The textile industries together account for more CO2 emissions than those of all international flights and maritime shipping trips combined, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. That includes your running shoes, your dishcloths, your band t-shirts, your socks, your festival wristbands, your bedclothes, your swimwear and your rucksack. The corruption and pollution of this industry is endemic, and you are affected by it whether you care about fashion or not. Fashion Revolution Week is a not-for-profit global movement with teams in over 100 countries around the world. Fashion Revolution campaigns for systemic reform of the fashion industry with a focus on the need for greater transparency in the fashion supply chain. This is an incredible movement, but those who are not interested inn ‘fashion’ and trends per-se make up a huge part of the incrediby flawed global system of textile production.

River pollution in Indonesia, taken from BBChttps://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/5a1a43b5-cbae-4a42-8271-48f53b63bd07

There is an image created of the irresponsible consumer of fast fashion: They are young, they are a woman, they have few responsibilities and spend hundreds of pounds on buying new, cheap clothes which are disposed of after a few wears. The generalising and sexist nature of this image places the blame for the textile industry’s evils on a specific and already demonised group of individuals – the young image conscious woman. Meanwhile, most people consume textiles which pollute the planet and may have been produced in incredibly exploitative conditions. Today I am going to focus on clothing brands which provide athletic and ‘outdoor’ style clothing.

Using the online accountability website ‘Good On You’, I discovered that many brands which aren’t considered ‘fast fashion’ are not meeting basic ethical criteria such as using animal products without specifying sources and providing no evidence it provides a living wage for its workers. Examples of brands that have been categorised by Good on you as ‘Not good enough’ include: Asics, Speedo, Nike, Under Armour, Everlast, Regatta, Fila and Lonsdale. The list is pretty endless. What stood out to me about these brands is that they are not particularly gendered, and not particularly cheap. The failure of so many of these brands to meet basic accountability criteria speaks to a lack of pressure on them from consumers, as well as corporate and policy failure.

Asics sole marketing claim to sustainability

Let’s take a look at one example in detail: running shoe producer Asics. Asics are an athletics brand producing speciality running shoes and clothes. On their website, they claim ” ASICS is committed to innovation and sustainability, using technologies and materials that help preserve resources and reduce the environmental impact of what we do at every stage of our products’ life cycles. “. The entirety of the justification for this claim is placed on the existence of their ‘Dynaflyte’ running shoe, with no mention of the impacts of their other products. Meanwhile, according to accountability checking website “Good on you“, Asics doesn’t use many eco-friendly materials and uses solvent-based chemicals in its production – which can be harmful for producers and contribute to pollution. It also uses leather and wool without stating its sources. Its labor rating is ‘not good enough’, as – while It has a robust Supplier Code of Conduct that applies across its final stage of production – it sources from countries with high or extreme risk of labor abuse, and pays a wage in accordance with local laws but not in definition of a living wage. It also does not share a complete list of suppliers.

It appears clear that these companies are in need of a ‘fashion revolution’ just as much as key fast fashion players, and it is the responsibility of all consumers of clothing to hold companies to account. The assumption that branding and expense can guarantee ethical status is simply wrong – and it is not only those who shop at Primark and Boohoo causing the incrediblly negative impact of the fashion industry worldwide. Shopping ethically does not mean spending hundreds of pounds on hemp running shorts, it is about gathering all of the information available to you and making the best choice within your means

The Good on You app

So, how can everyone consume clothing ethically? I would boil it down to this: make no assumptions. Just because a brand is cheaper does not mean it is less ethical, and the inverse is also true. I would encourage everyone to seek second hand items using websites like Thrift+ before opting for new clothing. Directories which rank companies on their ethics are invaluable for ensuring your buys are more conscious. If you have to buy from a less-than-ideal company, look for quality so that these purchases last. Re-use old clothes by turning them into cleaning cloths. Repair your clothing before throwing it away. We are all complicit in the catastrophic affects of inethical textile production, and we all have a responsibility to fix it.

