Ladies, contemporary sustainable fashion
Showing posts with label ethical fashion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ethical fashion. Show all posts
Thursday 4 April 2019
6 Styles to Wear to a Wedding
Wednesday 30 January 2019
Is Fashion Week Ever Sustainable?
Fashion week - Why Madia & Matilda is against fast fashion
What is slow fashion?
In recent years we have seen a wave of change wash over the
fashion industry. Consumers and companies alike have become more aware of the
effects of fast fashion on workers and our environment.
Slow fashion is how we approach and raise awareness to the
way fashion is produced – taking the time to consider the processes and
resources. The term Slow Fashion came about quite organically. It was coined by
Kate Fletcher of the Centre for Sustainable Fashion. Slow fashion
is necessary to save our environment as well as workforce welfare. In 2018,
brands such as H&M reportedly burnt 12 tonnes of unsold garments despite
launching their Garment Collecting programme – a global initiative to prevent customers’
unwanted items from going to landfill.
The slow fashion movement has been increasing exponentially
in recent years as consumers demand higher sustainability and ethical
standards.
Why we only design
collections every 2 seasons
Here at Madia & Matilda, we pride ourselves on our
sustainability and ethical ethos towards fashion. We only use fabrics that are
end of roll, end of line or recycled from previous garments. Our items are
designed and produced in house without the need for a factory or cheap labour.
In order to keep our sustainable promise we only produce collections twice a
year for spring/summer and autumn/winter. By producing biannually we are able
to invest more time and money into our designs and quality, thus creating items
that are ethically sound and adhere to our high standards.
Why we don’t participate
in fashion week
Madia & Matilda consciously chooses not to participate
in fashion week so as not to support the fast fashion trend. Many fashion weeks
and catwalks feature garments that are produced quickly and cheaply to capture
the most recent fashion trends. Not only does fashion week inspire fast fashion
production but it also encourages consumers to buy into trend fads that only
last a few months.
Charity fashion shows
Instead, at Madia & Matilda we dedicate our time and
energy to producing eco-friendly garments that can form the basis of any wardrobe.
Rather than partaking in mainstream fashion week catwalks, we only feature
ourselves in charity catwalks. This year see our brand join the Durham
University Charity Fashion Show - The UK’s largest student fundraiser and the
biggest event in Durham’s social calendar. This year the fashion event
is supporting the Environmental Justice Foundation, a charity who works at the
forefront of global environmental politics to secure the rights of climate
refugees and the future of our planet. If you want to attend the event
you can find more information about the event here.
Madia & Matilda have also featured in many other charity
fashion events including St Martins in the fields, Empire Casino London and
Brighton Fashion Week.
Sincerely Madia & Matilda
Sunday 4 November 2018
We Care: Stain Saving
An average of £12.5 billion worth of clothing in thrown into landfills in the UK every year.
Over half of Brits throw clothing away that could have been recycled or donated and many underestimate the actual number of wearable items they are binning. Many of the items that end up in landfill are thrown out simply because of a stain that didn't come out in the first wash.
Vanish produced a survey and revealed some shocking results:
Incredibly almost a third of Brits admitted to putting the item in the washing machine without any stain removal treatment. When the stain didn't come out immediately, they threw it away. A quarter never even attempted to remove the stain!
To read the full survey and for further information click here.
How many times have you spilled a drink or been splashed with oil while cooking?
It's a frustrating but inevitable part of life but it doesn't always mean the end of the line for your clothes. With some simple know-how and a little bit of science you can tackle almost any stain and restore your clothes to their former glory.
The three simple techniques that are vital to saving your garments:
- Don't Delay
- The quicker you tackle the stain the more likely you are to save your item. Remember the longer a stain sits the harder it will be to remove!
- Don't Rub
- Rubbing will only push the offending substance deeper into the fibers. Instead, try dabbing, blotting or scraping.
- Stay Out of Hot Water
- Avoid hot water at all costs! Once the stain is exposed to the heat it will set into the fibers of your garment. Wash the piece in cool or warm water until the stain is completely gone. There are some exceptions to this rule though.
The Sciencey Part
Removing a stain is as simple as a little bit of chemistry. Once you know what the stain is made up of it's easy to counteract.
Tannin stains (tea, coffee, wine or juice) - Tannin is a natural vegetable dye found in plants such as grapes. These stains can be tougher to remove if they are hot beverages or mixed with other ingredients such as cream, milk or sugar. To remove tannin stains try vinegar, an enzyme cleaner or sodium perborate (a more gentle form of bleach safe to use on clothes).
Oil and fat stains - Both vegetable and animal fat stains can be tricky to get rid of, the best thing to do is blot as much of the oil away as soon as the stain appears. Getting rid of the excess oil will stop too much of it penetrating deep into the fibers of your clothes. For the best results, try using a powered product, like cornflour, baking soda or talc, to soak it up.
Ink or blood stains - When dried, ballpoint pen ink is one of the most notorious stains to remove. Place an old towel or cloth behind the garment and blot the stain with a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol or even hairspray, any alcohol solvent will do the trick to dissolve the oil based stain. If the stain is caused by a roller-ball pen, the water based stain can be removed by soaking the garment in milk.
Make-up stains - Have you ever hugged someone and left your makeup on their shirt? Don't worry we've all been there at some point. Luckily it's not too difficult to remove! Using some household dish washing liquid to break down the grease. After an initial hand wash with the dish soap, wash the garment as usual and it should be as good as new.
Hopefully, with these helpful tips and tricks, you can save some of your favourite items from your wardrobe.
If you try any of them out, let us know on social media!
Sincerely Madia & Matilda
Wednesday 12 September 2018
The Effects of Fast Fashion - Culture
As fashion week is in full swing we thought we would take a look at the processes behind Fashion Trends & consumers desires for new convenient collections.
What is Fast Fashion?
It’s astonishing how quickly ‘fast fashion’— a low-cost, speedy way of shifting massive amounts of clothing from
stores world-wide— has taken over the globe. First conceived in the ‘80s, the concept has gripped the planet in a
way which has caused us to lose sight of how precious our natural resources are. Fast fashion runs on two basic
principles: low cost of production and at the time of selling, and speed of manufacture. The last is important as it
enables retailers to jump on the bandwagon and produce clothing in time for each new celeb/catwalk trend, as it
happens. Along the way, textile production has been outsourced to developing countries (the poorer the better).
All too often we know nothing about who makes our clothes, and we rarely hear about the impact this industry has
on workers and the environment. Is it really out of sight, out of mind? Not quite. Many organisations such as
Love Your Clothes and Remake work tirelessly to shed light on the effect our insatiable desire for fast fashion has
on both people and planet.
stores world-wide— has taken over the globe. First conceived in the ‘80s, the concept has gripped the planet in a
way which has caused us to lose sight of how precious our natural resources are. Fast fashion runs on two basic
principles: low cost of production and at the time of selling, and speed of manufacture. The last is important as it
enables retailers to jump on the bandwagon and produce clothing in time for each new celeb/catwalk trend, as it
happens. Along the way, textile production has been outsourced to developing countries (the poorer the better).
All too often we know nothing about who makes our clothes, and we rarely hear about the impact this industry has
on workers and the environment. Is it really out of sight, out of mind? Not quite. Many organisations such as
Love Your Clothes and Remake work tirelessly to shed light on the effect our insatiable desire for fast fashion has
on both people and planet.
So what’s really so bad about Fast Fashion? Let’s take a look, from the production of weavable fibres to the factory
workers who stitch them together.
workers who stitch them together.
Fabric Production and Treatment
Fibre production and fabric manufacturing, regardless of whether it’s natural (plant/animal based), man-made
or synthetic, uses a vast and colourful array of insecticides, petroleum derivatives and processing chemicals,
at almost every step of sourcing and production. It uses a lot of energy and natural resources including water,
chemicals and oils. Cotton farmining particular utilises an enormous amount of fertiliser chemicals, along with
a staggering 25% of insecticides used worldwide.
It’s also estimated that genetically modified cotton occupied 43% of cotton-growing areas across the planet, as
of 2007. This figure has undoubtedly risen since. The fast fashion trend puts an enormous amount of pressure
on this process, increasing the number of chemicals used and resulting in some manufacturers cutting corners
on the safety of their workers.
or synthetic, uses a vast and colourful array of insecticides, petroleum derivatives and processing chemicals,
at almost every step of sourcing and production. It uses a lot of energy and natural resources including water,
chemicals and oils. Cotton farmining particular utilises an enormous amount of fertiliser chemicals, along with
a staggering 25% of insecticides used worldwide.
It’s also estimated that genetically modified cotton occupied 43% of cotton-growing areas across the planet, as
of 2007. This figure has undoubtedly risen since. The fast fashion trend puts an enormous amount of pressure
on this process, increasing the number of chemicals used and resulting in some manufacturers cutting corners
on the safety of their workers.
Most people aren’t aware of the number of potentially hazardous chemicals used to make their clothes. These
chemicals put the manufacturers of textiles at risk of many serious health problems, such as cancer, infertility,
allergies and diabetes. For more information on the ways textile manufacturing harms people and communities,
check out fast fashion documentary The True Cost on Netflix, directed by Andrew Morgan.
chemicals put the manufacturers of textiles at risk of many serious health problems, such as cancer, infertility,
allergies and diabetes. For more information on the ways textile manufacturing harms people and communities,
check out fast fashion documentary The True Cost on Netflix, directed by Andrew Morgan.
An Environmental Disaster
“Textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of clean water globally, after agriculture”, according to
Patsy Perry, writing for The Independent.
For those in developing countries, who sometimes have difficulty in securing clean drinking water, this
is a dire issue. Poisonous cleaning and processing chemicals are released into the water and often leach
into rivers traditionally used as a source of drinking water.
The True Cost cites the leather industry as one of the worst contributors to this. Kanpur, India, supports
the production of cheap leather. The chemicals used to tan, treat and colour these products are often toxic
and can easily run into water used in agriculture, or even drinking water. The biggest culprit here is chromium-6,
a toxic chemical and confirmed carcinogen, and many of the people who live in close proximity to sites of leather
processing suffer from a number of issues caused by its contamination of groundwater and soil.
On another note, the fashion industry’s CO2 emissions are predicted to increase by 60% by the year 2030,
to a rate of nearly 2.8 billion tons per year.
Patsy Perry, writing for The Independent.
For those in developing countries, who sometimes have difficulty in securing clean drinking water, this
is a dire issue. Poisonous cleaning and processing chemicals are released into the water and often leach
into rivers traditionally used as a source of drinking water.
The True Cost cites the leather industry as one of the worst contributors to this. Kanpur, India, supports
the production of cheap leather. The chemicals used to tan, treat and colour these products are often toxic
and can easily run into water used in agriculture, or even drinking water. The biggest culprit here is chromium-6,
a toxic chemical and confirmed carcinogen, and many of the people who live in close proximity to sites of leather
processing suffer from a number of issues caused by its contamination of groundwater and soil.
On another note, the fashion industry’s CO2 emissions are predicted to increase by 60% by the year 2030,
to a rate of nearly 2.8 billion tons per year.
The Human Angle
The fast fashion industry is extremely problematic and riddled with complex environmental and humanitarian issues at every turn.
Ayesha Barenblat, founder of Remake, (mentioned above), reveals that 80% of clothing worldwide is made in developing countries by
women between the ages of 18 and 24 years of age, and that “the biggest corners fast fashion cuts are human”. Many people heading
up big corporations argue that the practices they display and their attitude to human labour in factories is beneficial to communities.
They justify their actions using excuses like, “A job is a job, regardless of working conditions or relative pay. We are fighting unemployment
in underprivileged communities”. When governments attempt to pass bills which will outline a specific code of conduct, calling for a set living
wage to be paid to all garment workers, for example, the companies who rely on the cheap labour of the workers will nearly always oppose it. John Hilary was until recently the executive director of War On Want, which describes itself as being “against the root causes of global poverty, inequality and injustice”. Hilary comments during The True Cost that, “when everything is concentrated into making profits for the big corporations, what you see is that human rights, the environment [and] workers’ rights get lost altogether. You see that workers are increasingly exploited because [labour costs] are pushed down and down and down, just to satisfy this impulse to accumulate capital”.
Ayesha Barenblat, founder of Remake, (mentioned above), reveals that 80% of clothing worldwide is made in developing countries by
women between the ages of 18 and 24 years of age, and that “the biggest corners fast fashion cuts are human”. Many people heading
up big corporations argue that the practices they display and their attitude to human labour in factories is beneficial to communities.
They justify their actions using excuses like, “A job is a job, regardless of working conditions or relative pay. We are fighting unemployment
in underprivileged communities”. When governments attempt to pass bills which will outline a specific code of conduct, calling for a set living
wage to be paid to all garment workers, for example, the companies who rely on the cheap labour of the workers will nearly always oppose it. John Hilary was until recently the executive director of War On Want, which describes itself as being “against the root causes of global poverty, inequality and injustice”. Hilary comments during The True Cost that, “when everything is concentrated into making profits for the big corporations, what you see is that human rights, the environment [and] workers’ rights get lost altogether. You see that workers are increasingly exploited because [labour costs] are pushed down and down and down, just to satisfy this impulse to accumulate capital”.
Pic from Madia & Matilda - photography Kathy Anne Lim
What Can I Do?
Head over to Love Your Clothes for loads of amazing tips on how to recycle, reuse, alter or mend your clothes!
An estimated three quarters of people in the UK throw away old clothes rather than recycle or donate,
so it’s important that you avoid putting clothes into landfill as much as possible. Ways of avoiding this may include:
An estimated three quarters of people in the UK throw away old clothes rather than recycle or donate,
so it’s important that you avoid putting clothes into landfill as much as possible. Ways of avoiding this may include:
- Buy clothing made from pre-used garments or textiles
- Mend old clothes
- Buy second-hand or vintage
- Avoid buying polyester or similar, where possible. Polyester is a synthetic fibre which, when washed, sheds
pass them up the food chain, where many of them eventually end up in us after we eat fish or shellfish
- Shop at Madia & Matilda! We use end-of-line or second-hand fabrics where possible, helping to reduce the
know exactly who makes each garment. Traceability and ethics are paramount to our business model!
If you have any comments, insights or ideas on the subject of fast fashion, please get in contact!
Sources:
Infographics from Remake website
Sincerely Madia & Matilda
Sincerely Madia & Matilda
Thursday 28 June 2018
Fashioned From Nature: My Day at the V&A
Beetles, Bustiers and Breaking Taboos
The exhibition is shedding a light on the cruel history of the Fashion Industry, and how it needs to change
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| The exhibition asks viewers to think about their clothes and their relationship to the world. Image: V&A |
I went to see the Fashioned by Nature exhibition at the V&A yesterday. At the beginning of the exhibition were a couple of waistcoats with gorgeous embroidery showing flowers and monkeys. The jackets themselves were made of silk and another natural fibre and dated from the 1780-89. The detail and intricacy was unbelievable. The lines of thread were so carefully coordinated and planned, so painstakingly sewn into the fabric. Craftsmanship like that isn’t easy to come by these days, certainly not that kind. Imagining somebody wearing that waistcoat is difficult: it’s delicacy and beauty somehow render it impractical.
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| Men's waistcoat , 1780-89, showing Macaque monkeys. Image: The Guardian |
In the next cabinet were some examples of lacework. These were extraordinarily delicate and detailed. Metres and metres of hand-sewn lace, coiled like a ribbon. I thought of the craftsperson, bent almost double, the night encroaching on them as they strained their eyes to see, the light of a single candle guiding the needle in and out of the fabric like a lighthouse signalling to a ship.
But that wasn’t the full picture. Beside the exhibits were notes explaining how the raw materials were sourced and processed. Here the full story came to light. Flax and cotton gathered and woven by slaves. Factories where women and children were taken advantage of and paid next to nothing. Workers exploited, garments made in bulk by vulnerable people, water sources polluted, air spoiled, indigenous populations abused or neglected, animals slaughtered and insects harvested, natural resources badly managed, creatures hunted almost to extinction for hats and corsets. It was eye-opening and appalling.
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| Slaves in a cotton field, c.1850. Image available under Creative Commons license |
The thoughtlessness that has bloomed in fashion which grew out of the ever-growing need to express wealth and affluence in dress, and the desire to imitate nature, has often caused populations and habitats to decrease dramatically in size. The lack of respect for animals, fellow humans and ecology is staggering. The thing is though, it’s definitely got a lot to do with class. The amount of money it took to get hold of these materials, and in such large volume, must have been astronomical. Exotic beetles, wolves, raccoons, cotton, etc. had to be imported to the UK and must have cost a fortune. The people who eventually wore the clothes would’ve had little to no idea where it had come from, or the cost to the environment of their garment. The consumer was worlds away from the manufacturer.
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| Muslin dress decorated with beetle-wings, 1868-9. Image: V&A |
These days you can easily find out where your garment was designed and made, but there are so many steps in between these two processes that your garment could have travelled half the world before being worn by you. And you would never know, just as you would never know how the materials your garment was made of were made or harvested, processed and worked into their final form. You wouldn’t know who had laboured over your garment, or who designed it.
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| The Who Made My Clothes campaign is taking off! Image: The Joinery |
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| One of Stella McCartney's latest collections was shot on a landfill site. Image: Stella McCartney |
It really doesn’t need to be difficult, and the more people do it, the less it will cost in the end. I really hope people are woken up out of this crazy dream where the clothes they buy don’t have a huge, hidden cost to the planet and its population. Because nobody in their right mind would realise how detrimental conventional fashion practices are to the planet, and then carry on as before. Nobody.
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| Emma Watson wears a dress made from recycled plastic bottles, by Calvin Klein. Image: Teen Vogue |
Fashioned From Nature is now showing at the Victoria and Albert until 27th January 2019
Text: Ophelia, admin assistant at Madia & Matilda
Sincerely Madia & Matilda
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