A Guide to Sustainable Fashion in India
We’ve all been guilty of buying clothes that we may never wear. That top from H&M or Zara that we just need to buy to complete an outfit! Or that REALLY expensive purse we need to add in our collection even though the entire handbag industry relies on the suffering of animals. But we just need them, don’t we? We have all been there, including me.
The world is on the brink of one major environmental disaster and Fast Fashion plays its part very actively! Not to discourage you from shopping, but to share that fashion fast environmental impact is HUGE. Beyond a scale we could have imagined!
First, let me help you grasp something - sustainable fashion meaning. Of course, this is my take out from the research I have done and what it personally means for me.
Sustainable fashion is a form of fashion that is more eco friendly, animal friendly and human friendly. Eco friendly and animal friendly are self explanatory. Here is what I mean by human friendly. There are thousands of workers stuck in basements making clothes for a brand earning wages that are too sad to be mentioned. It also has another meaning, for me. Human friendly is also promotion of a type of fashion that frees people from the NEED to buy “outfits” to be happy. Free from over shopping-to teach people how to not WANT this that are actually trivial in the grand scheme of things!
By this I don’t mean that creativity should be shunned away, but simply that there is more to life than having SO many clothes.
Okay, let me stop speaking now.. phew.. the rest of the blog is, let’s say, a presentation! Here are a just a FEW impacts of fast fashion.
1. Water Pollution
Here is what we can do about it:
- Choose fibres with low water consumption such as linen
- Use recycled clothes
- Choose clothes made in countries with stricter environmental regulations on factories
- Shop from Thrift Stores
2. Ocean Pollution
Here is what we can do about it:
- Choose natural or semi synthetic fibres
- Use recycled clothes
3. Fast fashion Waste Production
Here is what we can do about it:
- Buy Less, buy better quality, mend clothes and recycle.
- Choose shopping from sustainable brands
- Shop from thrift stores.
As an individual I have a responsibility to not be a part of such an industry. I try my level best to do and hence to initiate this REVOLUTION- I opened my own thrift store a few months ago! FUTURE FRIENDLY FASHION. I sell my old clothes and various accessories (in good condition) for affordable rates!
If you wish to support the cause, please check out the store. And use the code- FASHION10 to avail 10% off everything!
If you can't find what you are looking for in thrift stores, you can always shop from sustainable brands in India!
When you try to buy eco friendly, here is what you should be looking for:
Look for NATURAL MATERIALS like silk and linen.
Condition of WORKERS- make sure that the brand you are buying from has ethical and safe conditions for its workers, including minimum wages.
Look for CERTIFICATION. Not all small and slow brands can afford a costly certification, so do not rule them out in the first place.
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