"80% of apparel is made by young women between the ages of 18 and 24" earth.org
I am a 21 year old female. There have been dozens of contractor bags full of old clothes I have donated. Not because they didn't fit, nor were they damaged in any way, I simply did not have the space or the ‘love’ I did for them before. There were new things online, new styles, funky colors and irresistible patterns or textures. My shopping trips lead to purchasing the same items in several colors, maybe multiples if they were cheap enough too. Those inevitably ended up in those contractor bags either the next year, or the one after. It took tears and a series of failed trips to the store where I knew I over-purchased the second I got in my front door. The excitement of that new item was no longer giving me that serotonin as it did the day before. Those clothes went to a landfill, where they will sit until my great grandchildren are dead. And their great grandchildren too. When I truly processed that thought and it had fully sunk in- I could not justify my actions anymore. The season after my withdrawal from ‘the market’ was the YEAR of vintage tees. Not tee shirts that were vintage, mass produced clothing with the same prints and ideas as 80s/90s fashion. It was my last straw. I could not understand how anyone felt cool wearing the same things that were still in their parents' closets. While the actual OG vintage clothing was being donated and thrown away. 2+2=5 I guess.
This isn't an uncommon experience among my demographic, in all truth I've NEVER known or even acquainted with a young woman who didn't have an excess of trending fashion items they were ready to rid. My demographic does not include those same age girls, college age or starting a family age, halfway across the globe who are manufacturing these textiles.
There are 1,600 mills employing more than 400,000 women - and that's in Tamil Nadu, India alone. All [151] interviewed workers live in hostels that are located on the factory grounds. Staying in the factory hostel is mandatory for workers who come from other districts or villages. Rooms are shared with up to 35 people and facilities are very basic. Toilets and bathrooms are shared by 35 to 45 workers (SOMO/ICN FlawedFabricsReport).
What systematically can't be done is the remodel of the global manufacturing industry, until the demand goes DOWN. We stop purchasing just SO many textiles in excess, the demand will move elsewhere. The odds of an 18-24yo shopping from mass production retailers advocating for the rights of others is slim to none, and it's a sad truth. When a plethora of fun new things is what's being presented to you, with edgy photoshoots and phenomenal marketing, the thought someone is living in a prison to make that for you seems so far away. Starting from the top ain't it sis, awareness is great and ultimately the goal but it's like throwing toothpicks at a dragon. But the dragon is standing on a pile of fulfillment orders from SHEIN. Navigating shit in today's world is not even close to easy - we have all this access to all this information thats targeted right to us. I'm recommended articles about ecological impacts and human rights because I look at them. Not everyone wants that coming up on their phone. Thats not what they want to spend their time looking at on the screen. It's depressing. Layer that with the WANT to look at trending items and bOOM, there's your 1,600 mills and 400,000 workers in a single city. Full of women if we SAW one time we would immediately try to help them get out of that situation.
The start of a change has to come from our wallets and our media engagement. Obviously there's supply/demand blah blah no one buys theres no market, thats day one. The problem is the common belief new=better, and the lack of drive to spend any EXTRA time with the same crusty items from 2018. Well stop buying the damn crusty clothes! Really think about how you enjoy dressing and what you WANT on your body. Think about multiple ways to wear and style one garment, use the old shit you're definitely never touching again and do something else with it. I've seen girls cut old tees and cotton fabric into strips and make a damn 10x8 living room rug. Coolest fucking project I've ever seen, the thing could go to the through laundry-mat blanket cycle because it was MADE to. That's what we can do if we just use a little touch of motivation to do better. Little changes really do add up and it impacts real living breathing human beings who deserve better, simply because they exist. The very brands they manufacture for have a cult like following on social media, with unpaid women on our end wearing the shit and tagging the company for FREE. Not only do we give them our wallets, we encourage our friends and families to shop with the same habits. The shit is rooted deep. Doing better starts small, and it might take some whacky hippies and a good marketing department to make doing better trendy. Until then, I will continue to not be a sucker, a sucker mother fuc..
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