It’s hard to take a fashion brand at face value. You may love the look of that cami on, or feel a connection with the retail assistant who helped you find the perfect frock for your cousin’s wedding, but there’s more to a fashion label than simply being fabric-deep.
Do you know where their clothes were made? What conditions their workers endure every day? The answer to some of these questions may shock you. And while it’s not as easy as asking the shop assistant, who probably hasn’t got a clue – they’re just there for the pay cheque – it is becoming easier to separate the ethical brands from the exploitative ones.
What is ethical fashion?
Ethical fashion is fashion that was designed, manufactured and sold under fair and reasonable conditions where employee rights are not exploited. The problem is, ethical standards are not set in concrete – they’re a grey area with an abstract definition. What one person deems to be ethical, another believes is simply not good enough.
For Ethical Clothing Australia (ECA®), an accreditation body who works with local textile, clothing and footwear (TCF) businesses in Australia to ensure their supply chains are legally compliant, they believe ethical fashion should meet this criteria: local TCF workers are being paid appropriately, receiving all their legal minimum entitlements and working in safe conditions throughout the entire supply chain.
After a rigorous evaluation, those companies deemed compliant are allowed to use the ECA certification trademark on their Australian-made products.
Some Australian designers who are ECA accredited include Bianca Spender, Carla Zampatti and Manning Cartell. Check out the full list here.
Ethical principles definition
For some, ethical fashion isn’t just about the welfare of the workers. Some also believe it should take into consideration sustainable production, environment and animal welfare. These are other common terms that often fall under or directly alongside ethical fashion.
Sustainable fashion: Also referred to as eco fashion, eco-friendly fashion and environmentally-friendly fashion, sustainable fashion focuses on minimising fashion’s impact on the environment, from using recycled or biodegradable materials, to reducing the amount of pollution created during the manufacturing process, or using chemical-free dyes and non-toxic materials.
Circular fashion: A commitment to making, selling and buying clothes that are intended to be used and circulated responsibly. It focuses on slow fashion over disposable fashion. Longevity, durability, sustainable materials and resources, and end-use are all top considerations. Ideally, fashion items are able to be repaired, redesigned or reused for other purposes, the garments should be long-lasting, and owners should only own/purchase items that they intend to keep for as long as possible, or buy/sell second-hand.
Ethical shopping guide
Want to fill your wardrobe with ethical clothing? The best place to start is with the Ethical Fashion Guide, which is an annual ethical fashion report produced by Baptist World Aid Australia. Fashion brands are assessed based on their efforts undertaken to mitigate the risks of forced labour, child labour and worker exploitation in their supply chains. They are awarded a grading (from F for a fail, to A+ for optimal ethical conditions) and assessed under four categories: policies, traceability and transparency, auditing and supplier relationship, and worker empowerment.
If you’re interested in ethical shopping, here’s a list of key fashion brands in Australia and the grading they were given in the 2018 Ethical Fashion Report.
Top-performing ethical brands
Cotton On (A)
- Policies (A+)
- Traceability and transparency (A+)
- Auditing and supplier relationships (A)
- Worker empowerment (B)
SABA (A-)
- Policies (A+)
- Traceability and transparency (A+)
- Auditing and supplier relationships (A-)
- Worker empowerment (B-)
Sportscraft (A-)
- Policies (A+)
- Traceability and transparency (A+)
- Auditing and supplier relationships (A-)
- Worker empowerment (B-)
Witchery (A-)
- Policies (A+)
- Traceability and transparency (A)
- Auditing and supplier relationships (A-)
- Worker empowerment (B-)
Country Road (A-)
- Policies (A+)
- Traceability and transparency (A)
- Auditing and supplier relationships (A-)
- Worker empowerment (B-)
Mimco (A-)
- Policies (A+)
- Traceability and transparency (A)
- Auditing and supplier relationships (A-)
- Worker empowerment (B-)
Trenery (A-)
- Policies (A+)
- Traceability and transparency (A)
- Auditing and supplier relationships (A-)
- Worker empowerment (B-)
Bonds (A-)
- Policies (A+)
- Traceability and transparency (A-)
- Auditing and supplier relationships (A-)
- Worker empowerment (B-)
Lululemon Athletica (A-)
- Policies (A+)
- Traceability and transparency (A-)
- Auditing and supplier relationships (A+)
- Worker empowerment (C+)
How other popular fashion brands fared:
ASOS (B+)
Nike (B-)
Forever New (B-)
Tommy Hilfiger (B-)
David Lawrence (C+)
Miss Shop (C+)
City Chic (C+)
Julius Marlow (C+)
Cue (C)
Rockmans (D+)
Bardot (D)
Boohoo (D)
Decjuba (F)
The high street brands
Zara (A-)
H&M (B+)
Topshop (C+)
Uniqlo (D+)
The department stores
Kmart (B+)
Target (B)
David Jones (B-)
Myer (C+)
Big W (C)
See all of the 407 brands that were assessed, including their full report cards, at behindthebarcode.org.au
Does shopping ‘ethically’ really make a difference?
According to Baptist World Aid Australia, you bet it does. “The collective impact of all of our decisions has been heard by companies, which has in turn been a driver for change,” says the organisation. In their latest report, they noted that since the first edition of the Ethical Fashion Guide in 2013, they’ve seen a 29% increase in companies working to trace where their fabrics come from; a 25% increase in companies working to trace where their raw materials come from; and of the companies that they assess, the number that can demonstrate that their final-stage production workers are receiving a living wage has almost tripled, rising from three in 2013 to eight in 2018.
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