Fashionable Farmers
Image courtesy of greenqueen.com
When shopping in the high street how often do you picture farmers in muddy fields?
High-street fashion is not as far away from the farm as you think. Although it feels worlds apart…. think about it. T-shirts are made from cotton grown in fields, jumpers are made from sheep’s wool, designer shoes & bags are made from cow hides raised on farms. Without farmers, fashion would have never evolved into what it has become today. The fast fashion business has evolved so much, it most definitely is worlds apart from the relationship we had historically with local farmers and growers. Supply chains are so disjointed that companies (often) have no idea who grew the fibres needed to make the clothes that they sell.
Hundreds of years ago we spun fibres and dyed all our clothing right here in the UK without outsourcing overseas, and with mostly natural products too. The North of England was renowned for its textile manufacturing, but the second world war hit the industry hard meaning production shifted overseas. Fashion giants started to exploit this shift, and there has been a race to the bottom in terms of product cost and quality ever since. We might be paying less for our clothes now, but with a distinct lack of quality the price per wear significantly increases – costing more in the long term. What’s more, is that the creation of a garment is not cheap. There are many skilled processes involved, meaning when we consumers pay less for clothes it shifts the burden down the line – causing social and environmental harm.
The exacerbated fast fashion model we have come to know today, is based on those fundamental farming practises, and natural products. Creating polyester made from plastics to replace cotton, nylon from petroleum to replace wool, and AZOs, PFCs & solvents used in place of plant-based dyes all stem from what we already had in place. In this sense, the industry is attempting to replicate what our planet provides us, to increase production volume and push down costs. It’s exerting pressure on the earths integrity and undermining the wellbeing and livelihoods of farmers, growers, and spinners. This resonates with many fast-fashion giants replicating artisans creations with no recognition too. We have come a long way from natural fibres and dyes to synthetic materials and cheap chemical products, but can we reverse the trend and slow fashion back down?
Aja Barber says that “these monopolies really aren’t good for us”. Imagine cutting out the middle giants and directly giving someone the money for a product that they made themselves. Although we can’t directly connect with most farmers in the system, shopping locally might be a way to limit our over-consumption, and re-kindle community spirit. Is this sense of community missing from fashion? Imagine the attachment and amazement customers would have if they could see and understand the story behind the clothes that they buy – and how they were made from birth. (Like visiting the farm your jumper’s wool came from, or the people who dyed the cloth) it would sure be one way to curtail the way we dispose of our clothes and avoid forgetting about them at the back of the wardrobe.
It’s understandable that these clothes might cost more, and can feel inaccessible, but their longevity means the price-per-wear is next to nothing compared to fast-fashion alternatives. Think of all those vintage clothes that are still in circulation – many of these were made lovingly and naturally. If you must buy new – try thinking about how long an item will last and whether people are being paid fairly for the intergenerational skills needed to create a garment. Farming the land, raising sheep, shearing, spinning wool, creating yarn, growing plants, dyeing clothes, designing, and constructing garments cannot be cheap without being unfair.
Luckily, as we are starting to see fashion slowing down farmers are coming back in the picture thanks to global movements like that of Fibreshed. Regenerative farmers are the ones most connected to the land and our planet, and we must celebrate what they do to keep land and livestock happy which means we can enjoy what the planet naturally produces, and not exploit it.
See our what’s on page for an awesome event to meet farmers at Fernhill Farm, just down the road from us here in Bristol.