Category: Artisans

The mainstream fashion industry’s supply chains are not linear but operate in an economy with a take, make, and waste production model. This model takes mass amounts of raw materials and releases carbon emissions into the atmosphere; uses exploited labor to make these materials into products; then those products are wasted and “thrown away,” usually to a landfill in a low-income community of color. The driving force for this production model is to create infinite amounts of profit by producing as many things as possible for as cheaply as possible. This necessitates destroying the earth and simultaneously exploiting low-wage workers, who are mostly women of color. This belief in endlessly growing the economy is one of the main reasons why the fashion industry has to be completely transformed. Luckily, alternatives exist and are being built at this very moment.