Is the production and price of ‘designer’ fabric ethically justified?

Eating disorders are on the rise, 

children as young as six are on diets, third world countries making fabric for richer countries is becoming more prevalent among their young people and even closer to home in England, high earning companies are paying minimum wage of employees regardless of income. Is there a link between the idolisation of designer's status and their products prices, and should we take a deeper look into the production and identities of the designers, and whether they have a negative impact on our generation and whether the glory they receive and pricing of their products is ethically fair - particularly in the textile design field.

Different people define the word ‘designer’ in different ways but I think of it as a product designed by someone highly qualified who as a result has became well-known – which in itself arguably justifies the products ‘designer’ price tag. I don’t think of it necessarily as an exclusive item, because I would still class Cath Kidston’s products and designs as ‘designer’ even though within the last few years her designs have became mass-produced and available to almost anyone. Within this context the word ’designer’ is being used as an adjective within the main context, rather than a verb as it is commonly used in most cases. 

Designer’s today are responsible for a great deal, they need to determine how their products will have an impact upon the world before they are created. Purpose, goals and outcomes all need to considered. This therefore means professional designer’s work involves a great deal of guess work, luck, and overall general experimentation and consideration for a whole range of possible outcomes and impacts which their designs may occur before they are even produced.  

The oxford dictionary defines ‘ethical’ as being related to morals, mainly concerning human conduct by promoting being honourable and morally correct within practise by a professional standard. In contrast, being ‘unethical’ would be acting generally immoral, and occasionally corrupt. For example it is not uncommon for large clothing companies to produce garments in third world countries in order to keep production costs down. 

Recently Primark were in the press due to a scandal which revealed their use of slave labour in India, this case quite clearly shows immorality and corruption within the managerial team. Being truly ethical involves being environmentally responsible during the production and distribution of finished fabrics. Carbon footprints and factory pollution should be considered, also the type of fabric produced could be considered to be either organic handmade or sustainable.

Recent concerns to do with global warming and general mistreatment of people have led to smaller and ethically just companies to compete with large retailers. They tend to place their unique selling point on the ethics and morality of their businesses. One example of this is ‘Gringo London’ who as a business support fair-trade. Their goods are ethically sourced and made by artisans in the developing world, helping them to lead a much better life. However certain brands recently have began producing garments that look to be of fair trade standard, yet are still sold at designer prices.

Appearing to buy ‘fair trade’ is now as much as a fashion statement as it is considered the right or just thing to do. An example of this would be the Spanish company, ‘Deჷigual’ whose designs appear to be of a bohemian and ethical style, but yet retains a designer price tag; their new collection however, is handmade so this may justify part of the pricing. Ethics is becoming more of a factor in fashion and design and became a major selling point. The ‘Ethical Fashion Show’ held in France which promotes ethical production, including recycled, handmade and natural fabrics. Also whether designer’s themselves take part in social projects and fair-trade. The ethics is to support under privileged communities throughout the world. As mentioned, smaller independent companies seem to be more involved within ethical design. 

Minimum wage is another ethical issue considering the cost of most designer brands and so usually can afford to pay their staff more.

Companies closer to home such as ‘Harrods’, pay their employees minimum wage, despite the fact that their profits are huge and they can easily afford to pay more. Even though Harrods seem to be exploiting cheap labour, the prestige is attractive and they will never be in short supply of customers thanks to their well marked and well recognised label, as well as being considered a British Institution. Similarly to the pricing of upholstery fabrics and products, customers will still continue to pay for expensive products because of the designer’s reputation. Looking at designer’s income, turnover and profit can give an indication of ethical pricing, as well as the cost of raw materials.

Britain has always relied upon other countries for production in the past, for example India has always supplied many raw materials such as cotton. Thus it would not be alien for this to happen again. When the UK had the British Empire and consequent control over a number of other countries the industrial revolution changed how we produced products and fabrics significantly. During this time new types of machinery made it possible to produce new styles of man-made materials and fibres which in the past had been impossible to produce. This meant that people were making synthetic materials closer to home, rather than buying natural handmade textiles from third world countries. But today UNICEF still estimates 158 million children aged 5 – 14 work via child labour throughout the world. This statistic alone could mean that retailers of the world aren’t taking adequate action to intervene within the production of their products.

It is questionable if ethically Fabric Designers' are really considering the way people will look at their fabrics. The ‘size 0’ (UK 4) trend must have been partially helped by fabric designers themselves. There is without a doubt a problem with unprincipled advertising. Last year Primark were attempting to sell children’s sized padded bikinis for £4 which were promptly removed from the shelves after general public outrage and a statement from The Children’s Society condemning Primark for “premature sexualisation and unprincipled advertising”. Social responsibility comes with the ‘designers’ name and reputation, advertising and responsibility can make or break a designer’s reputation. Regarding the size zero trend, were the fashion and fabric designer’s choices in models the right decision, or were they not portraying the right image and role models for younger people? However in 2006 designer brands, Versace, Prada and Armani agreed to ban skinny models from the catwalks, this was prompted by the death of two models and came into force for all designers in Italy during Milan’s fashion week 2007. However anorexia cases are drastically increasing according to a number of statistics, and channel four programme ‘Embarrassing Bodies’ reported a shocking 125% increase in anorexia within males in the last ten years.

Within fashion trends change quickly, seasonal collections and products frequently alter. For upholstery fabric it’s more likely to choose function over fashion when designing them – you can’t afford to change your sofa as often as you change your dress for example. Upholstery fabric needs to be different, often timeless and functional, but designers want to create a pleasing aesthetic design also. There are standards also which need to be considered within the EU before you can even consider selling your designs, all upholstery and curtain fabric needs to be fireproof and display the correct warnings etc.

· Are the communities which in some cases produce these designer materials in third world countries seeing the vast amount of money we see on the retail prices of the finished fabric? Are these countries being exploited? Because there generally is quite a large mark up on most fabrics.

· Does the price per meter of the finished fabric equate to the quality, are the branded products the best design decision?

For better or for worse, fashions sells.

Fabric is everywhere in today’s world, be it the textiles in furniture, bedding, clothing, cars or carpets. The UK’s clothing and shoe market alone had an estimated value of approximately £46.05bn in 2009. ‘Luxury’ fabric is something that most people would more than likely expect to have a particular level of quality, exclusivity and durability. As well as meeting the public’s biased opinions on what a luxury product must entail it is important for the fabric maker to take responsibility and incorporate all fire safety regulations and a care label which is nowadays essential and requested by law. Textiles within design schemes prove easy options to combine colour and texture, as well as providing sculptural qualities.

Today there is an abundance of features in fabrics which are available for us to purchase and utilise. It is important to choose the right materials, particularly if creating an interior with a luxurious element attached. With an unlimited budget it would be obtuse to use a dull, second rate fabric such as muslin. By getting material choice right it will contribute to controlling an impressive finished interior.

Wedding dresses are a particular and obvious item of clothing/fashion/fabric a woman would equate to a luxury product. A ‘luxury’ wedding dress nowadays will cost considerable amounts of money and will generally be the priciest garment a woman will wear in her lifetime. There is a Designer Wedding Show held once a year at Battersea Park in London that claims they will ‘share your passion for design, style and luxury’. A luxurious wedding dress is usually an important component for any bride-to-be, and needs to attain individuality as well as being fit for purpose and beautiful to make the bride herself feel ‘luxurious’ for her big day. By carefully grouping embellishments to the fabric and adding little delightful details to a lower priced wedding dress an exceptional romantic boutique style dress can be created. Brides are continuously looking out for ‘the perfect dresses’, and handmade bespoke luxury wedding creations.

However particular individuals would consider ‘vintage’ to be a luxury. It is believed to be eco-friendly and luxurious in some people’s view to reclaim old material and rediscover old vintage fabric and clothing. They bring to life, dated and old fashioned designs to create customized frivolous pieces. The website, ‘Luxury Vintage’ proves just this, and classes their products as ‘previously owned treasures’. Purchasing products like vintage fabric would mean the end user will be wearing unique garments no one else is likely to own. This links back to how luxury is related to rarity in recent time. Therefore the stimulation of recovering old possessions and making new use out of them can become a luxury – making old clothes or fabric breathe a new breath of life provides a fusion of style between a miss-match of modern fashion trends and vintage flea market finds. Similarly in modern interiors, if you add an antique item within a modern set environment it will become an inconspicuous yet a complementary sensitive detail.

‘Fabrics [today] are produced by the piece, which usually ranges from 30 to 80 yards of fabric depending on the weight and difficulty in production of the goods. It is most common to purchase fabric by the metre. If you purchase handmade luxury fabric which isn’t mass produced, you are more likely to be able to find suitable sizes to predominantly fit your particular needs especially if the fabric is handmade or hand printed. It would be important for designers to source perfect, fit for purpose materials from further afield if working with a client’s high luxury budget, or even unlimited funds.

Fashion arguably is the most important factor and component considered within textiles design and production. Fashion sells and selling equals money, it’s that simple. There is reasonable evidence to suggest that designer’s will do whatever it takes to up their companies’ (and therefore themselves) reputation. In society these days it’s important for any kind of designer to work relentlessly to retain high standards just as closely within the production of their products as it is to please the end users.

There is also a vital balance which can help ethical production within the industry regarding the country of fabrics’ origins. People and craftsmen of the world would not have jobs abroad in third world countries. It’s important that they are employed by large European retailers for their fabric production process. However designer’s can be seen to be unethical by not using fabric production locally, this is an obvious way to save air miles, carbon footprints and generally support local green production.

The price and production of fabrics in some cases can be ethically justified, but in certain cases cannot. By focusing on individual designer’s there are considerable differences between the way each company is focusing on being responsible, both ethically and otherwise. What does seem definite however is that fashion is the way forward within the textiles industry because, for better or for worse, fashions sells.