Issues Surrounding Ethical Clothing

This article discusses the issues surrounding ethical clothing and how it challenges the principle of Common Good. It also suggests ways to address the issue through advocacy and community engagement.

Running head: ISSUES SURROUNDING ETHICAL CLOTHING
ISSUES SURROUNDING ETHICAL CLOTHING
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According to the principle of Common Good (CG) under the Catholic Social Thought
(CST), each individual must possess sufficient access to all the resources and goods that are
available in the society in order for her or him to live a fulfilling life (Caritas.org.au, 2019).
“The rights of the individual personal possessions and community resources must be balanced
with the needs of the disadvantaged and dispossessed”, explains the CG principle (Caritas.org.au,
2019). To ensure that the principle of CG is reached, people must work together to better the
wellbeing of every individual in the society and the larger world (Caritas.org.au, 2019). The
principle is also associated with the principle of Human Dignity (HD), another significant CST
principle. The principle of HD states that every person is created in the likeness and image of
God and hence, “has inherent dignity” (Caritas.org.au, 2019). Every human being irrespective of
gender, creed, ethnicity, age, ability and sexuality has the right to lead a dignified life and that is
the foundation of the CST (Caritas.org.au, 2019).
An issue has recently challenged the principle of CG both locally, that is, in Australian
context and globally. The issue surrounds the concept of ethical clothing or ethical fashion.
Ethical fashion refers to the ethical fashion design, retail, production and purchasing of clothing
(Manchiraju & Sadachar, 2014). The concept covers wide-ranging issues that include
exploitation, working conditions, sustainable production, fair trade, animal welfare and the
environment (Manchiraju & Sadachar, 2014). As evident from the description, ethical fashion
aims to look at issues and problems that most people fail to see in the price tags and brand names
associated with clothing (Manchiraju & Sadachar, 2014). In a report published by Oxfam,
several brands in Australia have been listed under the “naughty” tag while some have managed
to secure a place in the “nice” list (McCormack, 2019). The “naughty” ones are those fashion

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stores, which have failed to disclose their factories where the clothes are produced (McCormack,
2019).
When viewed from the principle of the Common Good, this issue has raised questions
over the adherence to the CG while undertaking any business or any other work (Caritas.org.au,
2019). The CG principle states that every individual has equal rights to live a fulfilling life but
the way the big fashion brands exploit the workers, it goes completely against the principle of
CG (Caritas.org.au, 2019). The incidence of a building collapsing in Bangladesh in 2013
claiming over 1000 lives brings forth the way the principle of CG not only challenged but also
shattered (Caritas.org.au, 2019). Hence, it is clear that the ethical clothing issue is challenging
the principle of CG not only in Australia but also in other countries.
The societies across the globe need to come together to address and defeat this issue and
to do that, they must follow the principles defined by the CST (Caritas.org.au, 2019). However,
prior to solving or even addressing the issue, it is important to understand the magnitude of the
issue. One must first know the impact of ethical clothing on not only the individuals but also the
environment and the society. In the TEDx Talk presented by Lucy Siegle, it is revealed that
every year, humans use around 80 billion new garments. However, 2 million tonnes of textile are
found in landfills, which is, rendered useless every year (YouTube.com, 2019). This statistic
reveals that people are throwing away their clothes as fast as they are buying those. The speaker
than shows some staggering numbers in the fashion industry that reflect the issue of ethical
fashion or ethical clothing. The speaker reveals that most high-end fashion brands never
acknowledge the hard work put in by the workers that make up a vital part of the supply chain.
The speaker gives example of Bangladesh that has the highest percentage of GDP (Gross
Domestic Product) dependence on fashion – 80 percent to be exact (Youtube.com, 2019).

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However, when one searches deeper into it, one could see that majority of the workers engaged
in fashion industry are struggling to lead a better life. On the other hand, the founders and CEOs
of the renowned brands and companies of this industry are earning in billions (Shen, 2014).
In order to end this issue of bad ethical fashion, the nursing community could contribute
greatly by spreading awareness amongst the common masses about the issue. Nurses are the ones
who have the chance to meet workers or laborers who have been victims of this issue and hence,
the nurses could spread awareness about it with the help of numerous foundations working
towards the issue. Individually, I have initiated the first step to stop ethical fashion by
fundraising to an organization called the Baptist World Aid Australia that works towards ending
exploitation of poor people (Baptistworldaid.org.au, 2019). I have formed a team of five people
who have organized seminars in my university to raise funds for the organization especially for
its endeavor to stop ethical fashion.
I formed a team because I wanted other health professionals to join the initiative as well
so that the fundraising is not limited and more people are aware about the issue. I believe, as
health professionals, we have more access to people who have been exploited in this ethical
clothing and hence, we must utilize this knowledge to better the situation and stop ethical
fashion. Bad ethical fashion involves exploitation of workers by forcing them to work in harsh
conditions, exposed to harmful chemicals and risk of injury from heavy equipments
(Forbes.com, 2019). These factors greatly affect the health and wellbeing of the individuals
working for known brands and companies in the fashion industry.
As a further step, I have decided that I will create forums on social media platforms
because that is the best place to communicate with a large audience. I will then create videos and

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stories about the issue and post it on these forums. In this way, I will be able to create a
campaign about the issue and help it reach to a wider audience and make the awareness bigger.
Many ways could be suggested to reduce this dichotomy and establish a more just society
especially in terms of ethical clothing. One of the ways is to aware people about the origin or
source of the clothes they wear, the fashion they follow. People must remember that the clothes
they wear have been produced with the immense hard work put in by millions of workers
working around the world, who are not even acknowledge or appreciated for it. While buying
new clothes, people must make sure that it has no negative influence on the workers or the
environment. In addition to that, people should buy lesser clothes but better quality ones so that
they could use it for years. Further, rather than throwing away worn out clothes, people should
repurpose or mend those.
The people must promote the principle of Common Good to achieve this awareness and
one way to do that is to understand the concept of advocacy. Advocacy refers to the process or
act of supporting any cause. Humans, as part of the larger society, have the ultimate moral
responsibility to support initiatives or acts that ensure the betterment of the entire community
(Confrontglobalpoverty.org, 2019). From this perspective, they must advocate for the need of all
the major fashion brands in the world revealing their factories and working conditions to which
their workers are exposed. Further, every individual must advocate for the appreciation of the
ground level workers and for providing them a better wage so that they could live a fulfilling life.
Ethical clothing involves issues of exploitative working environment as well. In the
TEDx Talk by Lucy Siegel, she gives example of the millions of children harvesting cotton in
the fields of Uzbekistan (YouTube.com, 2019). These children are made to work as slaves under

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harsh conditions and big names in the fashion industry do not think twice before labeling a
clothing line as their own. This trend has to stop and the entire community must engage in the
process. This is another way to address the challenge, which is, to advocate community
engagement, which means that the people around the world must focus on engaging with the
community irrespective of ethnicity or race. According to the CST principle, humans were
supposed to live in communities and not alone. Hence, when thinking about doing good for
people, one must think about the benefits it is going to do for the entire community. The
principle of Subsidiarity and Participation is one of the important principles that encourage
community engagement (Caritas.org.au, 2019). As per this principle, decisions must be made
keeping in mind the people that are most affected and closest to the concerns and issues of the
community. The signing of the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord in 2013 after the
tragedy is an example of thinking about the community (McCormack, 2019). Nonetheless, more
steps that are serious have to be taken to ensure that such tragedy does not occur again and that
all people are provided equal right to have a better life.
Therefore, it is evident that advocacy and community engagement could help in vital
ways to establish a just society where people from all levels are given equal rights to live freely
and with security.

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References:
Baptistworldaid.org.au. (2019). Who we are - Baptist World Aid Australia. Retrieved from
https://baptistworldaid.org.au/our-story/who-we-are/
Caritas.org.au. (2019). Catholic Social Teaching | Our Values | Caritas Australia. Retrieved from
https://www.caritas.org.au/about/catholic-social-teaching-values
Confrontglobalpoverty.org. (2019). WHAT IS ADVOCACY?. Retrieved from
https://www.confrontglobalpoverty.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/CCGP_what_is_adv
ocacy_US16107.pdf
Forbes.com. (2019). The Problem With The Term "Ethical Fashion." Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/oliviapinnock/2018/05/29/the-problem-with-the-term-
ethical-fashion/#8717295c89de
Manchiraju, S., & Sadachar, A. (2014). Personal values and ethical fashion consumption.
Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 18(3), 357-374.
McCormack, A. (2019). Oxfam publishes ‘naughty and nice’ list of ethical fashion brands.
Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/oxfam-ethical-fashion-list/
8045708
Shen, B. (2014). Sustainable fashion supply chain: Lessons from H&M. Sustainability, 6(9),
6236-6249.
YouTube.com. (2019). The Wardrobe To Die For | Lucy Siegle | TEDxSalford. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YglyHzvBqpA