You might have heard of shopping referred to as “retail therapy.” Some have suggested that buying stuff, especially new clothes, can make you feel better. In the past 18 months, many have turned to shopping online and, during lockdowns, it may have seemed like the only thing to do. However, retail therapy can create several challenges.
Read more
Buying new clothes is fun, but it can also be costly—to both your wallet and the environment. The fashion industry accounts for 10% of the carbon emissions in the world, making it a major offender in the current climate crisis. While we can buy better and reach for more sustainable fabrics, it’s also worth understanding which fabrics to avoid when you can.
Read more
In March 2020, Amanda Lee McCarty was laid off from her job. For years, she had been working in the fashion industry as a buyer and product developer. But as COVID-19 cases surged and lockdown orders were implemented across the world, retailers were faced with a dramatic plummet in consumer demand for clothing.
Read more
Less than 2% of clothing workers earn a fair wage – while many of us have wardrobes full of unworn outfits. Here’s how to break the cycle
It’s the toxic relationship too many of us can’t quit. An impulse purchase here, a pick-me-up there. A quick scroll, a flirty click, a casual add-to-basket. Who are we hurting?
Read more
The companies at the top of the fashion pyramid spent much of the fall previewing their luxury wares for spring 2020 and making their semiannual argument for the value of beauty, craftsmanship, and lots and lots of stuff.
Read more
When you think about curbing pollution, taking aim at the clothes in your closet is probably not high up on the list. But the textiles industry is one of the most polluting on the planet. New trends and “ultrafast fashion” has clothing entering popular clothing stores on a weekly or even daily basis.
Read more
Fair Trade Denim. It sounds good, right? The press certainly thought so when J. Crew and Madewell launched their collections earlier this year. But, behind the buzz, what does it mean? Unfortunately, not as much as you think.
Read more
The company that owns these shops says all cotton, linen and polyester they sell will be organic, sustainable or recycled. Zara has 64 UK stores, and its parent company has 7,490 shops worldwide. Reacting to the news, Friends of the Earth told Radio 1 Newsbeat it would be "better for everyone if the industry sold clothes made to last."
Read more
More than half of all textiles produced each year include plastic. Now the urgent search is on for a more sustainable way to clothe the world. A 2016 study by the University of California at Santa Barbara found that, on average, polyester fleece jackets release 1.7 grams of plastic microfibres each time they go into the wash.
Read more
It was sheep shearing day on my grandpa’s ranch in the mid-20th century, and all I knew was that I was having fun. Everyone, including Grandpa, was clad in blue denim jeans on this sunny day. Gathered with other neighboring small-scale ranchers, we sheared and then stuffed and stomped wool into the gigantic bag that would be taken to market.
Read more