The importance of knowing how your clothes were made - a chat with Stephan Stegeman, CEO of Shop Like You Give A Damn
‘If clothing factories had glass walls, no
one would be consuming fashion anymore.’
To adopt a frugal lifestyle means to do ‘more with less’, not because it will save you money, but because you care. You care about the world and the people in it and therefore you choose to live responsibly, resourcefully, and rationally. When shopping for clothes this means that you have to ask yourself a somewhat difficult question: does the garment I want to buy represent the world in which I want to live? Stephan Stegeman made finding the answer to this question a lot easier with his online warehouse, Shop Like You Give A Damn, which only sells vegan, fair and sustainable products.
In the
spirit of practice what you preach, a frugal lifestyle requires you to
consume in such a way that aligns with your worldview. This involves doing (a
little bit of) research into the environment in which a product was made,
favouring products which conserve resources, and considering future needs when
making your final purchasing-decision. Indeed, consuming fashion frugally is definitely
easier said than done. Stephan Stegeman couldn’t believe the amount of time it
took to find ethical clothes – ‘it felt like doing Phd research’ – and created Shop Like You Give A Damn.
‘We want to
make it easier for people to make the right decision’ said Stephan when asked
why he created Shop Like You Give A Damn.
‘Many people have good intentions, but due to a lack of knowledge, they end up
making decisions that directly oppose their ideals’. This is actually something
that quite some people who strive to be frugal do unintentionally; they wind up
purchasing clothes that, due to elaborate marketing campaigns, appear to be
sustainable, but are actually greenwashed. Or buy fashion that’s been made by
employees who encounter unsafe working conditions, non-payment of salary,
forced overtime, discrimination, and abuse.
This is, of
course, an important element to keep in mind when adopting a frugal consumption
behavior. Brands do their best to disconnect the final product from the shady
production chain that produced it. It is up to the frugal consumer to
reestablish the connection and decide whether the product aligns with their
norms and values. ‘It’s sort of similar as to what Paul McCartney said about
the meat industry… If all clothing factories had glass walls, no one would be
consuming fashion anymore’.
It seems as
if people do not know what they contribute to when purchasing fashion. To help
shed a light on production processes and make shopping frugally easier, several
guides and apps exist which monitor and rank different brands based on ethical
and sustainable criteria, such as Good On You, Ethical Fashion Guide, and Baptist World Aid to name a few. Make sure to consult
one of those before making your next purchasing decision!
Stephan is
a firm believer in justice, but does not expect brands to take responsibility
for the damage they caused and compensate the victims of the fashion industry anytime
soon. For this reason he hopes for governments all over the world to step in
and stamp out practices that are unethical, illegal, and unsustainable.
In the meantime it is up to us to adopt frugal fashion consumption behavior and limit our consumption, use products as long as possible, take care of and maintain available clothes, repair, reuse, and recycle. And of course, at some point clothes naturally tear, break or don’t fit us anymore and therefore you have to buy something new. There is no shame in buying something new, however, when you do, take a moment to think and educate yourself about what happened behind the walls of the factory in which the product was made.
I
would love to thank Stephan Stegeman and Shop Like You Give A Damn for finding
some time to talk to me. I highly encourage you – whether you are a longtime
frugal consumer or relatively new to frugality –
to
check out their products and blogs > https://www.shoplikeyougiveadamn.com/
