15 Indigenous Designers on What Sustainable Fashion Is Missing
by Christian Allaire
Excerpt from the original story “Pre-colonization, natives used every scrap of material they had, which was usually animal skins. Natives today still follow that concept. My mother would make most of my clothes when I was a young girl, and often her and I would match because she would use every scrap of fabric she had to make as many things as she could. From one cut of fabric, I’d have a jumper, her a shirt, and the rest would go in a scrap pile for quilts and doll clothing.
The fast fashion industry isn’t doing enough to maintain safe working conditions or waste disposal. The initiatives in place are not doing enough to penalize the brands that are killing the planet. The only way this culture will change is if the consumer changes their shopping habits. My hope for the future would be for people to take a step back and appreciate what they already have. Learn to sew their own clothes, buy from small, sustainable companies and individuals that are practicing safe working environments, and leaving smaller carbon footprints.”
