Net-zero emissions; all hail ethical fashion brands like Etiko

The Pulse of the Fashion Industry report once forecast that at the current rate, fashion emissions would grow 63% by 2030. In the quest to achieve net-zero emissions and make slow fashion the standard for all fashion manufacture, it’s absolutely necessary to give accolades to ethical clothing brands who strive to end fashion’s impact on climate change.

These brands have environmental best practice, living wages and human rights advocacy as the cornerstone of their businesses. Brands like Etiko are a guiding light for manufacturing optimum ethical standards where the planet and people are concerned.

In operation since 2005, Etiko was the first fashion brand in the southern hemisphere to have acquired fairtrade certification. They also have GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certification and B Corp certifications. The inspiration for this business model came at a time when it was more challenging to find a company whose products were not made using child labour or unfair wages to workers in another country. They decided to be that brand. They ensure living wages are paid to their workers who are all based in Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Australia.

Organic cotton

They make athleisure, basics, underwear, shoes and sports apparel. With an annual estimate of 55 million tonnes of pesticide being used on cotton crops, these toxic chemicals end up in local water bodies and oceans, endangering wildlife, humans and the eco system. For this reason, 100% GOTS organic cotton is what Etiko uses for their clothing and footwear.

Vegan friendly

According to the Food & Agriculture Orgnaisation of the U.N., 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions are from animal agriculture. To minimise carbon footprint, their apparel, like their sneakers are vegan friendly.

Natural rubber

The rubber used comes from rubber trees in Sri Lanka. Natural rubber, unlike petroleum based rubber is naturally extracted from sustainably farmed trees that do not release harmful gases and chemicals. Moreover, natural rubber is 100% biodegradable.

Emissions

For several years, Etiko has been on track to achieving net-zero carbon emissions target for their entire supply chain by the end of this year. It’s not too difficult to see why they have won multiple awards in the sustainability & social impact space such as: A+ in Ethical Fashion Report  2013 – 2017, Human Rights Award 2016, Golden Greenies Award 2012 and the Telstra Business Awards 2008.

The more we acknowledge, support and endorse ethical brands, the sooner they will become standard in retail and furthermore, the possibility of having a fashion industry with net-zero emissions will become a reality.  

STYLING

Because I’m nearly obsessed with polka dots, I chose this skirt for this ensemble. I wore my signature ‘50s petticoat with the skirt then paired it with my black Etiko organic cotton t-shirt. No surprises that I’m wearing a waist belt as I often do with a ‘50s style skirt or dress. It really helps to synch in the waist. I completed the look with my red Etiko vegan sneakers.

Colour wise, the black on my t-shirt connects with the black dots on my skirt. The white text on my skirt connects with the white on my skirt (and also the white shoes laces and soles) and then the red on the t-shirt connects with the red of the sneakers. So basic!

Styling tips

True style is all about wearing pieces your own way and putting your own personal signature on them. You can wear a t-shirt and sneakers like these with almost anything. Nothing screams instant style confidence like wearing bold coloured sneakers with an otherwise plain or unflattering ensemble. Try it out for yourself!

Outfit sourced from:

Etiko Black ‘Wear No Evil’ Organic T-shirt – Etiko

White & Black Polka Dot Skirt – Gigi’s Fairy Fashion

Etiko Red Lowcut, Fairtrade, Vegan Sneakers - Etiko

Photography by Pepper Street Photography.

https://etiko.com.au/

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/jun/23/five-ways-fashion-damages-the-planet

http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/wsfs/docs/expert_paper/How_to_Feed_the_World_in_2050.pdf

♥ Nina Gbor

When self-esteem gets in the way of progress

Even though I post a lot of content online and on social media, I'm very private. As an introvert and sensitive person, I can be a little apprehensive about sharing too much personal info. I’ve grown to realise that when people are open and vulnerable, it can create a space for others to relate and connect. Such interactions open possibilities for magical things to happen like inspiration, tolerance and positive change.

I never liked close up photos of myself like this one because I believed cameras made me look strange. And therefore, I wasn't good enough. One day it dawned on me that how I look doesn't matter! The reason I do this work is to be of service. It's with the hope of contributing to making a difference to the environment and to peoples' lives.

How I think I look should have nothing to do with that mission. It's just vanity after all. This vanity has crippled some progress in certain areas of my work. This self-awareness gives me the strength to let go of worrying about how I might look.

For anyone with a volition to do something progressive, how they look shouldn’t matter. It’s irrelevant when it comes to matters of positive change.

Now I know that sharing my experiences, values and thoughts can be a way to reach people who need to hear from someone who has gone through something similar. It helps people know that they’re not alone. And that they’re going to be okay.

Outfit sourced from:

Hat and silk scarf - The Green Shed Underground Op Shop

1960s vintage polka dot dress – The Green Shed Underground Op Shop

Beige chunky heel strappy sandals – The Red Cross Op Shop

Sunglasses – The Red Cross Op Shop

Photography by Bryant Photographer.

♥ Nina Gbor

Giving the best gifts this holiday season

Expression of Love dress by Pure Pod. Australian-made with 100% organic cotton.

With Black Friday recently passed and Christmas around the corner, we’re knee-deep in the season of overconsumption. I read an article today that claims 2019 was the year that sustainability burst into fashion mainstream but a holistic shift to slow fashion doesn’t seem to be happening fast enough.

The good news is that there have been articles and culture-changing messages in the mainstream encouraging people to people to rethink the way we consume material things. For example, an article in The Guardian quotes Berlin rubbish collectors suggesting that people should give time, not stuff this Christmas. I absolutely agree with that notion, but whether it’s the holiday period or any other time, we sometimes still need to use or acquire material things. What we can do however, is to consume ethically and responsibly. And if you absolutely must give a gift for Christmas or even after, consider ethical gift suggestions from platforms like Flora & Fauna, Be Kind Coco or Australian Ethical.

Where clothing is concerned, brands who make quality clothes to last are the best option. Labels like Pure Pod, Remuse, Etiko Fairtrade and many others, go through tremendous effort to ensure as little environmental damage as possible in creating garments. They also exude this effort sincerely to the best of their ability to ensure every worker is paid a just and liveable wage in the supply chain. Wearing ethical labels gives you the confidence that you are actively supporting a positive shift to a healthier, better way of doing things. Plus, you can rest assured your money is not potentially supporting a business that engages in exploitation or environmental degradation of some kind. This is essentially the best gift you can give yourself, the gift receiver and everyone involved in making that product!

STYLING

This is Pure Pod’s Expression of Love dress. It’s Australian-made, using jersey fabric from fairtrade organic cotton fibre from India. I went with neutral colours in putting together this gorgeous ensemble. I styled the dress with a tan brown bag and tan colour chunky high heel sandals. The tan colour complements the grey colour. The heels add a dressed up flavour, but I would just as well wear this jersey dress with flat sandals or ballet flats to be more casual.

Outfit sourced from:

Expression of Love dress - Pure Pod

Tan handbag - The Green Shed Underground Op Shop

Tan chunky heel sandals - Salvos Stores Op Shop

Photography by Bryant Photographer

♥ Nina Gbor

Ethical Consumption vs Retail Therapy

Preloved dress and sandals from Australian Red Cross op shop.

This week I’m giving a talk about ethical consumption at the Australian Red Cross with REDxYOUTH. The preparation got me thinking about my own consumption behaviour. So, it’s time for me to come out with an open secret; I have way too many clothes. For all the minimalist wardrobe techniques that I teach, workshops on capsule wardrobes that I run and clothes swaps that I organise and clients whose wardrobes I help reduce, I still have a really big wardrobe. 

I started op shopping and eco styling at age fifteen. My love for one-off vintage clothes, rare and unusual pieces made me a collector of fine garments that spark tremendous joy in myself and others. It’s been somewhat of a sacred art, with style being like a religion to me. Scouring the racks at vintage stores, op shops, clothes swaps and preloved markets is a rite that I’ve been performing faithfully. Fortunately, I’ve been able to alchemise this practice into a purposeful career in sustainable fashion. 

The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries. Its greenhouse gas emission levels have recently surpassed all international flights and maritime shipping combined. Globally we’re consuming about 80 billion brand new garments every year which is 400% more than what we consumed just twenty years ago. Australia happens to be the second-largest consumer of new textiles after the US. According to United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), World Resources Institute (WRI), in total, up to 85% of textiles go into landfills each year. A massive part of the environmental degradation happens with fashion manufacture. For instance, the United Nations Environmental Programme says the fashion industry is the second-largest consumer of water worldwide. It takes about 2,000 gallons of water to produce a pair of jeans. That’s more than enough for one person to drink eight cups per day for 10 years! 

On the other side of it, we can afford to be so wasteful because clothes are cheaper than ever. Majority of the people who make our clothes (mostly women) are exploited with a plethora of human rights abuses ranging from super low wages to inhumane work conditions. Workers in developing countries can be forced to work sixteen-hour days for as little as $6 a day which does not come anywhere close to a liveable wage. 

Our modern pattern of fashion consumption is a vicious, short-lived cycle of buy - wear once, twice or not at all - bin it - then buy new all over again. I believe the cycle is driven by trends. Trends are powerful because from birth, we’re conditioned to follow trends. For many decades, possibly even longer, fashion has cleverly advanced its skills in making the masses believe you have no value unless you wear their brand or follow trends. It’s one of the very things that makes us feel like we’re not enough, then promises happiness and acceptance if we buy. All the while, fast fashion brands amass billions of dollars on the back of exploitation and untold levels of environmental damage. What’s also sad is that this fashion consumption model does not seem to be giving us consumers any true, lasting or genuine happiness. This then begs the question; why the heck are we still doing this?!

My recommendation is that it’s time for us to ‘get off the fashion trendmill’. Individual preference and sustainable acquisition methods should be the premise for consuming clothes, not fashion trends. This is the key for buying less, choosing well and making our clothes last much longer. Preloved (secondhand) clothing keeps garments in a circular economy. This delays (or prevents)garments going to landfill. Even though about 97% of my wardrobe is preloved, and I tend to cherish pieces for a long time, I still sometimes wonder if I’m consuming too much. On the other hand, it’s also my career, therefore, these are tools of my trade. As a would-be fashion consumer, I would feel enticed to buy the latest shiny trend to feel validated. However, in my world of preloved shopping, even though it’s more ethical, it used to be fuelled by the need to fill a void like loneliness. It was also a form of escapism from a trauma that I was experiencing. Later, I became more conscious of my personal thought patterns that were driving the behaviour. I guess it’s up to each of us to introspect with brutal honesty to explore why we’re consuming so much in order to heal those parts of ourselves and shift the behaviour of overconsumption. What comes up for you when you think deeply about why you shop so much?

STYLING

This week, in honour of Australian Red Cross and all of the incredible humanitarian, aid and community services they have provided globally since 1914, I am wearing a dress and beige sandals from The Red Cross op shop. This 1950s vintage-style replica dress has a lovely pattern, laced in with side and lower panels of glorious, vivacious art drawings of on-the-vine oranges and flowers. I paired it with beige strappy, chunky heeled sandals I also found at the Red Cross op shop on a different visit. In some photos I’m wearing a charcoal preloved Miu Miu designer light mohair jumper I found at another op shop. I’m wearing a petticoat underneath to give it the voluminous 1950s full skirt look. 

ReStyling tips

If you own a patterned or multi-coloured summer dress like this, you can wear it like I did with a petticoat and dressed-up shoe to look elegant. Otherwise, try any of these tips:

1. If you love pattern clash (like me), try wearing a top, button down shirt tied at the front in leopard print, zebra print or polka dot over the top half of the dress. The key is to make sure at least one of the colours of the top matches at least one colour on the bottom half of the dress. This makes the colour-pattern interaction look balanced. Otherwise it might look too out of sorts.

2. Go casual with no petticoat and a pair of flat sandals. You can even wear a plain, basic t-shirt of a with a colour that matches the bottom half of the dress. 

Outfit sourced from: 

Multicolour Summer Dress: Red Cross Op Shops

Beige Chunky Heel Sandals: Red Cross Op Shops

Charcoal Miu Miu Jumper: The Green Shed Underground Op Shop

Photography by Brunela Fenalte.

♥ Nina Gbor

Secondhand fashion; a secret weapon for self-empowerment

The stigma of wearing secondhand clothing is fading so fast, that fast fashion might become obsolete in several years. According to ThreadUp’s 2019 Resale Report, the value of the secondhand market, which is currently worth $24bn (£18bn) is expected to reach $51 billion (£39bn) in 2023.  

I’ve been op shopping and eco styling since the age of fifteen. Back then, it was seen as taboo. Kids would make fun of me if they knew my wardrobe came out of secondhand (preloved) stores. The old and outdated perception about preloved clothing sees it as something for a ‘certain’ type of person, something dirty and only for people who can’t afford retail prices. For fear of being bullied, I stayed in the closet about where my clothes came from, even though I fully, albeit secretly relished the unique look that op shopping gave me. It took several years before I mustered the courage to come out as a preloved stylista. Fortunately, it’s fast becoming the cool thing to do.

My style always made me stand out and I fully embraced the feeling of individuality. My outfit spoke (and still speaks) volumes whenever I walked into a room. In a world where I never felt seen, heard, valued, included in mainstream media or pretty much anywhere else, having the chance to express my persona through of a vast, eclectic range of exclusive garments felt, in some way, like I had found my voice. Even though it wasn’t immediately verbal (that came later). It was my way of loudly expressing myself without metaphorically feeling like I would have to scream to be heard. It allowed me to be seen, which subsequently opened up possibilities for me to be heard a little more often. The way I combined colours, patterns, vintage styles with contemporary styles garnered people’s attention. The intention was not really to wear clothes that got attention. I only wore outfits to please myself alone. However, it made people curious about me, probably because they struggled to place me into any one stereotypical box. That suited me just fine because like most people, I hate being labelled or put in a box. Regardless, I was happy to share my affection for preloved styling and knowledge of sustainability with them.

For the last four years, I’ve been posting preloved outfits on my platforms to help shift the negative perceptions of secondhand, by styling them elegantly. Part of my goal in all of this has been to help people see preloved garments in a new light; as something sophisticated, stylish, aspirational, creative and even enigmatic. In addition, I hope to inspire more people to fully embrace preloved clothing and experience for themselves the type of style magic that’s conjured whenever you wear something rare and exclusive. 

Today’s outfit is no exception. I’m featuring a black silk preloved dress that has a 50s style cut. I found nearly all the pieces of this ensemble in various op shops. The silk dress from a Salvation Army store in the U.K. The black luxury designer Salvatore Ferragamo bag is from Pandoras op and I found the faux fur scarf in a Salvos op shop. Preloved clothes contributed to my self-empowerment but, in the many pathways that exist, I think when there’s a sincere higher purpose or calling as the basis, the journey to self-empowerment is so much more authentic and powerful.

According to Bloomberg, the luxury fashion resale market is poised to expand by an average of 12% per year through 2021, compared to about 3% for the primary luxury market. As fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world, the rise of preloved is definitely a win for the environment. For me, it’s helped me win some self-love, respect, confidence and has opened up opportunities for me to use my voice for positive change.

STYLING

I decided to go ‘Gatsby’ on this black silk number by wearing the luxurious, glamorous faux fur scarf with a luxurious black and gold purse and some stiletto heels. To give it the 1950s touch, I wore a petticoat to puff out the skirt – lower half-section. 

Styling tip - A black dress is too easy to style up or down. Just switch the glamourous accessories for simple, everyday ones. Have fun mixing different accessories and pieces with the frock to create alternative looks. Make it work.

Sourced from:

Black Silk Dress: The Salvation Army Charity Shop, UK

Black Salvatore Ferragamo Purse: Pandoras at O’Connor Preloved Op Shop

Brown Faux Fur Scarf: Salvos Op Shop

Photography by Angela Elgiva. 

♥ Nina Gbor