Moda etica

Slow fashion: what it is and why choosing an ethical and responsible fashion

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We live in an era where the rhythm of daily life is getting more and more frantic everyday.

We quickly eat  in fast food, we buy with a simple click and receive the purchases in a short time.

Our smartphone's app allow us to reach every kind of information in few seconds and also the way we purchase clothes has experienced many changes. 

We buy clothes that cost less than a sandwich and, most of the times, we make them last only for one season.

This kind of habit is causing many huge damages to the environment and, consequently, to humankind.

Is it possible to change this negative trend? Absolutely yes.

The solution is called slow fashion.

What is slow fashion?

When we talk about slow fashion, we indicate a different consumption approach that teaches to the consumer how to purchase clothing:

• Created to last
• Processed by a labour payed in a fair manner
• Realized with quality and sustainable materials

A way of dressing up that has, as main aims, the safeguard of the planet and the improvement of working conditions.

This kind of fashion totally outdistances from the one we live everyday: fast fashion.

This is the reason why we assault shops when sales begin and then we buy a huge amount of lowered-price clothes.

Choosing slow fashion means deciding to purchase less but with a better quality and the certainty of a longer last product.

This, obviously, without excluding style and aesthetic sense.

Fast fashion disadvantages

Fast fashion, differently from slow fashion, constantly feed the disposable trend.

It is useful to start meditating on the very lowered price of clothes to understand better the disadvantages of fast fashion.

• Low quality. If a garment costs less than an ice cream it means that it is made with poor and low-quality materials.
• Labor exploitation. For establishing a discounted price, the company must process them in developing Countries, where workers gets insufficient wages and child labor is encouraged.
• Pollution. These garments reach the rubbish in a very short time. Here we have the biggest damage: the failed recycle. Tons of clothes are destroyed every year, instead of being reused, and this is one of the main causes of planet pollution. Fashion places in the second place of this sad competition, leaving behind only the Oil Industry.

Pollution and plastic islands

Numbers regarding damages to Earth are really impressive.

Fashion industry causes the 20% of the global water waste and the 10% of carbon dioxide emissions.

Moreover, for cotton crops it is used the 24% of insecticides and the 11% of pesticides on global scale.

Just to be clear, the processing of a pair of jeans absorbs 11 thousands water liters.

Linked to the theme of pollution, there is the inability of using clothing once they are thrown away. In fact, according to Unite Nations data, just the 1% of it is recycled, while the 85% end in dumps.

This low-priced and fast fashion is one of the factor that led to the formation of rubbish islands.

Right now there are six rubbish island, each of them has received a name. The most famous is the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch", located in the Pacific Ocean. Its dimensions are impressive: from 700.000 km² to 10 millions km².

Why choosing a responsible and ethical fashion?

Choosing a slow, ethical and responsible fashion is a fundamental step for the consumer.

A small change of our own habits would make a big improvement in planet conditions and people's lives.

Also economy would benefit from it, because companies shouldn't delocalize their factories anymore.

This would lead also to a labor reduction in less-developed Countries and, most of all, it would end child labor.

Also the State would get some advantages, because it could offer more jobs to its citizens, speeding up internal economy of the Country.

Here at Rifò, we are an example of this field because we produce high-quality garments and accessorizes, all derived from 100% upcycled textile fibers.

In this way we can guarantee to the consumer a product that is worth its price, without hurting our planet or people.

Would you like to know more? Visit our store.

Conclusions

Every person is responsible of its own actions and the best way to comprehend it is by getting informed.

This is why slow fashion is fundamental.

To make everyone informed it is necessary to have patience and to put in place an education that leads to changes, that may results a bit slow.

The future of our planet is in our hands and, most of all, in our actions.

We can't ignore that.

It has come the time to go slower to get farther.

To us, all these themes are truly important.

This is why we create our upcycled t-shirts focusing on the ethicality of the production, so that we can realize lasting high-quality and 100% sustainable products.

Would you like to try our products? Visit our store!