Fair Fashion
Whilst working as a model for ethical fashion brands, Emma Hakansson began to realise that there wasn’t a non-profit organisation focussing on expanding the ethics of the fashion industry. Having developed experience in the non-profit sector for most of her working life, Emma decided to bring that organisation to life through the founding of Collective Fashion Justice. In this episode we chat with Emma about CFJ’s goal of creating a total ethics fashion system and what this term means, as well as the environmental, non-human and human cost of the industry. We also discuss some of the organisation’s strategic goals for the future to bring this hopeful vision to life, and draw attention to some of the startups doing innovative work in the space.
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Most of us within the plant-based community are aware of the environmental impact of animal products, including those used within the fashion industry.
Emma: “Leather has a huge water and carbon footprint; over 100kg of carbon equivalent emissions and over 17,000L of water for a typical cow-skin leather handbag.”
Emma: “There’s also the cost of life, which doesn’t just come from skins but also wool and cashmere; these industries see these animals as dual purpose as they’re also bred for their flesh.”
But where exactly does the fashion industry rank in terms of environmental damage, when compared to other industries?
Emma: “We know that it’s got a huge impact from the absurd amount of textile waste that goes to landfill every second. We know that when we think of cotton and leather production, the water footprint of just singular garments produced by designers is enormous. We eat every day and so the food system is obviously very significant and needs to be addressed, but particularly in this fast fashion era when people are consuming clothes so often, the industry impact on the environment is consistently growing.”
In order to change things, Emma founded Collective Fashion Justice, a non-profit organisation seeking to create and achieve a total ethics fashion system within the sector. The term, coined by Emma, brings the attention back to ethics which has been diluted in the forms of excessive marketing campaigns and sustainability buzzwords.
Emma: “A total ethics fashion system is basically one that really aims to address all three pillars of injustice; whether that’s facing the planet, non-human animals or humans.”
And whilst there are more voices discussing the injustices towards the planet and animals that are used for fashion items, little attention has been placed on the human side of suffering. I wanted to ask Emma why she thought this was the case.
Emma: “I think it’s because the vegan movement has some issues with representation and is often portrayed as a white movement. I think that there are lots of Black, Indigenous and people of colour who have been talking in this more collective way for a long time.”
Emma: “If you’re talking about the exploitation of non-human animals, it just makes sense to also be concerned with humans and the violations of their rights.”
Emma: “It obviously is a very idealistic idea to have a total ethics system, but I think that’s what we need to strive towards regardless of when it may be or even if it’s possible.”
In order to get there, CFJ have a thorough plan that sets the path forward until 2022.
Emma: “We have three main goals we want to work towards, with specific objectives underneath them. The first is to get these animal supply chains on the map because too often farms, slaughterhouses, tanneries and sheering sheds are not considered in discussions of what ethical fashion looks or could look like, and there are misconceptions around what brands are funding when they’re involved with these supply chains.”
The second goal is to expand on collaboration; a number of people are already working in the space of intersectionality and bringing them on board brings CFJ’s vision one step closer to reality.
Emma: “We also have specific objectives around brand commitments.”
However collaboration isn’t always easy, especially in the shoes of a new non-profit.
Emma: “The collaboration aspect is something I think about a lot and that does challenge me sometimes; while it could be heaps easier for us to collaborate with people who view total ethics fashion in the same way we do, who have the same anti-speciesm ideals as us, we wouldn’t get as much done which is why building bridges between movements and causes is super important.”
Emma: “A good example of a less totally-perfect collaboration, which ends up making a great one, is we’re working with Australian sustainable cotton farmers at the moment, and we’re doing that to talk about plant-based fibres compared to animal-based materials and how that can come into play in a total ethics fashion system.”
Emma: “That sounds really easy, but a lot of cotton farmers are also involved in raising animals for slaughter and that can make things difficult to talk about… but the positive outcomes of promoting different industries are worth that complexity.”
Emma also went on to talk about how CFJ is currently partnered with Centre for Biological Diversity in the US and the Animal Justice Party, which is an Australian political party that can give legislative power. So where do startups fit into this?
Emma: “There are a huge amount of interesting materials being developed all around the world to replace all of the different animal skins and fibres, and I think there is always space and opportunity for there to be more.”
Emma: “Because fashion is so creative and relies on demands of new ideas, there needs to be different leather innovations and alternatives because there are different applications for leather… there might be one that works best for sturdy belts and then there’ll be one that’s much better for jackets.”
Emma went on to talk about CFJ’s new initiative, Circumfauna, which aims to centralise the research surrounding the use of animals in fashion, and provides information on emerging technologies.
Some that are showing potential include:
Plant-based -> involves finding more sustainable ways to grow existing plant-based fibres such as cotton, hemp, wood and other cellulose materials.
Cell-based -> creating fur and leather from animal cells, or alternatively growing fungi within labs in the hopes that they can create similar structures to that seen in animal fashion products.
What does the funding landscape currently look like within the startup sector?
Emma: “Some of them are definitely getting the funding they need when they push through that barrier and get those big corporate partners. Others aren’t definitely getting that same support; Furoid has a unique and innovative idea but there’s far less funding behind it compared to something like cellular meat.”
We also spoke about the proliferation of misconceptions surrounding materials such as leather with an example being that the product is biodegradable despite the leather industry funding its own research that dispels this myth and clarifies this isn’t the case. Increased public relations and campaigns trying to make this information mainstream is an important but large challenge to be overcome.
Emma: “I think that it’s always going to be a multi-pronged approach; I think that social media is hugely powerful which can be used in a terrible and good way.”
Emma: “At the same time people are getting better at realising that things on social media need to be referencing things outside of social media that have a scientific basis, which is why getting into that academic field is really important for the cause as well.”
Emma: “Actual legislation around greenwashing would be a really valuable thing, if we could ensure that things couldn’t be labelled as biodegradable unless they actually passed a rigorous standard… while it’s a lot harder to achieve that would be one of the best ways to cut through that kind of stuff.”
Across the US and Australia, CFJ have worked on two pieces of legislation: one that is trying to come through and one that is a campaign to get a specific piece of legislation through.
Emma: “I think that kind of change has an overarching effect because whether or not society as a whole is educated on something, if those specific people in government can be educated enough to put something through on that issue, it impacts everyone.”
If you are interested in volunteering or getting involved in some way, you can reach out to them via their website or follow them on social media.