Welcome to Fashion, Beauty and Ethics!

As 2016 is over, all of us are actively looking for our new year’s resolution. As a fashion student I couldn’t happen but wonder what our fashion brands new year’s resolutions are. During 2016 the fashion industry was seen in the public displaying an array of ethical issues, therefore I felt this should be reflected on, I will therefore look into the ethical issues within the fashion and beauty industry of 2016 that I believe have been the most shocking. I’ll also be finding out who are the most ethical brands to trust and hopefully you guys can help me in return as I’d love to hear about ethical brands you know and love!

At the beginning of the year the media saw top high street brands such as H&M and Next in the media. Now when I think of H&M and especially Next, I would presume they were ethical fashion brands, as many of us and even myself have shopped in them without a doubt in my mind. However, in February 2016 it was found that Turkey refugees were working within the factories. Shocking right? Well probably not that shocking as although their own CSR’s state they are extremely ethical brands, they don’t speak about their supply-chains. Within their supply chains it was found that Syrian refugee children were working in their very own supply chains. If we can’t trust brands such as Next (which to me is just as trustworthy as say, Marks and Spencers?) then who can we trust? I fear that this problem could be far worse as H&M and Next actually admitted to the child labour in the supplier factories which leaves me wondering how many fashion brands are out there in denial about this issue. In this day and age, I find it staggering how this can even continue? And with labels such as Topshop and Burberry also using supplier in Turkey I can’t help but wonder whether they are also selling ‘ethical traded goods’ to us when knowing this is not true. I actually bought a Burberry scarf for myself over Christmas, knowing they are a luxury ethical brand I would never have thought I was buying into a company with such unethical trading. I would be mortified if I knew some poor Syrian refugee was part of the making of my scarf. Surely we have the right to know where our clothing is coming from and should know what we are buying into.

So maybe next time we buy a pair of pjs from Next or a cheap pair of jeans from H&M, maybe we should be thinking twice about these so called ‘ethical fashion brands’ that we are buying into. Please let me know your thoughts on the matter below!

Christie xx