Ethical Fashion : Pumping Humanity in your Wardrobe

Our, especially the fashioners', growing concerns and awareness about the proper maintenance of our eco-system led to birth of terms like sustainable fashion, eco-friendly garments etc. Definitely, these “fashionable evolutions” manifest our love for our planet.

However, the same consciousness of fashioners has experienced a completely new, unique and human trend, making inroads into their minds . This “humanly” fashionable trend has been termed as “ethical fashion.”

Nowadays, any customer, especially in the western world, can be seen discussing, on his/her shopping outings, not only how much environment friendly the new dress is but also he/she will consider its amount of social friendliness and moral and ethical acceptability. Naturally, the term “ethical” seems to be a bit awkward but...yes...this is the new buzzword amongst the very very “human” buyers of fashion.

Undoubtedly, this ethical fashion is a calculated reaction against the irrational and unethical approach of profit-loving fashion industry. It can be easily witnessed that the industry has “least” concerns about the workers, mostly from the third world, their health standards and about their well being.

Also, not many in the fashion industry bother, even to the most minimum, about how, where and by whom the cotton is produced. Not many pay heed to the deadly conditions a low paid farmer works in, round the clock, sprinkling poisonous insecticides. Not many express their grief over the ailing workers who suffer from deadly diseases injected by the intoxicated dyes.

But if you are “one” amongst those whose minds are always haunted by these “fashionable pains”, then pat yourself. Yes...pat yourself because you might have got your humanity quotient reloaded. And it is confirmed that you are a new entry in the long list of the fashion buyers who are embracing the rising trend of ethical fashion. This new fashion buzzword seems to have overtaken the other trends like eco-friendly fashion and green fashion etc.

Really, it is disturbing to know that any apparel made of cotton or any other fabric, which we wear, has got a complete tragic story of the exploitation of farmers, around the third world countries especially. Also, when we buy a beautiful dress, the amount of mental and physical torture, hidden behind the colorful textures, to the workers by the unhygienic conditions and toxic workplaces goes completely unnoticed by us.

The harmful pesticides and insecticides, which is used to grow cotton, affects the health severely of those who remain active in the process. They soon start suffering from deadly ailments. The blood gets poisoned and leads to malfunctioning of vital organs. Aggravation of asthma and breathing problems are only few of many life-threatening complications.

The toxic dyes used to give the apparel their various color flavors too bring a lot of health deteriorating consequences. The dyes' side effects are not confined to the poor workers only but they are capable of harming even a wearer too. Same are the results of the uncontrolled use of bleaching and fabric softening chemicals.

The more frightening parts of the clothing industry are the inhuman working conditions and the mean wages provided to the farmers and to those who work in the garment manufacturing shops. Not only that they are paid extremely less, not enough even for their fundamental necessaries, than the their counterparts in the western world, the tailors are forced to work in dark and dingy rooms without proper rest . The prolonged working hours are damaging to their normal health and also place adverse impacts on their healthy family relations.

Further, if we go in much details of ethical shopping trend, we can't put our eyes away from some other factors which leave negative impressions on the healthy development of the world. With the rising per capita income and advancing prosperity, we are in a situation to buy more dresses than our actual necessity.

Definitely, the more we are buying, the more we are throwing hence, the more we are contributing to amass the garbage all around. It leads to the destruction of the eco-system. Thanks to the deadly dyes and chemicals with the apparel. Moreover,unlike cotton, not all the fabrics fibers get decomposed fast and easily.

All the above discussed factors, such as; the inhuman conditions, the use deadly chemicals etc are more than enough to persuade any consumer to rethink his fashion apparel buying strategies. Indeed, nobody would like to sport those clothes such as jeans, trousers etc. which are made sucking the blood of the workers and which post a serious threat to the life of an entire generation and its descenders.

That is why, the whole of the consumer community has started demanding only those products which are made in an environment which is not only eco-friendly but it is also worker friendly. Surely, the trend of this ethical fashion is here to make this world a better and human rights-sensitive place.