Everything You Need To Know About

Ethical Clothing, Fair Trade Fashion, & Socially Responsible Fashion Brands

1. Documentaries & Documentary Short Films

“The True Cost” is perhaps one of the leading documentaries in its space. It’s a feature length documentary, that chronicles the growth of the fast fashion industry and brings you, as a viewer, right in the middle of the villages and towns that produce much of the clothing you see everyday. In my opinion, it’s an eye-opening and poignant work, as it puts emphasis on telling the untold stories of those who work with little compensation in unfavorable conditions. It’ll linger with you for a while. The rest of these selections are documentary shorts that I found on YouTube. After watching them, some appear to be personal projects, while others were carried out with a small team of investigators and cameramen. “Bangladesh in Crisis” was especially thought-provoking for me, as I’ve read about the unethical working conditions of facilities in Bangladesh, but never truly got to see what they were like and hear firsthand accounts from researches and educators in the field.

2. Books

Surprisingly – or perhaps not so surprisingly – there aren’t that many books published about ethics in the apparel industry. Moreover, several of the ones I came across on my search didn’t seem to be clear in their discussion of the topic or their narrative angle. Fortunately, I did manage to find a handful of helpful pieces that are both well-organized and comprehensible in their direction, discussion, and research. Here, I also tried to select books that were highly reviewed. I should say that I’ve only read one of the pieces below (i.e., “Clothing Poverty”), and read reviews and excerpts on the rest. In an effort to enable a diverse understanding, some pieces cover the economic side of the industry, while others the cultural and historical. The next one on my reading list is, “The Dirty Side of the Garment Industry: Fast Fashion and Its Negative Impact on Environment and Society” by Nikolay Anguelov.

3. Talks & Interviews with Industry Leaders, Reporters, Researches & Fashion Brand Executives

Personally, I’m a fan of TED Talks and use them as a way to obtain current and digestible information about modern innovations and discoveries. Luckily, I was able to find two TED Talks that do a brilliant job outlining the features of the fashion industry — the speakers offer both a learned perspective on the current, popular methods of sourcing in the fashion industry and, most importantly, follow with a critical analysis of what needs to change and why. A portion of their respective talks extend to sustainability in the fashion industry (i.e., transportation costs, textiles, etc.), which gives a nice balance to the more ethically-based information. The other pieces I’ve copied below are talks and lectures presented by other industry leaders and academics. There are also two interviews with socially responsibly fashion brand executives that I found particularly informative. And, of course, I had to add a tremendous piece of political satire by “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” — perhaps you’ve seen it, as I believe it went viral, but if you haven’t, you should.

4. Peer-Reviewed Articles & Research Reports

Research. Beautiful research. Since I graduated from New York University only this past May (of 2016), I still have my academic cap on firmly. Academic journals, Google Scholar, and other platforms that collate peer-reviewed research articles are crucial for acquiring up-to-date and quality information on just about any field you’re interested in. I referred to them whenever I had to write an essay or give a presentation in college. So, to complete this section, I knew I had to pay a visit to an old friend. Below, you’ll find peer-reviewed articles from the Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, Journal of Economics Geography, Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, and more. I tried to select relatively recent articles (from 2008 to present) that studied the aforesaid relationships between sourcing, ethics, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility in the fashion industry. Additionally, as a little something extra, I found articles on consumer behaviors and branding in the ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ fashion industries. My favorite one of the bunch is “Fast Fashion, Sustainability, and the Ethical Appeal of Luxury Brands” — but I’ve included the abstracts so you can pick and read efficiently.

5. Blog Articles & News Reports

Now, of course there are quite a lot of blog articles and news reports out on ethical fashion and Fair Trade clothing. I probably combed through about 50 to 60 posts. In selecting these articles, I did try to consider the work of smaller and personal blogs, but often found that the claims in their posts weren’t thoroughly substantiated. With that said, I did manage to find a solid selection of articles — from relatively more established blogs and online periodicals — that do a great job at delving deeply into the topics at hand. I was thoroughly impressed with the article by Reuters, which spoke with Anannya Bhattacharjee, a coordinator with the Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA). Furthermore, in my search, I found a blog, The Fashion Law, that I’ll certainly return to when I’m looking for updates on policy with respect the international fashion industry.

6. Product Selections & Brands

No post that discusses ethical and socially responsible alternatives in fashion is complete without a few product selections. Below, you’ll discover products from relatively new brands that are quite literally changing the way clothing is made — for the better! Some of the below brands craft Fair Trade women’s clothing and accessories, while others create socially responsible goods from right here in the USA. The Reformation, Fair Indigo, Prana, and Brother Vellies are perhaps the most popular brands of the lot, but all of these products and associate brands have met or exceeded our standards for design, quality, and environmental and social responsibility. You can find all of them and more on our Women’s Clothing and Women’s Accessories page via our top-right menu bar.

Hey people! My name is Jake. I’m the Co-Founder of Agreeable & Co. I’m an Environmentalist, Social Entrepreneur, Writer and Developer. Besides making people- and planet-friendly products more accessible through Agreeable & Co., I run an online research guide for sustainable, ethical, and healthy products, called Greener Square; and helped to start an award-winning trade and barter app, called TradeMade, that measures and tracks one’s carbon footprint. In a word, conscious consumption and overall healthy, low-impact living is my jam. I also like jam.

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