What inspired me to change my life to a more sustainable one?
What inspired me to become part of the sustainable movement? Honestly at first, very selfish reasons. The reality is that I had not the slightest idea of what was happening in the world, specifically in the world of fashion. So how did I find out? I needed a topic for my master's thesis and my professors insisted that I should have something that differentiated my product from the others. So I chose a topic that was trending: sustainability, save the ecosystem, organic, eco friendly, etc.
**Side note: For those who don't know, I am an Accessories Designer, aka shoes and handbags. And my master is in Advanced Design Management, Strategy and Entrepreneurship, aka how to start my brand. **
SCAD graduation. 2018.
I needed a niche, and I found it in sustainability. So I started reading books and articles, participating in talks and so on, since I knew very little about the subject. And it was then that I understood what it meant to be a fashion designer in today's world. In college they don't teach you about the repercussions of your decisions when creating a product. They tell you about the different materials that exist, but they do not explain that these materials may be coming from deforested areas, from abused animals, created by children who should be studying and playing instead of working, or processed with chemicals that not only harm the environment but to the people who interact with them, including you as a designer.
At first everything sounded like a conspiracy against the big brands in the market. I naively thought, “How is it going to be that such well-known brands in the world support this type of thing, what is the need?”. Until I started to find out the cost of making and selling a product, and that's when I understood. To make a piece accessible to everyone, for a collection of 60 pieces to be ready in 2 weeks, and to create a frenzy that will sell everything, very, very low costs are needed. So where do you get that? In the worst materials on the market and factories that don't pay their employees what they owe aka, sweatshop. (Later in another post I will explain in detail what a sweatshop or sweatshop is in Spanish).
Finding out about this and many more things that are happening around the world for the sake of money was what inspired me to make better decisions when creating a product, and in my daily life. I believe that all designers and creators have a duty to make pieces that contribute to the world, not only to our pockets. When we make a decision we must think about supporting the environment, and the workers who are behind everything. How does it affect them? Does the cost of the product allow for an adequate salary? What process is used to create the material? Where is this material coming from? How I am affecting hundreds of lives with one small decision.
It's overwhelming at first to think about all these things and that many families are probably depending on decisions like these. But I understood that step by step, little by little I can adapt my lifestyle, it doesn't have to be overnight, nor do I have to go crazy because there will always be many more things I could be doing. I recommend what I did to take the first step. The next time you go shopping for clothes think, Who made it? What materials is it made of? Does something so cheap really fit all the costs necessary to create this piece?
https://www.fashionrevolution.org/
Thank you for reading! I will be uploading more posts, so if you are interested in knowing more about the subject and my experience on this journey, sign up for our newsletter!