More than ever fashion as a complex system involving human rights and moral values is leading the way for a change in the ethical conduct of humankind. Roberta Readelli, sustainability specialist and the founder of "Made in Como" network and key advisor for Como Città Creativa Unesco suggests a theoretical path for Rekh Magazine's readers
(Wix pic)
By Roberta Redaelli
On the morning of 24 April 2013, the fashion world stopped to mourn 1134 textile workers killed by the collapse of an eight-storey manufacturing complex in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Most of these people were employed, without any protection, in the production of clothing for major Western fashion brands.
A tragedy that has become the watershed in the world of fashion between the first - the race to look at all costs, emulating with fast fashion items the products of the luxury Maison - and the next, with the emergence of the Fashion Revolution movement: symbol of the battle for the right conditions, the right place of work and the right salary. Battle also against fast fashion, accused number one of a system that led to that and many other tragedies. If it is true that fashion is expression and reflection of the identity of contemporary culture, then it must inexorably answer the serious ethical questions that characterize this era. Over the past two years, eight billion people have lived through the common experience of the pandemic, verifying how interconnected their lives are. It is therefore not possible to ignore the profound inequality that characterizes human society, for this reason putting the regeneration of resources at the centre of the common efforts of reconstruction and recovery can help to correct these imbalances.
There is an urgent need for a change of direction in the entire fashion industry, one of the most polluting sectors, which contributes significantly to the consumption of primary resources for the Planet and the exploitation of even child labour.
This is an important change linked to the fact that until a few years ago there was no need to worry about "how" what was purchased was produced. Today there are many questions and challenges and in order to become active players in the game of life it is necessary to know the correct meaning - and the values conveyed - of sustainability, a term now cited everywhere and often abused, to choose and act differently. Consumers, especially Millennials and Generation Z, are increasingly expressing their preference for brands with a social purpose and, fully aware of the demands of sustainable fashion, buy only garments made according to its standards and do not make problems if the object is more expensive.
A 2019 Havas study shows that 77% of consumers surveyed prefer to buy brands whose values they share, convinced that the era of the "disposable" product is over, because the value of a garment or a collection is expressed and improved over the years. Hence the success of the second hand platforms which, awarded by the Stock Exchange, are the protagonists of a positive trend, so much so that the large groups of the fashion system have taken the opportunity to diversify the business, developing a new concept of luxury that relies on the concept of "buy less but better". The current situation shows that the three ESG factors, namely environment, society and governance, are interconnected and cannot be considered separately, at a time when the interests of the different stakeholders appear aligned for a greener future of the supply chain. However, it is necessary to reiterate that at present the fashion system is still rather opaque, given the fragmentation of laboratories involved and the geographical distribution over distant territories, with little transparency on some steps of production and manufacture.
There is an urgent need for a change of direction in the entire fashion industry, one of the most polluting sectors, which contributes significantly to the consumption of primary resources for the Planet and the exploitation of even child labour. In this direction, on 24 April 2023, exactly ten years after the collapse of the Rana Plaza, a group of over twenty Italian companies - practitioners, brands, cooperatives, companies and producers - engaged in the sustainable fashion sector promoted the Manifesto for Responsible Fashion (MMR). At the basis of the Italian initiative with an international scope, respect for the environment and social values: an attempt to reconcile ethics and economics. The initiative highlights the desire to lead the fashion system towards a direction of transparency, responsibility and awareness, with a critical and proactive eye. Four are the founding values on which the Manifesto is based with the aim of making the fashion sector responsible: quality research, creation of social value, respect for the environment and social responsibility. The "participatory movement" wants to be the spokesperson for a project that has three main intentions for companies, institutions and consumers. It aims to promote transparency and good practices by helping companies to understand how to reduce their environmental impact, by introducing virtuous practices for a positive social impact, through concrete guidelines that can be applied to their business, and through good example. It calls on the institutions to promote a sense of responsibility, uniting the voices of producers and consumers to gain more strength and thus to propose new rules to support the path towards sustainability. It aims to stimulate critical thinking and conscious consumption, as well as making it easier to identify virtuous and responsible companies. The ultimate goal is a fashion system that puts quality, ethics and transparency at the top of the scale of its values to reduce the environmental and social cost of what is produced, purchased and worn and in which ethics becomes synonymous with responsibility at the level of human rights, throughout the production and distribution chain.
© Rekh Magazine
Roberta Redaelli
Roberta Redaelli, Italian Sustainability Consultant, Content Creator, Translator and Web Content Editor and key advisor for Como Città Creativa Unesco. Educated at the Catholic University, she graduated in Foreign Languages and Literature with a specialization in Economics and Technique of business Communication (2020), then took the Master “Fashion and Sustainability: Understanding Luxury Fashion in a Changing World” by London Collage of Fashion and Kering (2021) and the Master “Fashion Values: Economy” by London College of Fashion (2021). As a continuation of her academic research started with the Master’s thesis entitled "Sustainability and communication as values in the luxury market", on 24 January 2021 she founded Made In Como, couture showcase of sustainability Made in Como. Not only a novelty in the social world, but also an important part of a wider editorial project, which aims to tell the excellence of Como in a sustainable way.
https://it.linkedin.com/in/roberta-redaelli
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