Why The Things We Buy Suck
You're about to read a rabbit hole I metaphorically fell into and took five business days to get out of. I'm here to share how I'm processing. I'm watching a Vox video, Why Everything You Buy is Worse Now, and the interviewee, Izzie Ramirez, is talking about purchasing the same product from the same brand, except the quality has gone down. She used the phrase Consumer Engineering to explain what she was experiencing. It means exactly how it sounds. Consumer Engineering occurs when we, as consumers, no longer wait for things to wear out but displace them with other things that aren't more efficient but more attractive.
I dove deeper out of concern for being brainwashed. Consumer Engineering is a term that can have different interpretations depending on the context. When designing a product, focusing on meeting consumers' needs and desires refers to Consumer Engineering. By this definition, Consumer Engineering involves understanding consumer behavior and preferences to create attractive, functional, and profitable products.
Here is where it gets manipulative. Some interpretations of Consumer Engineering suggest an approach that exploits psychology and marketing techniques to influence consumer behavior and encourage certain purchasing decisions. For example, a line of hype beasts outside the Supreme store increases the likelihood of creating desire.
I discovered that Consumer Engineering has a close relative named Planned Obsolescence. Planned Obsolescence is the styling of manufactured goods to appear more acceptable than their predecessor to consumers. Apple's annual release reminds consumers every year that there's an even better version of the phone they own. These persuasive advertising techniques influence purchase frequency, usage behaviors, and perceptions of quality and durability.
Consumer Engineering represents the socially constructed relationship between advertising, public taste, and the production of goods. This process imbues products with excessive or disproportionate value, significance, or desire. This magical property imparted by advertising makes newer products more acceptable than what people already own, turning them into objects of desire. Happily swapping out current possessions for sleek, new designs conditions people to invest their value in products, resulting in higher expectations for brands and fueling hype and production cycles. This speed gives brands an excuse to produce mediocre products.
Earnest Elmo Calkins, the Father of modern advertising, was an early American proponent of integrating art and industry to recover from the years of slumping sales due to the Great Depression. He witnessed a 'new art' phenomenon in Paris. Owners decorated their shops with various cubistic and futuristic graphics, packages, and displays. Most of this aesthetic was too bizarre for the ultra-utilitarian American taste then, but the avante-garde expressionism undeniably achieved greater intrigue, excitement, or harmony.
Calkin proposed styling manufactured goods to control consumers' behaviors, many of whom were women then, by incrementally feeding them new colors and designs. To stimulate progress, Calkin believed "it is necessary to displace what consumers already have, still useful, outdated, old-fashioned, and obsolete," no matter how artificial. What seemed to be a new method for transfiguring commonplace objects would eventually become a strategy by which brands could represent the essence of what the product symbolizes to the consumer, adding to the saleability of goods and justifying production demands. Our manufactured desire for what's new leads to hyper-consumption, prioritizing speed and convenience over quality and craftsmanship.
Blinded by money, Calkin's over-prioritized industry and consumer manipulation over artistic value are the distinct parts of his Paris experience. Everything sucks because there's no artistic quality. Progressive European modernists believed in the affinity that exists between modern industrialism and some aspects of art, which, combined, aid people in acquiring new points of view on life while giving artists credibility and exposure. By producing products with artistic value, they transcend aesthetic ideals set by rigid institutions and power imbalances.
Alternatively, Consumer Engineering can refer to the practice of ensuring that products are safe, reliable, and meet regulatory standards. This process focuses on consumer safety and satisfaction, durability, usability, and compliance. Overall, consumer engineering encompasses various aspects of product development, marketing, and consumer protection to create products and experiences that meet consumers' needs and expectations while ensuring their well-being and satisfaction.
How Diversity Impacts Sustainability in Fashion
Black people are no strangers to hype culture. If anything, they invented it.
Black Fashion
It started with players like Dapper Dan, who remixed high-end luxury material into one-of-a-kind fashion pieces. He eventually got the recognition and respect from the brands he made accessible because he created hype around his brand. Then, there's Rihanna, who's not afraid to take risks and experiment with different looks, and she is the only black woman to have ever led a luxury fashion house under LVMH. She is a fashion icon and is on everybody's moodboard. Then there are newer trendsetters like Telfar Clemens, whose Telfar bags have taken over New York City. You can't go one block without seeing one of his designs.
There are many examples throughout history of Black Fashion leading hype culture because their style is limitless and culture has so much swag, people want the sauce. But there's just one problem. Black voices are constantly left out of conversations about the future of Fashion, especially when we celebrate sustainability and social impact. There needs to be more representation in the space.
I decided it was time to document the Black perspectives on these issues and designed a study to draw inspiration from people working in Fashion. During the study, I not only learned how to make sustainable Fashion cool, but I also learned how to create a better shopping experience that's more intentional. Before I spill all the tea, let me tell you some more of the fashion industry's dirty secrets.
Fashion Lacks Equity
Bangladesh is the world's second-largest apparel manufacturing center after China because it's one of the cheapest places to produce clothes. Brands source over $30 billion worth of garments from Bangladesh because the minimum wage is roughly 32 cents an hour, or $68 a month, and their working conditions are poor. You would only step into work if the building were secure and provided proper bathrooms. These workers have little choice because they either love what they do or are so skilled that it would be difficult to find other forms of work, and they have a family to support.
Not only does the industry exploit people, but it takes zero responsibility for the clothes it produces. When nobody wants a garment, the garments don't disappear or absorb into the earth. They have to be either repurposed, destroyed, or landfilled. These landfills may be natural environments like deserts and seashores in foreign countries, and they develop because we promise clothes at a cheap price, but most of it is trash. 15 million clothing items are shipped to Ghana weekly from North America, China, and Europe. Almost half of that is worthless and goes straight to the trash yard. Dumping our clothes somewhere else so no one has to see them has become the de-facto waste management strategy for the fashion industry.
We clearly need a reality check.
Black Culture
The fashion industry thrives on hype culture. Every brand is looking for its viral moment and products to sell out, and most of those moments originate from Black culture. I wanted to know how Black people are good at creating hype culture, and this first nugget of knowledge came from a friend who's a fashion designer.
He said, "Black people are not afraid to bend the rules to their liking, and people are attracted to that level of freedom."
Black people don't allow our struggles to define their future or hold them back. Black people find ways to move through it. Black people exist in spaces that are not designed for them and are often taught to assimilate into mainstream culture to survive. At a young age, my parents had to sit me down and teach me about racism and discrimination, and this happens very often in Black families.
It's impossible to erase our culture. Black culture is familial and community-driven. It's love and celebration. It's also struggle and resistance, but the resilience in the face of inequality makes Black people unique. Whether Black people are at work, school, or public spaces, it feels like being under constant surveillance and scrutiny. But they are liberating themselves from the symbolic shackles, opening the door to shades of blackness, like Black Girl Magic and Black Boy Joy.
Another friend of mine who works in fashion law, which is a very corporate and serious place to be in, shared that she intentionally wears her natural hair and Air Jordans to the office because she wanted to set an expectation that she wasn't changing for anyone. Black people don't innately desire to follow the status quo; they desire to stand out.
When Black people were taken from their homes and sold into slavery, they had no choice but to create a sense of home away from home. To them, creating symbols and meanings wasn't just culture, it was survival. Those terrible conditions bred creativity that manifested in Black hair, clothes, and the language. It's in their DNA to take things and do them differently. Black people learned the art of remixing to make anything unique to their culture or more accessible to the community.
Hype Culture
Much of hype culture today lives online, and it's easier for their attitude and self-confidence to spread. Social media connects Black people all over the world and increases Black culture's visibility. Whether it's TikTok dances inspired by Black musicians or popular Black sayings, Black culture rules the internet. We even have our section of Twitter, Black Twitter. Social media leads to broader adoption of Black culture, thus creating hype culture, and society loves to take from Black culture because their tenacity is something people aspire to achieve.
Being Black is learning how to get comfortable creating their own safe spaces when there is none. It's about taking risks. Most people aren't comfortable with stepping outside their comfort zone. Black people don't have the luxury of safety. With Fashion, when they put on an outfit, they have no choice but to rock it confidently. But that confidence comes from inside. Doing it well comes from a more profound sense of self-awareness. This is what makes them masters at setting trends. There's so much more to hype culture than just putting together great outfits. It's what you know about Fashion and culture and how you carry yourself.
Now, everyone has access to the hype and wants to participate, but while people are busy copying Black people, Black people are living their lives. Their behavior makes them masters at setting trends, and hype culture is a by-product of Black culture. Now, if only Black people could make sustainable Fashion a trend, we might see significant shifts in the industry.
Sustainability
Sustainable fashion means minimizing negative environmental and social impacts by designing and disposing of clothes to promote long-term eco-balance, social responsibility, and economic progression. Fashion thrives on trends and newness, which conflicts with sustainability's promise to reuse and recycle. Sustainability alone is a complex and opaque topic that lacks transparency and accountability, and slapping the word sustainable in front of Fashion is strange because Fashion is the exact opposite of sustainability.
Everyone views the problem differently. Some individuals focus on clothing materials, others focus on working conditions, and very few acknowledge the landfills. Sustainable Fashion can also be costly, and it's often marketed to luxury consumers who can afford the premium price tag and offset the cost for brands. Black people mentioned there being few options that are affordable and not bland.
Some mentioned the H&M conscious collection being affordable but getting dull over time. Years later, it was revealed that the H&M conscious collection wasn't as sustainable as it had led on, nor was it meeting its goals. But nobody wants to purchase a plain white tee for $50 to save the planet. It feels like a drop in the bucket for a huge, complex issue.
Black people also had difficulty viewing sustainability as a social justice issue. They see climate change as a class issue and believe it should be handled by people in power, like the government, who have the time and resources to address it. If only they knew the people who spend the most money on clothing are the people least impacted by pollution. Foreign countries in the Global South, like Ghana and Chile, are victims of post-consumer textile waste. Therefore, countries in the Global North (United States, England, Japan, etc.) aren't under enough pressure to solve those issues. They benefit from the system. The industry already struggles with diversity and inclusion of Black voices, and this information proves there's an even more significant imbalance and inequality.
Sustainable Fashion means everything and nothing simultaneously. I thought about how I could make sustainability relevant to Black people. However, the question needs to be turned on its head and ask how sustainability will be relevant without Black people. Black people continue to be misrepresented on the issue and don't have all the facts, so they don't connect sustainability to Fashion.
Personalization and Impact
Sustainability doesn't create an emotional connection to the garment. If we want clothes to have emotional durability, we must focus on what matters most. So, I sent out a survey to all participants and asked them to rank what is important when shopping for clothes. #1 was fit, #2 was style, and #3 was the price. Sustainability was dead last. As much as I wanted sustainability to be in the top three, it wasn't important. Sustainability should be a bonus to finding exciting pieces worth investing in. Fashion is about you and what you like. It's personal, and every garment has a story. Sustainability should come through personalization instead of being the sole reason people gravitate toward a product.
Based on my research, a plausible answer to the fashion sustainability paradox is through personalization and equality. The answer is not simply to shop better; it's about shopping with intention and how brands design and sell clothes for consumers. It can happen through technology that adapts to someone's fit, style preferences, and behaviors. Enhancing style is also enabled through style stories about longevity. Most importantly, the message that Fashion without harm is possible should connect to the customer. By showcasing people who are out there doing work, we can change the image of sustainability.
For more on how diversity impacts sustainability in Fashion, tune into The Right Hype Podcast.
What Sustainability Means in Fashion
Education and awareness are critical in achieving sustainability goals, and this article details what sustainability means in the Fashion industry.
The Fashion Cycle
The fashion industry's supply chain is an actor network, meaning it involves different people with different skills and requires a lot of communication and coordination to operate efficiently. At the beginning of the supply chain are designers, artists, and creatives whose brains power a brand's creative direction. They create the concept to sell to consumers. Their ideas determine what materials are needed and how much; sometimes, these creators work within the constraints of manufacturing capabilities or timelines for delivery. Once the initial ideas are conceived and samples are made, lead times are set, and production begins.
The lead time for a collection is the amount of time from the start of a process until its conclusion. In this case, it's from the extraction of natural resources to in-store delivery. Historically, lead times were roughly 3-6 months, but for some fast fashion brands, it can take weeks. Brands translate samples into tech packs, information designers use to develop new products, and communicate with manufacturers. Then, natural resources are extracted, processed, died, cut, and sewn. Once the materials are ready, skilled artisans put it all together into its final form, adding buttons, trims, and all the details the product may require. Finally, the collection is transported from a warehouse and distributed to headquarters and retail stores. Brands orchestrate this entire process, but the chain doesn't stop there.
Tailors, cobblers, and jewelers come into play when clothes, footwear, or jewelry need maintenance. They play an integral role in preserving the form and function of the product. Lastly, there are thrift stores, donation centers, and bargain bins where clothes go to find a new home until they are eventually recycled into new material or sent to landfills. From Fast Fashion to eco-friendly alternatives, the choices you make as a consumer can have far-reaching consequences. As you navigate the fashion landscape, it's crucial to pause and reflect on the fashion industry's impact.
The Faces of Sustainability
Sustainability roots trace back to the environmental and social movements of the 1960s and 1970s when concerns about pollution, resource depletion, and social justice emerged, leading to increased awareness about the interconnectedness of environmental, social, and economic issues. The concept of sustainability gained significant popularity in the early 21st century for recognizing the finite nature of natural resources. Whether it's clean air, water, fertile soil, or non-renewable energy sources, these are assets that, if overexploited or mismanaged, jeopardize the quality of life for future generations.
From an ecological perspective, sustainability describes the ability of biological systems to remain healthy, diverse, and productive over time. This concept of sustainability applies to higher levels of biological organization, such as ecosystems, rather than individual species.
In the context of social sustainability, it's essential to uplift people from poverty, improve access to education and healthcare, and promote inclusive practices that empower all members of society. Addressing social issues and promoting justice contribute to a more stable and harmonious world for future generations.
Economic sustainability involves fostering economic systems that can endure over the long term, providing prosperity without causing irreparable environmental harm or exacerbating social inequalities. Striking a balance between economic growth, social equity, and environmental responsibility is crucial for building resilient societies.
Technological innovation also plays a pivotal role in sustainability. Advancements in technology can provide solutions to environmental challenges, improve resource efficiency, and offer alternative energy sources. Embracing innovation with a focus on sustainability ensures society leaves behind a legacy of progress rather than a trail of environmental degradation.
From a generational human race perspective, sustainability is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. By adopting sustainable practices, society aims to ensure the judicious use of resources, allowing them to replenish and regenerate over time.
At its core, sustainability is about responsible stewardship, acknowledging that actions today have profound implications for the world descendants will inherit. By fostering a deep understanding of the interconnectedness of environmental, social, and economic systems, brands empower consumers and communities to make informed choices.
Ecological Sustainability
The textile industry is a heavily polluting, resource-intensive sector with a sizeable carbon footprint. Fashion production alone makes up 10% of the world's carbon emissions, drying up water sources and polluting rivers and streams. For example, cotton, a common material found in clothes, has a very water-intensive cultivation process. A t-shirt and a pair of jeans require 2000 liters of water, and mishandling water pollutes local water sources and seeps into the soil of crops we eat. Brands are estimated to produce over 150 billion garments annually, resulting in 84% of greenhouse gas emissions in upstream production. Each step requires machinery to make and transport products, releasing carbon into the atmosphere.
What about the disposal? Roughly 45 billion clothes are never sold or worn, so those mostly end up in landfill or incinerated. Burning or landfilling new and used clothing releases more greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere and toxins into water supplies, impacting the health and culture of the surrounding areas. Plus, it typically costs $50 per ton to dispose of textiles, equaling hundreds of millions per year to throw away clothes, showing a clear economic case to reduce waste. Even with rising costs due to inflation, these processes have yet to evolve, and they continue to be an obstacle to bottom-line growth and a burden to the planet. This is why overproduction is widespread in the apparel sector.
It's essential to remember these things when you're shopping because there's hope. Many fashion brands adopt sustainable practices, incorporating eco-friendly materials like organic cotton, recycled polyester, and innovative fabrics made from sustainable sources. We can collectively shift the industry toward a more environmentally conscious future by supporting these brands.
Ethical Issues in Labor Practices
Beyond ecological concerns, the fashion industry has faced scrutiny for ethical issues in labor practices. The garment and footwear industry stretches worldwide, and sweatshops, unsafe working conditions, and unfair wages have plagued the industry. There is a mental model that factory workers are less than the average human. Mental models are the internal representation of the external reality. It resembles slavery in that it replicates the conditions we looked down upon in the past. The prioritization of the people buying over the people making suggests that giving the people who make the clothes power could reduce the amount of money the firm makes.
Brands make large orders to fill, and factory workers are pressured to fulfill those orders faster today. Lead times for orders are no longer planned in months but weeks, so suppliers scramble to take on the orders. Short-term contracts hinder labor workers' ability to unionize in fear of retaliation. Long hours and overtime with no additional pay is wage theft and impacts their well-being. Low wages and a lack of career support affect their sense of fulfillment and keep factory workers in poverty. Women earn less than men, leading to sexual harassment. Toxic waste materials workers also come into contact with impacts on their health.
What could fix all this are corporations and the local governments addressing the imbalance of power by tackling social issues and promoting justice. Codes of conduct are now more widespread than before, thanks to the International Labor Standards. These codes cover child labor, forced labor, working hours, occupational health and safety, and non-discrimination. Although they can be subjective or not explicit regarding the expectations, it is progress. A vital aspect of this progress is the freedom of association, or having the ability to form unions and demand better conditions.
Disclosing factory worker data is a signal of good faith and is a resource for unions and activists to fight for the rights of factory workers. The need for information about factories involved in production for global brands has also become painfully clear in recent years, and there's a growing movement advocating for fair labor practices and transparency in the supply chain. There is an increasing trend of global apparel companies adopting supply chain transparency—starting with publishing names, addresses, and other important information about factories manufacturing their branded products.
When global supply chains are opaque, consumers often lack meaningful information about where and how their apparel was made. Case in point, brands have a hard time communicating their progress because they have no way of tracking it. When brands are certified, like Fair Trade, consumers can support those brands, and unions can be a helpful avenue for getting factory workers the help they need. It's about making informed decisions and demanding accountability from the fashion companies we engage with. Some call this the Slow Fashion movement.
The Rise of Slow Fashion
In recent years, Slow Fashion has gained momentum and challenged traditional Fashion's fast-paced, disposable nature by encouraging thoughtful consumption. The New York Times coined the term Fast Fashion in 1980. Fast Fashion is the rapid and constant production cycle to meet consumer demand. A demand that fashion brands cultivated to alter consumer behavior, making people want more. It relies on producing large quantities quickly at a lower cost, so the items are often considered disposable. It also focuses on short-lived trends that quickly cycle in and out of style, contributing to its disposability, and it is associated with high environmental impact due to the use of resource-intensive processes, chemicals, and the generation of large amounts of textile waste.
Slow Fashion emphasizes quality over quantity, timeless designs, and a commitment to sustainability, contributing to longer-lasting garments. Slow fashion brands often release fewer collections each year and prioritize ethical and sustainable practices, such as fair labor conditions, environmentally friendly materials, and a commitment to craftsmanship. Slow Fashion also strives to minimize environmental impact by using sustainable materials, reducing waste, and adopting eco-friendly practices. They report their impact in Lehmens' terms, not never-ending reports riddled with jargon for customers to understand.
Overall, Slow Fashion responds to Fast Fashion's negative environmental and social impacts. It advocates for a more sustainable, ethical, and mindful clothing production and consumption approach. It's a shift in mindset—from chasing trends to creating a curated closet that reflects your personality and values. By investing in fewer, well-made pieces that withstand the test of time, you can reduce the demand for rapid production and consumption. The idea of Slow Fashion lends itself nicely to curating a sustainable wardrobe.
Style is Sustainability
Curation is the journey of honing in on authentic taste preferences to guide the ever-evolving individual and their shopping habits. This idea posits that Fashion is sustainable when it is rooted in curation, identity development, and longevity, and divorced from the quantity of clothing. Most people associate thrifting or recycling garments with sustainability, which falls under the umbrella of circularity. For curation, it's less about circulation or the end of use and more about purpose-driven purchases leading to stellar closets and impeccable style stories. It's much more exciting if you ask me!
With niche aesthetics taking hold of Fashion, driven mainly by TikTok trends, there's a greater chance for people to discover a taste world that's authentic to them. Loving a particular style also helps to train their eye to spot clothes that meet their aesthetic and shopping criteria. It also helps when trying to get rid of clothing. A trained eye produces knowledge of what sells and enables people to connect over similar styles—allowing everyone to become an expert curator in their own way. From silhouettes to fabrics and costs to care, it's helpful to know these details about your garments and pass along the knowledge and experiences to others.
When it starts to sink in that styles are cyclical, refining your style leads to less focus on the impermanence (aka trends). Items may fall out of style in a month or so, but they'll always come back, and people will continue wishing they had held onto their vintage tees, now worth over $100. Between the targeted ads and limited drops begging for attention, it's easy for someone who doesn't analyze Fashion or develop a personal style to follow trends impulsively. They miss a real opportunity to define their identity with the items they buy and how they're worn. Refinement is freedom, and knowing yourself (aka having taste) helps avoid getting caught in the hype cycle.
"Fashion is about who we are, who we want to be, and who everyone else wants to be," said Alec Leach in his book, The World is on Fire But We're Still Buying Shoes.
He discusses how Fashion deeply connects to identity, "Fashion allows us to envision ourselves in a new way." When people make purchases that are inauthentic to who they are, they end up with buyer's remorse. Whether someone is chasing status or belonging, the novelty of purchasing a new garment can wear off quickly. The trends that feel dire at the moment eventually pass.
Honing in on style teaches people to say no to certain items they may think they want to own. Not everything new and shiny is essential, and if they're trying to be someone else, deciphering what's motivating them to make a purchase can get tricky. Spending time understanding the product and appreciating its features makes purchasing clothes an investment rather than a transaction. It's like buying a piece of art, a cultural artifact, or a personal memory to preserve throughout the years.
In the words of Andre Leon Talley, "Style is refusal!"
Diversity in Fashion further highlights the value that honing in on personal style brings to the individual and the planet. Combating fashion marketing tactics that tend to generalize people based on class, gender, and ethnicity with purpose and inner confidence teaches people to do more with less, cooling the cycle of hyperconsumption. When people invest in themselves, their culture, and their closets, they can avoid impulsive purchases that lead to frequent cleanouts and more textiles in landfills that'll live in perpetuity. This new theory, illuminated from speaking with Black and Brown curators, enables impact via personal growth, and I believe it is the missing key for scaling fashion sustainability. With it, we'll outpace brands focusing on speed instead of quality.
Technological innovation
Technological innovation also plays a pivotal role in sustainability. Advancements in technology can provide solutions to environmental challenges. Biofabrication utilizes renewable resources and reduces the reliance on traditional manufacturing processes that may have negative ecological impacts. Upcycling involves repurposing or transforming discarded or unwanted materials into new products of higher value.
Technological innovation can have unintended consequences. Many of the innovations developed by the tech industry can be applied to mitigate environmental issues, but they are not free from ecological costs. Embracing innovation with a focus on sustainability ensures society leaves behind a legacy of progress rather than a trail of environmental degradation. These innovations reimagine how Fashion can coexist harmoniously with the planet and pave the way for a more sustainable future.
Conclusion
In essence, sustainability is a holistic and forward-thinking approach to life, and sustainability in Fashion is personal style. The practice becomes very personal and enlightening in this new rendition. Over time, people acquire assets that belong to a taste world authentic to them, ebbing and flowing as they evolve.
For more on Fashion and sustainability, tune into The Right Hype Podcast.
Stella McCartney Empowers Workers to Speak Up
Stella McCartney is a renowned British fashion designer who launched her namesake fashion label in 2001 after serving as creative director for the Parisian fashion house Chloé. Stella, the daughter of former Beatles member Sir Paul McCartney, was born on September 13, 1971, in London, England. Growing up, she fostered an intimate connection to natural environments and wildlife, leading her to challenge fashion norms. Her brand is known for its commitment to sustainability and ethical fashion practices, central to McCartney's design philosophy.
Stella keeps customers in the loop of her journey by communicating the company's sustainability efforts. The accomplishments live on most product description pages, and the information hierarchy heroes the sustainable material used in the product. There's also a section for Stella to write personal notes about how each collection is inspired and the symbolism the product holds, adding a humane touch to a relatively functional page.
The company sources its material from across the globe:
Cotton from the U.S., Egypt, India, and Turkey.
Viscose from Germany and Sweden
Wool from Australia and New Zealand.
Stella made headlines in 2001 when she introduced the first vegetarian luxury brand the world has ever seen, featuring novelty materials and techniques. Not only has she sworn off animal products, but Stella pioneered the business case for exploring alternative production models and materials that could lead to better sustainability outcomes. She has made material and supply chain conditions safer for workers by partnering with local experts and civil society organizations and opening a supply chain hotline.
Making the brand's values known throughout the supply chain is crucial to achieving McCartney's regenerative sourcing goals that intentionally serve workers, manufacturers, communities, and the environment. Suppliers, factories, and subcontractors must follow the Supplier Code of Conduct, Responsible Sourcing Guide, Modern Slavery Policy, and Subcontracting Policy to work with the brand. The Responsible Sourcing Guide details all the standards, policies, and procedures related to social and environmental sustainability for the brand and represents the core of Stella's sustainability commitments. Working with external organizations to reimagine a less harmful supply chain requires mass orchestration, tool deployment, and regulation. Stella works closely with them to embed the best practices throughout the supply chain—from direct suppliers to subcontractors.
A brief history of Stella McCartney's past partnerships:
2011: Partnered with the International Trade Centre's Ethical Fashion Initiative to support artisans in Kenya with a fair trade accessories collection.
2012: Joined the Ethical Fashion Initiative, a leading alliance of companies, trade unions, and NGOs that promotes respect for workers' rights around the globe.
2016: Initiated a productivity and wage analysis pilot to raise worker wages.
2017: Launched a holistic supplier improvement program in China to build better Human Resources management systems and improve factory working conditions.
2020: Endorsed the ILO's COVID-19 Call to Action in the garment industry and developed a multi-dimensional human rights risk assessment tool to understand potential threats to workers throughout the supply chain.
2021: Launched a 'Speak Up Tool' for workers to raise grievances and access remedies.
All suppliers are required to post the Code of Conduct in a place that is visible and accessible to all and communicate the contents of the Code in the language(s) spoken by the workers and personnel. The Supplier Code of Conduct follows the fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI). Still, they have taken it further and added five codes aligned with other industry social standards.
Stella McCartney's codes cover:
Forced Labor and Modern Slavery
Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining
Health and Safety
Child Labor
Compensation
Hours of Work
Discrimination
Employment Relationship
Harassment or Abuse
Migrant, Temporary, Agency Workers, and Homeworkers.
Subcontracting
Transparency and Material Traceability
Environment
Animal Welfare
Remediation and Continuous Improvement.
The following are integral to monitoring supply chain activity:
Subcontracting: The company must approve all subcontractors in writing before beginning production, and all subcontractors must go through the New Supplier and Manufacturing Site Onboarding procedures.
Transparency and Material Traceability: Suppliers are to share business operations and supply chains with the company when any changes occur or are requested. The company also reviews social factory assessments of facilities, relevant documentation, and worker interviews.
Remediation and Continuous Improvement: If a supplier is found non-compliant, remediation shall occur, and the supplier will demonstrate progress and provide evidence to the company. Stella McCartney reserves the right to review suppliers' compliance with the Code at any time and may terminate suppliers found violating the Code or failing to improve.
New suppliers must undergo an onboarding assessment before the company starts doing business to determine the depth of evaluations in the future. The procedure involves in-person visits, environmental and social factory inspections, and sharing documentation. After onboarding, check-ins happen throughout the year to help monitor activity that could be a symptom of complex issues embedded within the supply chain.
When issues arise, Stella McCartney and the supplier work together to create a corrective action plan. Issues may be low to high criticality, which influences the timeline for remediation, spanning from immediate zero-tolerance issues to one year for problems that aren't an immediate threat to working conditions. If full compliance with the Code of Conduct is not immediately possible, suppliers must display continuous improvement toward full compliance, and the company will support suppliers on this journey. Relying on social compliance assessments alone has limitations, although they help gain insight into suppliers' practices and potential risks in the supply chain.
The company built a Skills Recognition Program focused on training soft and technical skills and developing a roadmap to improve wages, working hours, health, and safety. They also evaluate current supplier systems and review their pricing mechanisms to ensure that they are being fair to suppliers when placing our orders and subsequently raise their payments. They also have The Speakup tool, a robust global anonymous grievance and whistleblowing mechanism for workers in their supply chain, although no issues were raised through the platform in 2021. The Speak Up tool is a significant step in the company's efforts to support the existing framework for advocacy by giving workers a platform to voice their concerns.
The company understands suppliers' complexities and delivers Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Rights training to support social initiatives. Where the company identifies an area for improvement shared across multiple suppliers, but specific to local contexts, they try to identify local stakeholders to help them develop solutions or initiatives applicable to all relevant suppliers.
The company aims to build a modern, resilient supply chain that keeps the brand in good standing and improves workers' lives. Stella McCartney participates in numerous thought leadership groups, consortiums, and committees sharing knowledge and best practices to advance the fashion sector and adjacent industries, enabling the company to monitor, reinforce, and remediate supply chain issues for a better, brighter future. Sustainability is undoubtedly the company's defining feature, and Stella McCartney isn't afraid to challenge existing structures that keep supply chain workers in poverty.
Style is Sustainability
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit." - Aristotle.
With a sizeable carbon footprint, the fashion industry contributes up to 10% of carbon emissions annually, most of which comes from upstream production. The reason why is that its sprawling supply chain makes mitigating adverse environmental and social impacts difficult. And let's face it. The world of Fashion will continue to struggle with sustainability at the rate of fast fashion moves, and its addiction to copying other designers jeopardizes the growth of smaller brands. After discovering how resource-intensive, financially exploitive, and heavily polluting the fashion industry has been for years, I made it my mission to try and tackle this wicked problem. To do so, I've shifted my focus from Fashion to style.
In my opinion, we don't honestly talk about style enough. Fashion is what we buy and the clothes we wear, but style is how we do things. Style goes beyond Fashion. It is how one walks, talks, and behaves. Style requires us to develop an inner critic that protects us from the perils of frivolity by aligning our spirit with what will truly bring us everlasting joy. It is about curation and creativity that lasts longer than a season or fleeting trend. At its best, style is a unique, individual expression of self influenced by personal history, mind-body connection, and aesthetic influences. In a world feeding us trends constantly, style is a boon to civilization, asking us to look inward at how we can improve our experience as people.
The cheat code to achieve style is through repetition.
To perform at a higher level in your personal and professional lives, you have to recognize the critical role that clothing plays in that equation. The elements of style are universal: references and preferences. References are like muses—you look to these for inspiration and creativity, while your preferences are guides you put in place to achieve desired outcomes—like feeling confident or appearing professional. When you feel your best, not only do you command more authority from others, but you trust yourself. You take risks, are assertive, ask for what you want, and push yourself to improve. It's one of many tools you can use to show up in the world as the best version of yourself and open doors.
Most brands focus on portraying current styles and expect customers to follow suit. This impact may look innocent, but over time, we get accustomed to looking externally for guidance and validation because of how quickly trends shift. Falling out of trends can signal to others a lack of self-care, and shopping from specific places or wearing certain styles communicates that we have high taste and status. But that is only part of the story because having the ability to afford expensive clothes does not translate to having a discerning eye or style.
Admittedly, defining who we are and what we want to be is just as powerful, if not more significant than external validation, because when people celebrate us for what we set out to achieve, it can reinforce our sense of self. The trap is when we subconsciously or consciously fall for trend-driven aesthetics that divorce us from our individuality by asking us to identify with a version of cool set by someone else instead of fostering our sensibilities. These trendy narratives lead to hyper-consumption, which fuels overproduction, pollution, and overworking of the system.
There's no other way to say this, but a lack of personal style is why most don't blossom. The idea of the best self lives in the head rent-free, and the soul suffers. Making a concerted effort in a specific direction cultivates style; with it, we retain the story we are writing for ourselves. Style champions diversity by giving people who go against conformity an avenue to cultivate their unique perspectives. Style is everything, and more importantly, understanding the elements of style is crucial for reducing the number of clothes we consume, signaling brands to slow down production and be more intentional by understanding customers' styles.
My name is Gavon, and I am a researcher and strategist, and I believe this idea applies to people and brands. Listen to the Right Hype Podcast for more on the elements of personal style.