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The Energy in Our Clothes: More Than Just Fabric
I've been exploring the unseen energy in fashion. Every item – from clothing and shoes to bags – carries the imprint of human hands. Think about it: someone helped create the materials, whether it's leather from a tannery or fabric from a mill. Even the machinery was built by people!
My last post touched on this, highlighting the human element in every stage of production, from design to dyeing. This leads to a crucial question about fast fashion: Is that $5 t-shirt really worth it? What's the true cost, beyond the price tag? Who wasn't fairly compensated along the supply chain?
This conversation is growing, though it's not yet mainstream. Even luxury brands aren't immune to ethical issues. While US regulations lag behind countries like Italy in protecting workers' rights, tariffs are forcing us to consider bringing manufacturing
<p>In my last post, I started talking about how when I walk into a store, there's a feeling of energy that comes off. It's coming off the clothing or the bags or the shoes, depending on where you've walked into. Basically, the idea comes down to anything that you've ever picked up physically, a person has made. Whether they made the machinery or they were behind the materials, if it's leather, they were helping, they were the ones helping.</p>
<p>Um, in the tannery, cutting it, bringing it to life. No matter what you're touching, someone's</p>
<p>In my last post, I was talking about energetics in fashion. Basically, what that comes down to is anything that you pick up has physically been made by a human. Yes, there are machines behind it that help, but from the fabric to the leather to almost anything else you can imagine that can be made into clothing or footwear or accessories, a human has touched it.</p>
<p>And whether that means they're the person physically helping bring the cow to</p>
<p>In my last post, I left off on the energetics in the fashion industry. Basically what I'm referring to is no matter what article of clothing, handbag, pair of shoes, wallet, etcetera that you've picked up, a human has been behind it. Whether that's in the design of the product, the making of it, the selecting of the fabrication, helping dye leather, all of that goes into the product that you're holding.</p>
<p>And so it becomes important when we start talking about fast fashion of, yes, you can buy a $5 t-shirt, but should you? What is the cost of that t-shirt? And I don't mean the $5 itself. I mean who did not get paid along the supply chain in order for that t-shirt to be $5?</p>
<p>That's a major conversation that is becoming more prevalent, but is still not one of the main factors that we talk about in fashion. Yes, there are also luxury brands that are engaging in activities that they should not. The Italian government, for example, is very good at keeping track of who is paying their employees, who is not. In the US, we're not so great at that at this point, but hopefully it's coming.</p>
<p>While the tariffs aren't great for a lot of smaller designers, they are shedding light on, okay, if we bring manufacturing back to the United States, what does that look like? And where can that go? Mind you, I have experienced working with factories in the United States, that scared me. But that's another topic.</p>
