Fast Fashion – The Villain in our Closets
Villains don’t always exist in movies. Sometimes, they live in our closets.
The name of this particular villain is ‘Fast Fashion’.
Fast fashion brands have built an entire industry by introducing endless trends every year and convincing customers to buy substandard clothes at cheap prices so that they can continue racking up profits with each new purchase.
We didn’t take any names, but a few popped up in your head already, didn’t they?
Fast Fashion, Grave Repercussions
Fast Fashion has had such deep-reaching psychological impacts that consumers now experience some sort of Cinderella-syndrome where if you wear an outfit a couple of times, it’s likely that you’ll never wear it again because society tells you that repeating clothes is an unforgivable sin.
Trying to keep up with these ever-changing norms and fashion trends can be financially catastrophic and emotionally overwhelming.
So, why has this happened?
For starters, owing to the extremely inferior fabric quality used by such brands, our clothes look old and faded after only a few washes. So, we have no choice but to discard them. Second, as fashion trends keep changing at lightning-quick speed, we feel pressured to keep up with them. Earlier, there used to be 4 major fashion “seasons” which coincided with the actual seasons of the year. Sounds perfectly logical.
But now, fashion trends are introduced like Oreo flavours - there’s just too many of them. Social media’s “Outfit of the Day” culture has led us to consume fashion in a way that is transient and performative. This has created an impulse to shop more and more often, leading us to buy from fast fashion brands which offer the latest trends at such absurdly low prices that we find ourselves picking up an item in every colour.
But have we ever stopped to consider how these brands manage to keep their prices so low?
This is when we step into the seedy underbelly of this industry. Fast fashion brands are wildly infamous for exploiting labourers in developing countries like India, China, and Bangladesh. While we may be paying a pretty penny for their products, not even a small fraction makes its way into the hands of its makers. To put things in perspective, if an item costs us $20, then its maker is paid something in the ballpark of 20 cents.
Fast fashion brands are notorious for indulging in sweatshop labour where the “employees” (a loosely used term in this case) are overworked, underpaid, often underage, and subjected to deadly, slave-like working conditions. These workers are paid pennies on the dollar in the name of a “minimum wage” while their employers are skipping steps as they climb the ladder of the Forbes Rich List.
To make matters worse, fast fashion is destroying our planet. Companies seem to only care about profits while they continue to dump toxic dispose into our rivers and overflood landfills with non-biodegradable waste. About 8000 different chemicals are used in the production of fast fashion, many of which are scientifically known to cause cancer and other such fatal diseases. And fashion labels are counting on us to remain blissfully unaware about this because the longer we do, the more zeroes are added to their net worth.
And sure, there are a handful of brands that are incorporating some sustainable practices in their production process. But that’s too little, too late. We’re going through a climate and a health crisis - we can’t celebrate a brand just because they decided to introduce a microscopic sustainable collection to compensate for the millions of synthetic items that they produce each day.
Slow Fashion, Low Impact
However, it’s not all doom and gloom. There are many brands, much like Folk, who are extremely conscious of the environmental and social impact of their production. We strive to bring about real change in the industry by using eco-friendly materials, sustainable manufacturing techniques, ethical production practices and streamlined textile supply chains.
Right from the outset, we design all our products to be used repeatedly for years by using durable and high-quality materials. While many brands focus on the latest trends and new colour palettes, at Folk, we identify the most neutral colours, and then create classic silhouettes that remain timeless. We lay emphasis on how our customer will use a particular product, and how we can encourage them to use it for as long as possible through upcycling and recycling.
But having said that, until the fast fashion behemoths truly incorporate sustainable and moral production efforts on a large scale, we still have a long way to go. And this can only be realised through conscious consumption. After years of putting convenience and cost before everything else, it’s time we started investing value into each item that we buy. We need to consume less and consume it more consciously from brands who are forthcoming about their production process.
As consumers, we need to normalize owning fewer garments and using them for longer. Because even though many brands like ours are committed to being sustainable, experts say that this is unlikely to make a noticeable difference if consumer behaviour doesn’t change for the better and if the industry continues overproducing. Thus, conscious brands and consumers alike need to become allies in this uphill battle towards a more sustainable fashion.
Consumers have the power to demand real, effective sustainability in their fashion, and the key to this is change in consumer buying behaviour. The goal is to cause a simultaneous shift in production and consumption practices to pave the way for a better tomorrow.
Because, at the end of the day, Sustainable Fashion starts with You.
]]>Realisations are a funny thing – they tend to happen when you least expect it.
The Coronavirus lockdown was a rough time for everyone, that goes without saying. But somehow most of us managed to pull through knowing that our jobs were secure, that we had some savings which would keep us afloat, and that we had alternatives if something fell through. It wasn’t easy, but we made it.
But what of the people who had none of these things. The people who lived a hand-to-mouth existence, had no savings and only a single means of occupation to rely upon. How would they bring food to their tables and ensure a dignified survival? For Folk, the penny dropped and we were shocked out of our lockdown-lull when we were flooded with desperate calls from our weavers and artisans pleading for some work – any work – so that their families wouldn’t have to starve or resort to begging. But the market was closed, demands were low, and we didn’t have much work to offer.
That’s when we knew – it was time to be bold and think big. However, before we moved forward it was important that we looked back to understand what hasn’t worked for so long. After extensive surveys and deliberation, we found that although our country is very rich in handicrafts, the resulting products have become irrelevant in our modern lives as they no longer meet the necessary functional requirements or the contemporary aesthetic tastes. Furthermore, these products are erratic in terms of production and are often severely lacking in quality to be able to compete with their mainstream industrial counterparts.
The few products that happen to be bought are mostly done out of sympathy rather than genuine need and hence, there is no consistent demand creation. Moreover, value chain inconsistency along with excessive dependency on natural resources makes the supply unpredictable. Upon further enquiry, we also came to know that the demand for their products or services was seasonal and so, they had no employment for several months of the year.
With this knowledge under our belts, there was no time to waste. And so, we started working on a new project – Design for Dignity. A dream project to generate 1,00,000 consistent, dignified, and sustainable livelihoods for rural weavers, artisans, and other skilled or unskilled youth of India through a series of Comprehensive Skill Training Programs.
Now, government skill training programs have been around for years, but they don’t seem to be very effective as is clear from the increasing poverty and decreasing employment rates. And while Folk had conducted a few successful small-scale training programs previously, we knew that to achieve our audacious goal of generating 1,00,000 livelihoods we needed to adopt a unique modus operandi. So, we went back to the drawing board to identify and rectify what has been lacking in these programs so far.
From a dearth of quality training partners to the arbitrary creation of Self-Help Groups; from no Demand Mapping of the market to inflexibility of the training curriculum; from an absence of mentoring and career graphing of trainees to a lack of soft-skills training – the problems were glaringly obvious to us.
So, to address these gaps, Folk aspires to lay the framework of a new paradigm of livelihood creation through skill training which would encompass both Hard and Soft skills thus imparting a holistic guidance which would make the participants job-ready as per the current and future market trends. The plan is to customise the training program in accordance with the ground reality of the participants so that it can work as a practical solution to their manifold problems.
Here’s an example. Rural Indian women are faced with the responsibility of single-handedly fulfilling all domestic chores like raising the children, cooking, cleaning, collecting water, et cetera. This takes up a major portion of their day and so, they can only work for a few hours (4-5 hour shifts in rotation) at a stretch. Thus, they need to be equipped with a multi-faceted skillset that allows them to earn a living but also, does not impede their ability to manage the household.
Our approach will be novel as we will endow all trainees with varied skillsets to overcome their own limitations as well as the changes in market trends. This will help ensure sustainable employment for the program participants throughout the year. Therefore, the thrust of the program will be to create a market-aligned curricula which would include agricultural as well as non-agricultural activities - think organic farming, handloom weaving, backyard gardening, food processing, labelling and packaging, cutting and tailoring, quality control, hospice training - to provide diverse options for the participants to choose from as per their interests and convenience.
It was a unanimous decision to formulate a Skill Training program which would meet the needs of all – those with no skills whatsoever, as well as those who have some expertise in a particular field but have not been able to realise its potential. For those with no latent skills, we would start with the fundamentals and then delve into the intricacies, thus building their capabilities from the ground up. As for those who possess certain pre-existing skills and talents, we would upskill them by teaching how to hone their craft, reorient them to the needs and demands of the modern consumer thereby making their product or service marketable.
After completion of the training, we shall help the participants acquire job placements through our reliable connections in every industry. We shall also provide the necessary aid to set up micro-enterprises to participants with entrepreneurial aspirations.
But why do we call it “Design for Dignity”?
This is because Folk has come up with this unique strategy of creating dignified and sustainable job opportunities by re-imagining and applying the tenets of Design Thinking to reverse-engineer the whole process. Through the iterative process of Design Thinking, we seek to challenge assumptions and redefine these problems so that we can deduce alternative strategies and solutions which shall, in turn, facilitate an empathetic understanding of the persisting problems.
Our plan is to study and secure the market first, then directly engage with the craftspeople and use their craftsmanship to develop novel products that are user-centric, high on functionality, suit modern day lifestyles, and then impart the skill training as per market demand.
Our goal is ambitious, the stakes are high, and the journey is uncertain – but we are committed to our mission of creating 1,00,000 sustainable livelihoods. And we firmly believe that with our unwavering sincerity, innovative ideas, and determination to empower the rural folk in becoming self-reliant through gainful employment – nothing is impossible.
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At folk, we firmly believe that degrees and marks (or, lack thereof) are not a testament to one’s skill and knowledge. Since our genesis, we have pioneered generating sustainable livelihood for individuals. Our most significant guiding principle is to be, and to make others, self-reliant and the best version of one’s self. To achieve this, one need not go through years of formal education only to end up nowhere. To this end, we have been strong advocates for vocational methods of learning that provide practical courses through which one gains
skills and experience that are directly linked to a career in future. And we are not alone in this sentiment.
We are happy to see an increasing number of companies jumping the bandwagon and changing their hiring criteria wherein academic qualifications no longer act as a barrier to getting a foot in the door. Google has taken a step in this direction by recently launching a comprehensive digital jobs program to help Americans get back to work, break down educational barriers by prioritising skills, and support the country’s economic recovery.
We do believe that actions speak louder than words. Thus, folk has worked in
collaboration with Sarva Shiksha Mission and the National Jute Board to launch a project aimed towards imparting holistic, nurturing life and work skills to support the transition of 141 youth graduating from the State Government’s residential schools to help them achieve financial independence and empowered social integration. So far, the program has been carried out in two batches (2016 and 2019). Upon the completion of their Secondary Board Examinations, these youths would no longer be eligible to continue residing at the State-run residential institutions. Once released from institutional care, the pressing reality they are confronted with is the choice and means of livelihood. So that they don’t have to return to a life of destitution, it is paramount for them to acquire relevant vocation and job skills. Additionally, they must be empowered with self-confidence, social skills and a sense of purpose.
Folk undertook a two-dimensional approach in order to attain these objectives – the practical (including vocational) and the personal (imaginative/reflective). It is our belief that the two must come together for the most effective learning experience. The programme was organised on the premises of folk as a space for learning specific skills and learning how to think and feel about these skills. The youngsters were introduced to the full range of activities that the work in folk comprises of: printing, merchandising, stitching, quality checking and packaging. They would then be encouraged to make independent choices of work-area depending on their individual inclinations. Each element of learning was designed, delivered and mentored by subject-matter experts.The impetus of this training was to ensure that these youths are motivated to pursue their chosen area of vocation. Our aim was to hire them at our facility at the end of this
apprenticeship, thus self-actualising our process. But we realise that our work is far from done. And we won’t stop here. It is our goal to participate in more such projects so that we can equip more and more people with the essential skills that are required to get a job that sustains them and, more importantly, fills them with a sense of dignity.
Yeah, we messed up again!
So, what does this mean for our planet?
It means that we have overshot Earth’s budget and now are running on next year’s
resources to sustain ourselves in the present. This implies that humanity is currently using Earth’s natural resources 1.75 times faster than our planet’s ecosystems can regenerate them.
To put things in perspective, imagine if we consumed our entire monthly Internet data plan in less than 3 weeks! Of course, the simple solution to that would be to buy a “top-up plan”.
Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury to do the same with our natural
resources. Nature has always tried to adapt itself to the needs of humanity, and it’s high time that we extend the same courtesy to it. If we continue at the current rate of human consumption, our future generations stand at risk of experiencing complete ecological bankruptcy.
This is to say that if Mother Nature were our Internet Service Provider, it would not bode well for our survival.
But, all hope is not lost! Owing to the global Coronavirus lockdown, we have
successfully managed to push Earth Overshoot Day to a later date than in previous years. But least we want another pandemic induced lockdown ever again! So, it’s time for us think of other (read: practical) measures to mitigate this crisis.
As individuals, we must contribute to this progress and “recharge” Nature by making careful choices. One of the most convenient ways to do so is by being responsible, using sustainable products that last long and don’t break the bank. In the long run, buying judiciously will serve to help us, as consumers, to save more than we spend.
In 2015, the United Nations’ member-states came together in global partnership and took an urgent call for action for peace and prosperity of the planet and its people. Born from these collaborative efforts were the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Of these, goal number 12 is to implement a responsible consumption and production pattern towards a more sustainable future.
At Folk, we work consciously and tirelessly to align with these mandates, particularly SDG 12. It is our philosophy to do more with less by creating all purpose designs that last longer, recycling our own factory waste. about us
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