elephant journal

Summer Rayne Oakes for Grist.org: “Ecofashion Ain’t Enough—Social, Fair-trade Values Must be Part of the Mix.”

by Waylon Lewis, elephantjournal.com on Dec 3, 2008

Summer Rayne, a model who’s become ‘the’ spokeswoman for responsible/ethical/green/eco-fashion, goes on to discuss her favorite companies who are ‘going beyond green.’ While I might argue ‘Obama’ or ‘bad economy’ are buzzwords of the moment, the below is an exceptionally intelligent, straight-to-point summation of where the green fashion movement is at. Excerpt:

“Eco fashion” has definitely become the buzzword of the moment.

Within the last month alone, my office has received calls from over a half-dozen trade shows and runway organizers seeking to green their events. Apparel companies and clients feverishly searching for organic clothing sources are also becoming quite common. The press seems to be foaming at the mouth for new material too, which is always a good sign; but, in the U.S. at least, we have yet to graduate beyond the “green” theme. This week I’ll be speaking to a U.K.-based women’s glossy on “ethical fashion,” a term I hear used far more frequently in Europe.

“Ethical” brings a more social-cultural perspective to the mix, one you don’t always get when talking straight up “eco” speak. The term has its roots in the fair-trade movement. Fair trade got its start 50 years ago, well before the idea of “eco fashion” was ever embraced by popular culture. It started with international aid groups working with small-scale African farmers. It wasn’t until the late 1980…

For the rest, go to Grist, with Treehugger one of the ‘big daddy’ green web sites.