Ethical Choice in the Fashion Industry

When looking into ethical choice concerning industry, I wanted to obtain some primary research from someone with first-hand experience. I asked Fashion Designer, Francesca Gasporini, what it is like to work for a large corporation within an industry often associated with making their products through unethical means. This is what she had to say about the matter,

“Factories can be very evasive in how they present themselves to external visitors, what you see is not always what you get. From my own experience of visiting these factories in locations such as Italy and Portugal I have found that workers often have to hide certain conditions or aspects of the factory from paying clients; so it wouldn’t surprise me if factories such as these have young children working for them. However there are other aspects to think about in the situation, such as some children are the only members of their family's able to work, therefore the family's only source of income comes from this child. I am not supporting illegal child labour, however China has a completely different set of values from the United Kingdom; at one time it was socially accepted for children to work in similar factories in this country. I have worked for many prestigious fashion brands who spend more money on their factories, which makes it less likely that they have children on their staff. Where I work at the moment, the company owns their own factory, meaning if they did have children illegally working for them, the company itself would get in trouble. If I knew I was working for a company that hired young children as labourers, I don’t think I would feel comfortable working there. I would never apply for a job with a company I knew used child labourers to construct their designs.” 

It is interesting to get a different, and first hand perspective of an individual who has experienced what it is genuinely like in places of ethical ambivalence, these places make you question what is right and wrong in this industry. However I also found it really interesting that Gasporini mentions the workers from a different perspective, not as a child labourer, but as a family member putting food on the table; what if this child isn’t being forced to work, what if they are working to provide for their family? 

Take Out Packaging By JoAnn Arrello

This packaging design is for a Chinese takeaway, the idea of this design is to reduce the amount of rubbish from a takeaway, usually you would get plastic bags with your takeaway and various types of packaging for condiments and a separate piece of packaging for each type of meal. This packaging can hold up to three different types of meals all separated by cardboard compartments, the package is structured by folding the card, and has slits in each package for string to go through so that there is no need for a plastic bag.

This is a great concept for reducing waste.

Bring 5 back and get one free.

Printed on the back of every Lush tub is a quick note telling the buyer what type if plastic it is. Also if you take your black pots back into Lush they will recycle them for you with the added bonus of a free face mask.

This is a great way to get customers recycling (without having to think about it) with a little prize at the end. 

Gives some excitement into recycling.

LUSH

The link below leads to 'Our Green Initiatives' on the LUSH website, the page basically describes how lush reduce packaging as much as possible and tells about 'naked' products (basically no packaging at all)
LUSH are a eco-firendly company by making products solid, such as the shampoo bars is reduces dramatically the amount of packaging, LUSH states one shampoo bar is equal to 3 plastic bottles, getting up to 80 washes out of one bar with none of the packaging.

How to be green and good to the environment? use recyclable materials and cut back on packaging where it's not needed at all.

https://www.lush.co.uk/content/view/68   

Some ethical words from the 22 immutable laws of branding

Connor

Environmental Packaging within Design

Global Warning and the environment play a large part within design, how much is too much? Is there more packaging then needed, creating more waste. I researched into the book 'Why Shrink a Cucumber: The complete guide to environmental packaging' to have an insight on how package design may affect the environment and in what ways could solve the issue. Inside there was a double page spread discussing the issues of how packaging may effect the environment, along with other polluters.

I also found a page discussing whether designers should boycott clients that overuse packaging where it is not needed. Moralities of designers are mentioned, explaining how many refuse to design for cigarette or alcohol manufactorers.