ACCOUNTABILITY AND CONSCIENCE

Todays issue is to important to pass unnoticed.
As a major player in fashion you can´t just Cash In, you have to be responsible for your products.

The danish fashion-company Bestseller with the brands Vero Moda, ONLY and Jack & Jones, is being blamed by Greenpeace, for producing products containing chemicals, that can affect the health of the consumers.

Eleven out of 14 products that were investigated by Greenpeace contained NPE/Nonylphenol Ethoxylates, a chemical that tranforms into NP/Nonylphenol and can disturb the balance of hormones, not only of consumers, but also the workers and population of the countries, where the production is taking place.

The Governments in these countries has a responsibility as well, to create a safer enviroment for their workers and populations.

Even though Bestseller, H&M, Adidas, Abercrombie  Fitch etc. demand the suppliers not to use these pruducts, it is hard to control what is going on so far away.
The competition of the suppliers are strong, so they are probably using the cheapest dye and so on.
These populations also looks here and wants a higher salery. . . so the question is, if Bestseller and other fashion-companies can demand them to stop, without paying more for their products.

I think this gives even more reason for the companies to move back the production. . . as I wrote in this previous post.
It will be much easier for the fashion-companies in terms of communication, production-control and logistic. On top, it would create more jobs here.

In return the governments should make it more attractive for the Companies to stay by giving them better conditions.

Do YOU really care or you just want cheap clothes?

ONE | Outfits from a New Era

I was recommended to take a look at this exhibition at the Biosphere, while I am staying here in Montreal. It was very inspiring, interesting and too important to ignore. So I wanted to share this experience with you all.

The "ONE | Outfits from a New Era" - exhibition showcases 16 artistic creations made from mass consumption products. This challenge was taken up by artists from the fields of cabinet making, jewelry, hair styling, fashion design and the visual arts.
These unique creations present car parts, batteries, salmon skins, electronic waste and other cast-offs from our society, in a whole new light. They give tangible form to statistics concerning the impacts of consumer goods that are used then thrown away."

The creations was accompanied by art videos and soundtracks from the Canadian music scene and bits of autographed garbage from Canadian public figures, such as Robert Lepage, Julie Payette, George Stroumboulopoulos and Guy A. Lepage, used in each creation.

Dress made of 2,500 light bulbs, 66 meters of stripped copper wire from speakers.

Dress made of 200 biodegradable and Oxo-biodegradable bags, 90 plastic bags.

Dress made of 2,000 shotgun shells, fabric.

Dress made of 97 salmon skins, 300 meters of fishing line, 40 mussel shells.

Dress made of 40 airbags, 2 headrests, 2 seatbelts, 1 piece of carpet, leather from 2 car seats, 1 tire, 1 baby car seat buckle.

Dress made of 6,800 pill bottles.

Dress made of 75 cans, 1,114 stainless steel rings.

Dress made of fibers from 2 TV packages, 1 poutine container, 2 coffee cups, 1 street vacuum bag.

Dress of 1,796 pages selected from 78 books, milled paper, sheet of wood, linen rope, binders, typewriter parts.

Kostume made of 4 sweaters, 7 pairs of jeans, 100 buttons.

Statement-dress made of 54 pieces of asphalt shingles, 8 sheets of plywood, 20 nails.

 Dress made of 800 meters of video tape, 800 meters of audio tape, 2,000 slides, 2 seconds of 35 mm film.

Kostume made of 36 computer mice, 120 cables, half of a computer keyboard.

Dress made of 208 locks of hair, 1 hairstyling cape, 1 pair of used boots.

Statement-dress made of 1,200 batteries.

Jacket made of 1 piece of canvas, 1 piece of nylon, 200 pieces of adhesive. To involve visitors, you could ad pieces of adhesive to this One.

All photos by John Frantsen

"These extraordinary thematic sets give pause and illustrate some of the major environmental issues we face today.

We hope that O.N.E. Outfits from a New Era will inspire you to find creative ways of transforming different materials, your own way of life, and the planet"

FASHION CONSUMPTION

"Global trade has made it possible to produce very cheap clothing. Consumers  now view clothes as disposable products whereas, NOT SO VERY LONG AGO, A WARDROBE WAS DESIGNED TO LAST. Some people talk about "fast fashion" in the way we refer to "fast food".

Choosing more environmemtally friendly products does not eliminate the impact our consumption is having on natural resources.
DO WE NEED TO REDUCE OUR CONSUMPTION? SHOULD WE REQUIRE THAT ITEMS BE PRODUCED DIFFERENTLY?

In Canada, housing, transportation, food and electric devices contribute to 
70 % of the environmental impacts of our consumption. However, it is easy to consume less and more wisely.
WE CONSUME MORE WISELY BY CHOOSING PRODUCTS THAT HAVE LESS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT, TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION EACH STAGE OF THEIR LIFE CYCLE".

From the exhibition "Finding Balance" at The Environment Museum "Biosphére" in Montreal.

Photos: John Frantsen

MARY´S BOTTOM LINE

-Is a new very interesting documentary on Channel 4 in Britain, hosted by retail guru Mary Portas.

"Britain used to be a manufacturing colossus, renowned for its worldclass clothing industry. But today, most fashion is made cheaply abroad.
In the middle of the worst recession, she believes a window of opportunity has opened to restore some life back to British manufacturing.  Since transport costs and foreign labour costs are rising, Mary Portas wants to reignite the UK clothing industry by starting her own production line to manufacture a key staple in any woman's wardrobe: 100% British made knickers.
Therefore she is heading to Middleton, Greater Manchester, to set up the new production line. Mary wants consumers to understand the value of buying British: skills, UK jobs, pride in our manufactu-ring heritage".

What a great initiative. I really hope she will succeed in her admirable cause. 

 

I think that Denmark as well as Britain have "suffered" more than enough. Because of the growing costs to produce locally is forcing manufactures to move their production east, causing unemployment here.

I hope our politicians have learned that lesson by now, but also have made the manufactures think about their role.
Maybe they need to take a look at this program on Channel 4 and learn about pride and the consequences of their decisions.

Update 2018! This series is now available on Netflix.