My Approach to Fashion

I enjoy dressing myself ever since I knew how to. My first time was probably at the age of four, the last time happened a few hours ago. While my passion for fashion is everlasting, my approach to consume it has changed tremendously in recent years and I hope to inspire yours by sharing some insights.

One of the reasons why I love fashion is that every single human on earth is in some way connected to it. Clothes are one of our basic needs and besides their functional use, they allow a form of non-verbal communication like no other medium. By dressing up, we can communicate with anyone without speaking the same language – seriously, that fact stuns me again and again. Our clothes demonstrate who we are and who we want to be. I love how the way I dress has the power to contribute to my self-confidence, happiness or even make me feel sad at times. Although others might disagree, I firmly believe that fashion is much more than a commercial good, it’s commercialized art and above, it’s part of every culture that ever existed. In fact, fashion can be anything you want it to be, whether that’s irrelevant or heavy with meaning. The fashion industry is not only one of the largest but also one of the most creative industries. While customer demand is continuously growing, social and environmental stress is enormous. It’s undeniable: despite the fact that fashion is a beautiful instrument to signify our values it is also the second most polluting industry in the world, costing human dignity and often human lives.

Falling from Grace

As someone who forged their passion into a career, I learned to see fashion from different perspectives. Spoiler alert: once you’re in, things suddenly don’t look so chic anymore. Instead, the textile industry becomes a complex machinery of suppression where no-one wins at the end of the game. Consumers are being manipulated by buying “cheap” clothes that temporarily satisfy some sort of insatiable need recurring as soon as the next trend hits the market. Back in the day, new trends developed over a minimum of a six-month period. Spring Summer and Fall Winter defined the fashion calendar by presenting two main collections per year allowing manufacturers to produce new items in a timely manner. Nowadays “fast fashion” companies like Zara or H&M receive fresh products twice a week. Six months of production are suddenly squeezed into a fraction of time and a fraction of the cost, as it seems. Obviously, this business model is as far from sustainability as it possibly can be. Since most of our clothes is still produced by hand the textile industry is one of the most labor-intense economic sectors worldwide. According to “The Pulse of the Fashion Industry” – a report initiated through Global Fashion Agenda and the Boston Consulting group, over 50% of workers are not paid a minimum wage in countries like India or the Philippines. Furthermore, minimum wages in the industry are half of what can be considered a living wage. This is not to say that this practice is used by fast fashion companies only. If you think about how clothing is made these days, it becomes obvious that textile production is by definition unsustainable exploiting human and environmental resources. For everyone interested in diving into the issue, I highly recommend watching The True Cost documentary. Your point of view will probably change forever after you’ve watched it but remember, changing your consumer behavior will not only be a benefit for you, but for every soul involved in the process of making your clothes. Including our beloved blue planet.

Turning Point 

Of course, ethical consumption comes with a learning curve and it’s okay to make small steps. Ever since I got interested in how my clothes are made, I never stop learning and rethinking the knowledge I acquired. It took me about twenty years to develop my own style and believe me when I say I had LOTS of crazy phases in my teens experimenting the sh*t out of what could be considered “cool”. At one point, I am pretty sure I wore a bright red cardigan with feathers as a regular school outfit. Honestly, I was pretty lucky I never got bullied for the way I dressed. Back then I thought I was the coolest kid under the sun, but sustainability didn’t exist in my perception. 

Today as a grown up, I still play dress-up - sometimes with more and other times with less effort, yet always keeping in mind not to please anyone but my own taste. As I try to shop as sustainable as possible, I regularly browse through my entire wardrobe, analyze what I own and toss items that don’t spark joy for me anymore. I use the “KonMari-Method” for that process which helped me a lot with decluttering and focusing on the essentials. But more on this on another note. Fortunately, I learned to appreciate my mother’s taste as I grew older. Although my mom and I always had a common passion for high quality garments, it took a certain level of maturity for me to understand her way of dressing. To appreciate quality as the only luxury worth investing was the most important lesson I learned from her. When it comes to shopping, it should be a no-brainer to ask yourself if you really need a new item before you make the actual purchase. However, as the fast fashion industry pushes us to hop on new trends every week, we feel the urge to buy before thinking about what we already possess. To be frank, once you start questioning and interrogating the norm, things will get challenging at first but also a lot more fun and creative – I promise, it’s worth the effort.