It is a once in lifetime experience, that I had to visit London, one of the city well known for being a fashion central and to have workshops about fashion sustainability. I had a chance to meet several fashion sustainability enthusiasts and gain lots of knowledge from them. My turning point to focus on fashion sustainability issues started, when I wrote a journalism artworks article about it and was chosen as one of my country representatives for the journalism conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. I realized that if I tell everyone, about how important and urgent these issues are, I hope that I could make a change for The Mother Earth. The only place that I spent my life these past 22 years. The fashion sustainability issue is not that simple. It is not only about how the fashion industry has to treat the environment well. It has many more angles to it. Quoting Wilsen Willim, an Indonesian fashion designer, who has big intentions about these issues said, that it is not only the fashion industries who has to help their surroundings to live well. It is everyones duty to create a proper ecology, economic, or social aspects of the society. That is why I am eagerly contacted all of the respondents and showed them my curiosity to widen my perspectives about the issue. After I met Tamsin Blanchard, Fashion Features Director of Tank Magazine who has been working in this industry for many years, I felt ashamed of myself after she had only said a few words that changed my view and gave me a different insight. Adi Perkasa and Tamsin Blanchard © Adi Perkasa Tamsin told me that she always was interested in these issues since the early 90’s, when brands like Patagonia, an outdoor clothing manufacturer, made recycled polyester from plastic soda bottles in 1993. I was born in 1994 and it took me 22 years to finally see how fashion damages our surroundings. I feel ashamed of myself to have had a slow response, when Greenpeace International released an investigation, that in 2012 they found out about Citarum River, one of the most polluted rivers in Indonesia which is in my country, contaminated by waste from the fashion industry. A scavenger with his boat in Citarum River which is black and foamy due to the dangerous and poisonous waste, majority from fashion industry © TEMPO / Prima Mulia
“Seeing the beginning of fast fashion was my turning point. How the industry was changing and that it didn’t seem to be right,” said Tamsin about how her fashion sustainability story begin. “People were consuming too many clothes, and it was getting much to cheap. In the United Kingdom, the council started to introduce recycling waste at home. If it started home, I thought why can’t it be in the industry I work in.” The next day, I met Anna-Maria Hesse. Not only co-creator of a brand named Here Today Here Tomorrow (HTHT). HTHT use 100% sheep wool for their durable, biodegradable, and highly sustainable knitwear. Anna-Maria has master degree in fashion and environment. I could see in Anna’s eyes, like they told me that she is one of a kind. Not only having interest to the issues, but she also did a practical master degree in fashion environment study, with the purpose to understand the issues in the fashion industry and learn how to tackle them and treat her surroundings better. “I think when you work in the fashion industry, you see how clothes are being produced. You start to think about the materials-where they are coming from, pollution, pesticides, the water consumption, and people are not paid enough,” Anna sighs. “Me and my colleagues feel uncomfortable to work in that kind of industry and ignoring all of that. We want to know the background, way of the production, and we want to do it the right way.” According to Anna, co-founder of Here Today Here Tomorrow, while they had their own shop, it was important to show and sell products that where ethically and sustainably produced. As designers, makers, they enjoy all of the processes involved in making products, but they do not want to produce more things that people do not need at the end of the day this would add to more landfill. “It is natural for people to buy things, but things that we buy should be beautiful, biodegrade, and sustainable,” said Anna. Tamsin said, fashion sustainability issues are really complex issues and there is no quick fix. We need to have a mindful approach about consumption and waste. Also, to see fashion in such a wider and cultural context. “Why the consumers have to start to make a change? Because it has implications if we buy things that are very cheap.” These issues and what is happening now is everybody’s responsibility. We cannot blame ourselves as consumer to want cheap products, but at the same time we as the consumer have to take responsibilities for the way that we are buying things. Consumers also have to start to understand what is the supply chain and what is happening in the garment factory, “It is up to the consumers to start questioning the brand about who made their clothes and how, also it is the brands duty to listen to them.” Anna explained to me that in one of the cheapest department stores in London a T-Shirts sells for 2 pounds, “A lot of people do not know that you cannot make a cotton based T-Shirt with that cost.” Tamsin agreed to that. Raw material and quality fabric is expensive, but when people pay a high price for clothes it does not mean that the quality is high and the workers get more paid. “Because they are not. They make in the same factories, with the same quality. That is why in fact, it is difficult for consumers to make a decision.” Things that we can conclude is nobody suggesting that they have got the answers for these issues. Still, we have no choice. Rather than to do nothing we have to start talking about it and get people thinking about it. Using our social media voice, asking the brands using hashtag #WhoMadeMyClothes as the part of contributing to fashion revolution movement #FashionRevolution. As someone involved a lot in fashion revolution movement, according to Tamsin by joining the movement we can seek out the brand who wants to make a change. In many other ways, it is a small step to change the world by spreading good things. By promoting through our social media the brand that trying to be transparent. Kind of spreading the words, and making snowball effects. We can research and learn about it, it is about finding solutions and having ideas for going different ways. “We can also buy less clothes, buy things that last longer, buy thing that we need and made of good materials, and no plastic. Last and certainly not least build a relationship with someone that designers work with,” suggest Anna. Once again Tamsin and Anna also agreed that one of the solutions is about ensuring the garment workers have a voice and association to join a union. People should not work overtime but have 7/8 hours a day 5 days a week and being paid appropriately. “It is not a sustainable business if you are exploiting people,” stated Tamsin. For that reason, Tamsin Blanchard lately doing a project with a NGO called Micro Finance Organization. It is about the workers finance, how the workers get paid, and it is a really interesting project. Here Today Here Tomorrow, the brand which Anna-Maria Hesse was a co-founder, works together with artisans from the Association for Craft Producers (ACP) in Kathmandu, Nepal. ACP is a nonprofit fair-trade organization certified by the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO). They provide opportunities for low income, primarily female artisans in 15 different districts of Nepal. Each product of Here Today Here Tomorrow is made by hand and provides the artisan who made it with economic and social support. I also met Annya Suhardi, Indonesian graduated distinction student from Material Future, Master Program, in Central Saint Martins, London. She also has a big interest in sustainability, and contributes by making an arcade machine as her thesis project named ‘Phantaspalma’ on purpose challenging the user to become a palm oil industry owner and finding a best solutive way in that industry. Annya intentions is to give information by educative game, that actually palm oil is not that destructive to surround, it helps thousands of peoples to live well. She also told me that building awareness in any communication channel, is having the same important role as solving the problem. It has become my motivation to always write about how important and urgent fashion sustainability issues now © Adi Perkasa for LookGoodFeelGoodId
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