Why is it important?
The production and distribution system is one of the most complicated and unclear fields to understand in the fashion industry.
The lack of knowledge on the reality behind clothes symbolizes one of the troubles for the sustainability concept in fashion.
The veil that the fashion companies try to hide about their manufactory organization represents a loss of transparency for our clothes.
Why is crucial (the transparency)?
Transparency in fashion consists of the identity of the dress. Each brand should disclose to consumers where, how, and whom their products are produced.
I think nowadays it is essential to discern the core of our products.
When we talk about transparency, we have to talk about the differences between words and how we use them. Transparency split in production, distribution, and society issues.
Production and distribution: Everyone would like to be conscious of what we buy before the payment. This is a type of behavior that we usually use to purchase our food, especially us Italians. We want to be sure of what we eat, sometimes also for fashion, but not in the same way. Our clothes are our second skin, so it should be necessary to analyze the substance behind them. It means that we have to comprehend the identity and the structure of the production of clothes: where they are designed and what type of manufactory process is used. The question is essential since some of the industrial techniques have a high impact on our environment. Also, the distribution is another factor to take into deep consideration for its environmental impact. The longer the distances between factories and stores or houses, the more emissions will be produced during the logistical processes. As we know, we live in a globalized world, so it is impossible to duck out from this evidence, but we can discipline ourselves and reduce the number of clothes that we would like to buy.
Take a look at the wardrobe of your siblings, grandparents, or friends for resuscitating some dress; if not, you can discover the extent of the vintage world.
Transparency can facilitate us appreciating the quality of our clothes. It could help the customers in comparing the different clothes’ prices and become more selective and save more money.
Society issues: Sometimes, when we are buying something, we do not pay a lot of attention. Transparency is affected also during this occasion. We don’t reflect when we are buying on who made our clothes. But, our common thought is only in considering the people that work at the end of this system, such as the sales assistant, the store manager, the courier, etc.
But who works on our clothes?
Fashion transparency should mean a voice to their workers.
Most of the fashion manufacturers are in different places; often the brands do not permit the customers to know the address of their factories and where they are located. That is for two motives: firstly, brands do not want to show to their consumer the real cruelty of the production; secondly, it is for taking advantage of workers’ conditions. The workers usually have no idea for which company they work for, so if an industry exploits a worker, it will be impossible to denounce the brand and even give any negative advertisement for the brand.
There are many episodes of abuse of the employees in Asia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, etc. One of the catastrophes is the so-called “Rana Plaza accident” in 2013. What happened in Bangladesh when a building hosting five garment industries collapsed was thousands of deaths among workers, with others invalid. The building fell due to the condition of the construction.
Afterward, to advocate for increasing the working condition, an NGO called “Fashion Revolution” was founded. The core of this association is to establish a fashion system that is more responsible and shows respect for the workers and their rights and does not forget to consider the environment. It iReport has been almost five years since “Fashion Revolution” submitted its Fashion “Transparency Index Report.” The TI is a list of a brand (this year’s 250s brand) where everyone reveals their data about their environment strategy, the working condition, and the production things.
This report is free and available to all on their website. I would like to remind you that the TI is not a shopping guide.
