actively to such a large industry (yeah I know I'm supporting other bad industry as well but this one in particular is very important to me and relatively easy to avoid). I binge-watched some documentaries on the topic and started googling ways to shop more ethically. Apart from some friends also Kristen Leo on youtube was a big help & inspiration in the search of ethical shopping for me so in case you will ever be reading this (tbh I doubt it but anyways) -thank you a lot! 

What I learned actually wasn't completely new to me but seeing & reading certain things over and over again really got me thinking, crying and simply angry and frustrated. Motivated by these feelings my "ethical shopping journey" (or however you wanna call it) began and now is still being continued. Knowing that all companies are dependent from us, me and you as consumers, and cannot exist without us I dind't feel as helpless as before. Of course, if only one person thinks about what they are supporting with the money they spent nothing will change ... but I'm convinced that through social media we have the power to make a difference if only the message is spread and shared and words & thoughts are turned into actions.



Now I know that most of you won't be able to change your habits overnight which was also the case for me but I hope my *Fair-Fashion-Guide* (coming soon) will be somewhat helpful and encouraging to you to change something about the way you think about the products you buy to become a more conscious consumer, not only for your own good but for millions of other suffering and exploited people, animals as well as for our beautiful planet we have the privilege to inhabit. And never forget, Your dollar is your vote! So use it wisley to support only those who deserve your support.

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