Staying Sustainable: The Impacts of Coronavirus on Ethical Fashion

Los Angeles-based brand Reformation have made over 100,000 masks, donating many to hospitals and homeless shelters across the city. Photo: Reformation via Instagram

This is a guest blog post by sustainable fashion blogger Emily Kemp.

Ethical fashion is clothing with a conscience. It puts social good, i.e. the protection of the planet and its people, before the unprincipled, profit-driven practices that are prevalent in many clothing manufacturers today.

For a brand to remain sustainable, they need to stand by their ethical values, even in times of worry or uncertainty.  In the words of Clare Press, “Even in times of crisis, responsible fashion is no optional extra. The long-term costs of failing to prioritise sustainability are too great.”

The coronavirus pandemic is a huge source of uncertainty for brands across the globe, regardless of their trade. While some have stayed open, they’re struggling to protect staff and maintain steady sales. Others have been forced to shut altogether, delivering redundancies and ceasing trading for the foreseeable weeks.

For ethical fashion brands, there’s more at stake. They can’t (and won’t) take the same shortcuts that less ethical labels do, such as unlawfully cutting hours or ignoring social distancing measures.

Right now, coronavirus is ethical fashion’s greatest challenge since its conception. Here’s how the movement’s been challenged and how, despite everything, it’s staying sustainable. 

The short term

With widespread lockdown comes less demand for clothing, along with government advice to stop non-essential travel. Sadly, some brands like repurposing pacesetters Nobody’s Child have decided to temporarily close, stating they ‘don’t feel right, ethically or morally’ to continue selling and distributing non-essential clothing.

Coronavirus statement by Nobody’s Child. Photo: Nobody’s Child via Instagram

Understandably, this will mean their staff and sales suffer a substantial hit. What is hopeful, however, is that they currently have the resources to withstand this virus and stay true to their beliefs in doing so.

Not all brands have this luxury. Others have had to find ways of staying sustainable while staying open.

Brands like Thought are still trading, but they’re flagging to buyers that shipping will take a lot longer than standard. This is because they have less people in-house packing orders, enabling them to protect their staff’s safety and maintain vital social distancing measures.

Agonisingly, some organisations such as slow fashion label Elizabeth Suzann have no option but to close. Founder Liz Pape announced the Tennessee-based brand is closing their doors in a heartfelt blog post explaining the difficulties they’ve been facing. Some hope remains, however, in that the brand has prioritised its people: they’ve made assets and equipment available to them to use for future income generation and are helping them to find new employment.

The long term

Coronavirus is affecting industries that ethical fashion brands rely on for materials, such as bamboo and hemp.

Hemp activists, Jungmaven, have shared content on how their suppliers – and the industry as a whole – is struggling. The National Hemp Research and Education meeting, an annual event that considers best industry practice, has been cancelled.

Usually, this event would be vital for industry insiders, covering things like:

 ·  best practice for crop management

·  supply chain needs

·  hemp genetics and research advances

·  panel discussions 

The meeting establishes working groups to determine farmer, consumer, and environmental needs ­– an imperative part of any sustainable business strategy. 

Hemp farming in Alabama. Photo: Civil Eat

While the meeting has moved online, there are certain matters to be mindful of, such as lack of access to the internet in Amish farming communities and other more rural societies.

This is a huge barrier to attendance, making it difficult for scientists, specialists and educators to relay information to farmers about production. Finding alternate methods to deliver these much-needed communications remains a challenging issue.

It may only seem like one cancelled event, but regulations dictate that industry-imperative meetings like this one are being called off on a worldwide scale. 

The leading business event for sustainability in fashion, the Copenhagen Fashion Summit, is cancelled and tentatively postponed until October, while the Australian Circular Fashion Conference has been called off altogether. Important information is lost and ethical fashion brands will feel the ramifications of this for many months to come.

Surviving and staying sustainable

It’s not all bad news for ethical fashion. The very nature of its system means that it’s accustomed to confronting community crises head on.

 So, here’s a roundup of three ethical brands fighting, and thriving, in the face of coronavirus.

1. Thought Clothing

These guys have blogged about the effects on their sourcing and suppliers and are clear about what that means for their clothes.

Working closely with the Ethical Trading Initiative, Thought will use their current resources wherever possible and rethink their collections. This means using materials that were meant for their autumn/winter 20 line and adapting them for new styles in their spring/summer 21 collection.

By doing this, the brand will spend less buying new fabrics. This conscious reduction of outgoings will give them the means they need to continue to protect workers ­while staying true to their sustainable ethos.

Photo: Reformation

2. Reformation

Reformation partnered with the City of LA on an initiative to make 5 million non-medical grade masks for essential workers, leaving medical-grade masks available for healthcare workers.

In the past week alone, they have made 100,000 masks, with the help of partner factories and their own smaller team maintaining a six feet distance between workstations.

The brand has also donated masks to UCLA Health for medical staff to use as they leave their shifts, as well as to homeless shelters across the Los Angeles district.

3. Birdsong

Birdsong have halted production altogether to protect their staff during coronavirus. However, their ingenuity means that consumers can still shop online during their closure.

Instead of an automated email acknowledgement and imminent delivery on the click of a button, orders will be banked, then made and shipped once the brand reopens.

This is an inspiring strategy, rooted in kindness and creativity, to support Birdsong’s staff during an anxious climate of job insecurity.

The effects of coronavirus will continue to shake ethical fashion in a complexity of challenging ways. However, what’s hopeful is that – even in times of trauma – ethical brands strive to remain sustainable, stay true to their morals, and continue to lead on progressive initiatives.

It is these radical actions that will shape the debate for a truly sustainable future for fashion.