#bhalotalk

Clothing is so accessible today, geographically and financially. It’s at the click of a mouse or a short stroll away in many cases. Because of this, like anything, we may start to take it all for granted. This is something that we make a conscious effort to avoid at Bhalo. We are deeply involved with the processes and practices applied in the manufacture of our garments. We choose to share that story broadly so that people can connect with an item of clothing in a way that is lost for many labels today. With mass demand comes mass pressure to produce hundreds upon thousands of identical garments showing no lingering sign that another human created it. Our garments are consistent in their quality but unique all the same. There are nuances in the fabric that suggest when breaks were taken by our weavers, slight variations in detail when different women have embroidered a garment with their own particular technique and more. Each of these subtle elements contribute to a fingerprint of sorts for each garment. What we hope to build with this is a sense of integrity in each piece that can be seen and felt by the wearer, regardless of whether or not they know the background. More often than not however, garments are produced with special attention to make each piece indiscernible from another and allow the wearer to disconnect from the human element of its value chain. We’ve talked about fast fashion, about the ever-churning industry that gives us an endless supply of new garments from week to week. But what happens once we get those garments home? If we spend little more than pennies on clothing, do we treasure it? Do we take care of it so we can get the most wear from it? Do we respect the hands it passed through on its way to ours? Or maybe we just wear it once or twice because we really only bought it that afternoon for that thing we were going to that night and now it’s served its purpose and we have that bag of stuff we’ve been meaning to drop at the opshop for weeks anyway... Which rings true for you? Possibly a little from column A, and a little from column B, but it is interesting to consider. Is clothing as disposable these days as a chocolate wrapper?

It’s not surprising that a quick comparison between the fashion landscape in the 1950’s and that of the present day would reveal some stark differences, but let’s take time here to look at some specifics offered by Karen Webster (Associate Professor and Deputy Head of the School of Fashion and Textiles at RMIT) at a recent event. In the 1950’s, fashion labels would typically release 2 collections annually. That’s your classic Summer/Spring and Autumn/Winter. The lead times* were long, the manufacture process was slow and considered. The resulting garments were beautiful in aesthetic and in quality. Estimates suggest that families would spend 20% of their income on clothing. Clothing was not a consumable**. It was treasured. If a seam burst, it would be mended. If a button popped or a zipper bulged, they would be rectified at home, by hand. Skip forward a number of decades and today we see labels releasing anywhere from 4 to 18 collections annually, sometimes more. Lead times for some labels are as little as 10 days. That’s 10 days from ideation, to a garment being on the shelf available for purchase. This is a process that once took months. Today estimates suggests that families are only spending 4% of their income on clothing, yet they are purchasing 60% more product than in years gone by. Garments are worn only a few times before falling apart or being discarded or left for the new coveted item that just entered the wardrobe. Often we find clothing is of a low quality in the 21st century. But it’s on trend! It may be idealistic to gaze romantically at practices of an era past, but what about cherry picking the best bits? What about taking a look at what has changed, why it has changed, what the outcomes of those changes really are and then reconsider our approach? Reconsider our approach as an industry producing garments, and our approach as a consumer purchasing garments. Why not spend a bit more and have it last a bit longer? Why not google how to stitch that button or hem that skirt? What do you think? Should we take a leaf from our parents and grandparents? Do we need to look back in order to move forward? * the time between the idea initiation and the completion of a production process **an item intended to be used up and then replaced

(1) Cremen, C, Nimbalker, G & Wrinkle, H. 2013. The Australian Fashion Report. http://www.baptistworldaid.org.au/assets/Be-Fair-Section/FashionReport.pdf (Accessed 17th March 2015) (2) De Leon, C. 2014. Livia Firth Challenges H&M’s Claims of “Sustainability”. http://www.ecouterre.com/livia-firth-challenges-hms-claims-of-sustainability/ (Accessed 17th March 2015) (3) Chua, J M. 2014. Gap, H&M, Levi’s Named “World’s Most Ethical” Apparel Companies. http://www.ecouterre.com/gap-hm-levis-named-worlds-most-ethical-apparel-companies/ (Accessed 17th March 2015)

2 - St James, Tara. 2013. The Business Of Ethical Fashion, In Industry Features, Not Just A Label. https://www.notjustalabel.com/editorial/business-ethical-fashion (Accessed 16th March 2015)

Fast Fashion is a term popping up all over the place (amiright?). On the flip side, our industry is also seeing a broad brush of terms like Ethical Fashion, Fair Trade, Slow Fashion and more. It can all be a bit hard to follow and for an industry so far reaching and established in its lack of transparency, the excessive use of words and terms like these can sometimes be misleading and down right confusing. So as a first step in our week of #bhalotalk, let’s start by breaking down some of these terms. Now…we COULD write a thesis explaining things as we understand them to be, but we’re not sure it’s our place to do so. Well, not our place alone anyway. We’d much rather hear from you! As readers, followers, crafters in your own right, customers and friends, it’s your definitions, ideas and thoughts on all of this that have such great potential to effect change in an industry that is trying so hard to resist it. On that note, let’s get this conversation started. Below are a few questions to mull over and marinate in. We would LOVE to hear your responses in the comments (or elsewhere with the #bhalotalk), but if you’re feeling a little shy, no worries. Send us a PM, chat with your neighbour, ask your mum/ brother/ partner/ that guy sitting next to you on the train. It doesn’t really matter. These conversations are important, so whether they’re happening on social media, in your home or even as new thoughts in your own mind, they’re indispensible! What IS Fast Fashion anyway? How do you explain it? What IS Ethical Fashion as you understand it to be? What’s the difference between ethical and unethical fashion? Does Fast Fashion = Unethical Fashion? Does Slow Fashion = Ethical Fashion? Let’s get deeper here. Is there a clear line where ethical fashion ends and unethical fashion begins? If so where is that line? And who decides? If not, how do we find our way in this new fashion landscape? If these questions have led you to MORE questions then go ahead and ask us, ask each other, ask that guy… Let’s chat in this space where there are no wrong answers. Hope your weekend was delightful!