Sustainability and ethical textiles

Today I watched a documentary on a demin jean factory which opperates in China. The programme both shocked me and brought to my attention change needs to happen in our ever developing textile industry. The programme followed a 17 year old girl, who left her family and way of life and moved to the city, where she worked as a thread cutter. Both her, living conditions and working conditions where shocking!

I feel as a designer I can implient small scale changes which will help the long term effects of ethical textiles as well as textiles that are sutainable. After watching the documentary I attended a seminar to discuss what we had seen. A few areas of conversation interested me and I intend to look into them further at a later date;

Anaya Hindmarch- Im not a plastic bag

• Frabric reusable bags to replace plastic carrier bags from supermarkets ect.
• The company tried to "do their bit" by advertising a fabric reusable bag as fashionable.
• Bleached cotton fabric bag sold at £5 from Sainsbury's
• Promoted through celebrities
• Soon caught on to be a fashion fad
• However the fabric bags where being shippped from China, and therefore had a big Carbon Foot Print.
• Positive side however raised awearness to a mass audience and made sustainable textiles fashionable!