November 6, 2024 • 22 mins
The rise and rise of online retailers has hit an all-time high – with the likes of Temu and Shein dominating consumption worldwide.
New research has revealed over the course of three months, one in four New Zealanders surveyed purchased products from ultra-fast fashion retailer Temu. A further 14% of Kiwis are estimated to have recently purchased from Shein.
The stats keep coming: Tearfund’s 2021 Ethical Fashion Report found in 2019 that 40% of clothes imported into New Zealand could be made using forced and child labour. It’s all while one study found garments were thrown out after no more than 10 wearings.
So, when it comes to t-shirts and dresses being sold as low as $6 – who is really paying the price?
Today on The Front Page, Tearfund head of advocacy Claire Gray joins us to discuss.
Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.
Host: Chelsea Daniels
Sound Engineers: Paddy Fox, Richard Martin
Producer: Ethan Sills
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Kilda.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
I'm Chelsea Daniels and This is the Front Page, a
daily podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Presented by The New Zealand Herald.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
The rise and rise of online retailers has hit an
all time high, with the likes of Timu and she
In dominating consumption worldwide. New research is revealed over the
course of three months, one in four kiwis surveyed purchased
products from ultra fast fashion retailer Timu. A further fourteen
(00:38):
percent of kiwis are estimated to have recently purchased from Chen.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
The stats keep coming.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Cheerfund's twenty twenty one Ethical Fashion Report found in twenty nineteen,
forty percent of clothes imported into New Zealand could be
made using forced and child labor. It's all while one
study fol garments were thrown out after no more than
ten wearings. So when it comes to T shirts and
(01:08):
dresses being sold as low as six dollars, who's really
paying the price?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Today?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
On the front Page, Tear Fund head of Advocacy, Claire
Gray joins us to discuss. Claire, first off, can you
tell me what fast fashion is?
Speaker 4 (01:28):
So fast fashion it's got its name for a reason,
So it's the really fast productional replication of catwalk trends
into our wardrobes, and so we've seen it a vole
over the years. When it originally started to take shape,
we would see, you know, a designer brand modeling a
(01:49):
look on at the catwalk, and then instead of within
kind of three weeks, we would see stores like Zara
or H and M having it in their shops. And
now we've kind of moved and the model has evolved
to what we now call ultra fast fashion, and that
is basically everything about fast fashion on steroids. It's quicker
(02:11):
production speeds, it's more variety and cheaper prices.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
And with ultra fast fashion, you can see a new.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
Style going from the catwalk into your wardrobe or well
into final production in about ten days, which is absolutely
mind blowing in terms of its time frames.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
And I suppose people might say, look what I see
in the store. That's a sixty dollars T shirt, but
I can get it online for six dollars.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
What's so wrong with that? But how can address.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Or T shirt even cost six dollars?
Speaker 1 (02:45):
It's such a good question.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
I think when something costs such a small amount of money,
we can know for sure that shortcuts are being taken
at some stage along the production. So when you think
about what goes into a T shit, if it's a
cotton T shirt, that cotton is farmed and then sold,
and so that farmer needs to be paid a fair
(03:07):
price for the cotton. And then the cotton is spun
into yarn, it's woven into fabric, and it can be dyed.
And all of those processes require different sets of skills
from the workers who are doing them, and they might
take place in different factories, and those different factories might
even be in different regions.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
And then the fabric goes.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
To a final stage manufacturing facility where it's actually solen
into the.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
T shirt that we see.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Depending on what that's like, it might be embellished or embroidered,
then sold shipped to New Zealand.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
And the price that we buy it for that's six dollars.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
That includes a markup for the brand or the company
that's selling it, so we're actually talking less than six
dollars for the actual production cost. And when you're selling
it for six dollars, you can just be sure that
some workers along the way with it's the farmer or
the person that wove that yarn, you're not being paid
(04:04):
fairly for their work, or they're working in unsafe conditions
because it is. It's an impossibility no matter what your
economies of scale are, it's impossible to take care of
both people and the planet and your production and sell
coming for that price.
Speaker 5 (04:22):
Everything we wear was put together by human hands. There
are no clothes sewing robots. You cannot put a bunch
of fabric into a machine, press a button and a
shirt comes out. The other end was made by people.
It was made by humans setting out a sewing machine
and putting it together. Labor is supposed to be the
most expensive part of making something that when you get
(04:43):
it and it's five dollars, the question should be, well,
who got short changed?
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Yeah, tear Funds research shows Kiwis are actually purchasing from
these ultra fast fashion sites more regularly. What if you
guys uncovered So.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
We've been watching ultra fast fashion emerge. We were really
curious to see how much of a foothold it has
in New Zealand and so we commissioned research and we
found that one in four New Zealanders that were surveyed
had recently purchased from Timum and that equates to over
a million of US shopping at Timu over, you know,
in the last three months from the point that we
(05:22):
did the research, and then there was another sort of
half a million shopping at Sheen. And so those numbers
tell us that, you know, ultra fast fashion well and
truly is a trend that kiwis are embracing.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
And on many levels, it makes a lot of sense because.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Life is really expensive at the moment, and so when
life is expensive, we're all struggling, you know, to balance
our budgets to make ends meet, and so it's logical
for many people to look for where they can save money.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
And if they can save.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Money on clothes and team who has all the clothes
they need for their family, you can see why people
shop there.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
And you know, we can see the rise in.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
Ultra fast fashion that trend has coincided with the rise
in our living costs.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
So it makes a lot of sense on one level.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
But how much waste is generated by us chucking out
these clothes Because I don't know if you know anything
about trends, but they cycle is why it's called a
trend cycle. Hey, it's astonishing how much waste is produced
by people throwing out textiles and clothes right.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Ah, it's totally mind blowing.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
I actually read a stat that said ninety two million
tons of textile waste is generated globally every year. Get this,
It's equivalent to a rubbish truck full of clothes ending
up in landfill every second. Like that's actually just like
it really is absolutely mind blowing.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
And I think what a lot of people.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
Don't know is that with the variety of different fabrics,
from synthetic fabrics through to more natural fibers, when these
clothes are in landfall and they start breaking down, they
actually mt greenhouse gases, and so it's like.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
A double whammy in terms of the environmental impact.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
It's a lot of waste, and that waste has damage
as it is slowly breaking down.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Fashion retailers aren't stupid, though, Hey, I always see buzzwords
and phrases like sustainably sourced, made from recycled materials and
certified organic things like that. They've become a mainstay in
their repertoire. It's starting to get pretty difficult for the
average consumer to sort through everything presented to them, though, Hey,
what would you say to them to make more conscious decisions.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
I guess I absolutely agree with what you've just said.
I recently read Shein's sustainability Report.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
And I was sixty five pages long, and it had all.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
The right buzzwords in it, and I just couldn't help
but think at that point, I'll say, what is your
average consumer meant to do?
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Because even if they are taking.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
That next step and actually investigating a brand before they
buy from it, which is what we would recommend, it
can be so hard to know if what you're reading
is actually true or not, or you know, are they
doing the right things or are they just pulling the
wool over our eyes. I also read just this morning
actually that fashion is one of the industries that has
the most accusations of greenwashing leveled at it.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
So I think consumers can do a couple of things.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
So I mean, the first step I would say for
people to do is to look on a brand's website
and see if there is anything about sustainability or ethical
sourcing on it. And then if there is, is it
a few lines and is it just lots of buzzwords
that sounds good? Is there any evidence given by that
brand that actually backs up the claims that they're making,
(08:39):
So do they just say a whole lot of good
stuff or do they actually put evidence in their report
about their impact or on their website about their impact.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
And the other thing to keep an eye out for
as a consumer is certifications.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
So these are third party accreditations that a brand can
get in terms of their environmental impact. So you could
look for something like the Global Organic Textile Stamp, which
kind of shows that this is a third party coming
in and assessing that supply chain or that production process
and saying yes, that is complying. So in those cases,
(09:16):
you're not having to just believe what a brand says.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
You're actually able to take that third party endorsement.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
And there's a number of different certifications like that, So
I think that's a really helpful thing to look for
as well.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
How do we end this because asking consumers to stop
buying from these retailers isn't working. Look, we've gone from
fast fashion to now ultra fast fashion. Do we need
government intervention? What have other countries done?
Speaker 4 (09:52):
This is a really complex issue to solve, So when
we look at it, there's some significant.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Players that all have power, so I think we all
need to take action.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
The government is one of those players, and so in
other countries there are different types of legislation that are
in place to try and address this issue. So some
of those pieces of legislation are import or export bans.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
There are some examples of this in recent years when
it has come to the state sanctioned force labor taking
place in China's cotton industry. Some countries have put.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
A ban in place that says if there is any
suggestion that a product is linked to that particular region
in China and that forced labor, then you can't import
it into the country. So that's what some countries are doing,
and others have what we often call modern slavery legislation
or supply chain reporting legislation, which mandates that companies have.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
To take action at the moment.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
In New Zealand, for example, a company legally doesn't have
to do anything about exploitation and its supply chain. It
might happen or obligations to do something, but no legal requirement.
And so in New Zealand, the first thing that we
could do is require companies to have a look at
how they're producing their products and whether there's any risk
in modern slavery taking place. Then they had to disclose
(11:13):
that to the public and then ideally you'd have legislation
which also compels them to take action. And so TFN
has been working with the government on that for a
number of years and we're really hopeful that we will
see that kind.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Of legislation introduced.
Speaker 6 (11:27):
We have no modern slavery legislation in New Zealand. We
want them to introduce modern slavery legislation that includes due
diligence requirements, which means that you don't just have to
disclose where your risks are, but actually address and mitigate them.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
But there isn't.
Speaker 6 (11:41):
Any law so far that tells you to examine or
scrutinize your supply chain to identify where there could be
these risks of modern slavery taking place.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
You've also got companies which can take some responsibility in action.
So there are a bunch of things that the un
guiding printsos on business which actually state that it is
the end brand or that end companies responsibility to ensure
that human rights aren't being abused in the process of
producing their clothes or their products.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
And so we actually need to see companies changing.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
How they operate because at the moment, companies are able
to just externalize the human cost of producing their clothes
because they're not having to pay these work as well,
so they can get away with it.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
And that's not okay.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
And so we need to kind of like fundamentally change
the way that these companies work so that we don't
have a system that lets us exploit people in the
planet to give us cheap products.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
That's a really big thing to change.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
And then the other thing is that consumers do have power,
and I know that it is really hard for us
to make different choices when there's lots of financial pressure
on us. I guess people are under various degrees of pressure.
So I think we would really encourage people. If you
can afford not to shop at Timu and other fast
fashion companies, then don't make a different choice. Because these
(13:04):
companies rely on consumer demand, and consumer demand drives the
whole ultra fast fashion model. So the most powerful thing
that we can do to disrupt this system is to
reduce the amount that we are buying from these companies.
And when you take all of those things together, the government, businesses, consumers,
(13:25):
then you can start to make a dent in this issue.
But any one of those things alone is not going
to create the change that we want to see.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
I find it partning as well. I don't know about you,
but this new generation coming through there is a trend
towards ventage shopping and secondhand fashion and things like that.
Do you reckon that we're slowly getting it?
Speaker 1 (13:46):
I'd like to think so.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
I think that the generation that's the generation younger than
myself are so much more aware of the impact of
their actions, and they're so much more connected to issues
of justice or injustice around the world, so much more
aware of issues of the environment and climate and of
people being exploited. And so I do think that as
(14:08):
you know, we see that generation grow up, I hope
that they can hold those ideals close as they grow
up and that we can start to see a real
shift in how consumers operate.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
And you know what I actually hate seeing as well,
that I'm seeing more and more online is that local brands,
so those ethical brands from all over the world, really
they come up with a unique design, they show their
process from start to finish, they explain their costs. It's
a really big thing on Instagram and stuff now to
see the breakdown of what your garment actually costs to make,
(14:40):
but then you constantly see them saying, oh, it's another day,
this design has been stolen by XYZ. Sometimes they use
the same photos and it's the same images, but one
is thirteen dollars and the other is three hundred dollars.
It must be just so disheartening for those small brands
to see that and think why.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Yeah, I think you're right.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
It's very difficult for small companies to compete, both with
the machine that is fast fashion or ultra fast fashion.
I think we should really respect those companies which are
sticking to their values and producing clothing in a way
that's not exploiting people, because it would be the easy
choice for that company to try and take its price
(15:24):
down a little bit to be more competitive. But yeah,
I think we should as much as possible give our
support to companies like that. It feels like a lot
to spend, you know, one hundred and eighty dollars on
a dress or something, but the reality is people would
easily spend one hundred and eighty dollars, like on a
whol of clothing from a fast fashion brand and not
like half of it where some of it only once
(15:46):
throw it out, and really that same amount of money
would be much better spent on the consumer's behalf buying,
you know, one piece of clothing that's going to be
a staple in their wardrobe for years to.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Come thanks joining us.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Claire Small and local designers are arguing that imitation is
not the sincerest form of flattery as more and more
of their designs make their way onto the mega fast
(16:22):
fashion websites. Swedish brand h and M filed a copyright
lawsuit against she In, and complaints have poured in from
other designers like America's Chrome Hearts and French brand Mason Cleo.
And it's not just happening overseas either. Here in New Zealand,
Auckland store Crushes accused retailer Glassons of copying a T
(16:42):
shirt design. Co owner of Crushes, Rose Hope is with
us to discuss the importance of buying vintage and local.
First off, Rose, I know how incredibly popular Crushes is.
It's on cutting a hubitode in Auckland, and you guys
sell vintage wears and also New Zealand made stuff as well.
(17:05):
How important is it for people to consciously make those
choices rather than go down, say the fast fashion round.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
I think it's incredibly important because at the end of
the day, we have to consider what kind of world
we want to be living in. Like the trade off
between quality and presses something that we have to you know,
our throughout it's so easy to break and it's filling
up our landfill. We've got so much of it. We
don't even know what to do with it. We don't
(17:33):
even look after our goods anymore. But I also would
argue it's something that people seem to be really ready
for because when they come in and they feel the
quality of our goods or hear the story about who
makes what and why, there really is like a joy
to pardtake in something that's honest. You know, it's almost
novel now, which is a bit sad to say, but
(17:55):
there's a great thing. Someone really enjoy a product instead
of just participation in a trend or buying putting on
a whim.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Yeah, and you guys really advocate as well to mend
clothes also, which is something that I think that we've
all forgotten about. That's the thing.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
Yeah, I think if you own something and you choose
to put some money towards it, therefore your responsibility it's
kind of like what do you do with your households trash?
You know, like are you a recycler? Are you? What
kind of person are you? And what kind of responsibility
do you have towards the things that you own? And
so we put on workshops for mending as well as
(18:34):
putting on evains like the Akland Clothes Swaps where we
get five hundred people through to like re exchange their
goods and extend that life cycle of clothing.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
In terms of those ultra fast fashion retailers and the
fast fashion retailers. How disappointing is it when you see
someone's designs like yourself, like crushes show up on some
of these websites.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
It's so disappointing. And I've got so many of my
colleagues and like the creatives of Auckland have all been
affected by just someone coming in and taking a design.
In New Zealand, it's so small use here everything as well,
So it's like I know someone who's at the HQ
who's seen my friend's design on the mood board. You know,
(19:22):
I've ripped it off before the company could rip it off.
So I think what people need to understand is we're
so close to each other that it's not merely coincidence
that these things happen. It's like genuinely and deliberately feeling
a design. And then where does that leave us that
put in the hard work and you know, pay people
(19:43):
feeling to create it. Yeah, it really makes a cushion
whether you should continue with the design it or have
been completely devalued.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Because I know that you on the Crash's TikTok mentioned
that a fast fashioned New Zealand retailer ripped off one
of your designs.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
It went quite viral. Lessons ripped us off. Whether you
think the designer is close or not. I was infinitely
better when it's made in New Zealand. Two it's embroidered.
Speaker 6 (20:11):
Three we use secondhand, vintage dead stock blanks.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
Literally, no questionable exploitative labor laws were crossed to make this.
Speaker 6 (20:21):
It's as local, as ethical and sustainable as fashion can be.
Instantly you value our work.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Were you surprised that it did get such a reaction?
Speaker 3 (20:35):
I was surprised, to be honest. I made the video
while I was feeling everything, you know, and then kind
of went out for an hour and then came back
and my phone was blowing up. Then the response was
so positive and so many people chose to purchase the
original design from us, and so it was kind of
even though it was a very disappointing experience, it was
(20:58):
super hetwarming being able to explain in a video of
what the difference is that we make ours locally on
seeking hand dead stock T shirts and our manufacturing it
hurt nobody and exploded nobody, and for only I think
eighteen dollars more you could get the original. It's not
even much more expensive than something that has hurt so
(21:21):
many people in the planet along the way. And so
whether it was a deliberate coffee or just a coincidence,
who knows. But the fantastic thing is it really pointed
out that these identical pieces really had so much that
differently checked themselves from one another, and that everything that
(21:41):
it stands for, and it was just great to get
that many eyes on those differences.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Thanks for joining us, Rose.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You
can read more about today's stories and extend of news
coverage at enzid Herald dot co dot nz. The Front
Page is produced by Ethan Seals, Patty Fox, and Richard Martin.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Are the sound engineers. I'm Chelsea Daniels.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Subscribe to the front page on iHeartRadio or wherever you
get your podcasts, and tune in tomorrow for another look
behind the headlines.
Kilda.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
I'm Chelsea Daniels and This is the Front Page, a
daily podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Presented by The New Zealand Herald.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
The rise and rise of online retailers has hit an
all time high, with the likes of Timu and she
In dominating consumption worldwide. New research is revealed over the
course of three months, one in four kiwis surveyed purchased
products from ultra fast fashion retailer Timu. A further fourteen
(00:38):
percent of kiwis are estimated to have recently purchased from Chen.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
The stats keep coming.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Cheerfund's twenty twenty one Ethical Fashion Report found in twenty nineteen,
forty percent of clothes imported into New Zealand could be
made using forced and child labor. It's all while one
study fol garments were thrown out after no more than
ten wearings. So when it comes to T shirts and
(01:08):
dresses being sold as low as six dollars, who's really
paying the price?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Today?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
On the front Page, Tear Fund head of Advocacy, Claire
Gray joins us to discuss. Claire, first off, can you
tell me what fast fashion is?
Speaker 4 (01:28):
So fast fashion it's got its name for a reason,
So it's the really fast productional replication of catwalk trends
into our wardrobes, and so we've seen it a vole
over the years. When it originally started to take shape,
we would see, you know, a designer brand modeling a
(01:49):
look on at the catwalk, and then instead of within
kind of three weeks, we would see stores like Zara
or H and M having it in their shops. And
now we've kind of moved and the model has evolved
to what we now call ultra fast fashion, and that
is basically everything about fast fashion on steroids. It's quicker
(02:11):
production speeds, it's more variety and cheaper prices.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
And with ultra fast fashion, you can see a new.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
Style going from the catwalk into your wardrobe or well
into final production in about ten days, which is absolutely
mind blowing in terms of its time frames.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
And I suppose people might say, look what I see
in the store. That's a sixty dollars T shirt, but
I can get it online for six dollars.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
What's so wrong with that? But how can address.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Or T shirt even cost six dollars?
Speaker 1 (02:45):
It's such a good question.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
I think when something costs such a small amount of money,
we can know for sure that shortcuts are being taken
at some stage along the production. So when you think
about what goes into a T shit, if it's a
cotton T shirt, that cotton is farmed and then sold,
and so that farmer needs to be paid a fair
(03:07):
price for the cotton. And then the cotton is spun
into yarn, it's woven into fabric, and it can be dyed.
And all of those processes require different sets of skills
from the workers who are doing them, and they might
take place in different factories, and those different factories might
even be in different regions.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
And then the fabric goes.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
To a final stage manufacturing facility where it's actually solen
into the.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
T shirt that we see.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Depending on what that's like, it might be embellished or embroidered,
then sold shipped to New Zealand.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
And the price that we buy it for that's six dollars.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
That includes a markup for the brand or the company
that's selling it, so we're actually talking less than six
dollars for the actual production cost. And when you're selling
it for six dollars, you can just be sure that
some workers along the way with it's the farmer or
the person that wove that yarn, you're not being paid
(04:04):
fairly for their work, or they're working in unsafe conditions
because it is. It's an impossibility no matter what your
economies of scale are, it's impossible to take care of
both people and the planet and your production and sell
coming for that price.
Speaker 5 (04:22):
Everything we wear was put together by human hands. There
are no clothes sewing robots. You cannot put a bunch
of fabric into a machine, press a button and a
shirt comes out. The other end was made by people.
It was made by humans setting out a sewing machine
and putting it together. Labor is supposed to be the
most expensive part of making something that when you get
(04:43):
it and it's five dollars, the question should be, well,
who got short changed?
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Yeah, tear Funds research shows Kiwis are actually purchasing from
these ultra fast fashion sites more regularly. What if you
guys uncovered So.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
We've been watching ultra fast fashion emerge. We were really
curious to see how much of a foothold it has
in New Zealand and so we commissioned research and we
found that one in four New Zealanders that were surveyed
had recently purchased from Timum and that equates to over
a million of US shopping at Timu over, you know,
in the last three months from the point that we
(05:22):
did the research, and then there was another sort of
half a million shopping at Sheen. And so those numbers
tell us that, you know, ultra fast fashion well and
truly is a trend that kiwis are embracing.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
And on many levels, it makes a lot of sense because.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Life is really expensive at the moment, and so when
life is expensive, we're all struggling, you know, to balance
our budgets to make ends meet, and so it's logical
for many people to look for where they can save money.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
And if they can save.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Money on clothes and team who has all the clothes
they need for their family, you can see why people
shop there.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
And you know, we can see the rise in.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
Ultra fast fashion that trend has coincided with the rise
in our living costs.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
So it makes a lot of sense on one level.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
But how much waste is generated by us chucking out
these clothes Because I don't know if you know anything
about trends, but they cycle is why it's called a
trend cycle. Hey, it's astonishing how much waste is produced
by people throwing out textiles and clothes right.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Ah, it's totally mind blowing.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
I actually read a stat that said ninety two million
tons of textile waste is generated globally every year. Get this,
It's equivalent to a rubbish truck full of clothes ending
up in landfill every second. Like that's actually just like
it really is absolutely mind blowing.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
And I think what a lot of people.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
Don't know is that with the variety of different fabrics,
from synthetic fabrics through to more natural fibers, when these
clothes are in landfall and they start breaking down, they
actually mt greenhouse gases, and so it's like.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
A double whammy in terms of the environmental impact.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
It's a lot of waste, and that waste has damage
as it is slowly breaking down.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Fashion retailers aren't stupid, though, Hey, I always see buzzwords
and phrases like sustainably sourced, made from recycled materials and
certified organic things like that. They've become a mainstay in
their repertoire. It's starting to get pretty difficult for the
average consumer to sort through everything presented to them, though, Hey,
what would you say to them to make more conscious decisions.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
I guess I absolutely agree with what you've just said.
I recently read Shein's sustainability Report.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
And I was sixty five pages long, and it had all.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
The right buzzwords in it, and I just couldn't help
but think at that point, I'll say, what is your
average consumer meant to do?
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Because even if they are taking.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
That next step and actually investigating a brand before they
buy from it, which is what we would recommend, it
can be so hard to know if what you're reading
is actually true or not, or you know, are they
doing the right things or are they just pulling the
wool over our eyes. I also read just this morning
actually that fashion is one of the industries that has
the most accusations of greenwashing leveled at it.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
So I think consumers can do a couple of things.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
So I mean, the first step I would say for
people to do is to look on a brand's website
and see if there is anything about sustainability or ethical
sourcing on it. And then if there is, is it
a few lines and is it just lots of buzzwords
that sounds good? Is there any evidence given by that
brand that actually backs up the claims that they're making,
(08:39):
So do they just say a whole lot of good
stuff or do they actually put evidence in their report
about their impact or on their website about their impact.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
And the other thing to keep an eye out for
as a consumer is certifications.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
So these are third party accreditations that a brand can
get in terms of their environmental impact. So you could
look for something like the Global Organic Textile Stamp, which
kind of shows that this is a third party coming
in and assessing that supply chain or that production process
and saying yes, that is complying. So in those cases,
(09:16):
you're not having to just believe what a brand says.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
You're actually able to take that third party endorsement.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
And there's a number of different certifications like that, So
I think that's a really helpful thing to look for
as well.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
How do we end this because asking consumers to stop
buying from these retailers isn't working. Look, we've gone from
fast fashion to now ultra fast fashion. Do we need
government intervention? What have other countries done?
Speaker 4 (09:52):
This is a really complex issue to solve, So when
we look at it, there's some significant.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Players that all have power, so I think we all
need to take action.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
The government is one of those players, and so in
other countries there are different types of legislation that are
in place to try and address this issue. So some
of those pieces of legislation are import or export bans.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
There are some examples of this in recent years when
it has come to the state sanctioned force labor taking
place in China's cotton industry. Some countries have put.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
A ban in place that says if there is any
suggestion that a product is linked to that particular region
in China and that forced labor, then you can't import
it into the country. So that's what some countries are doing,
and others have what we often call modern slavery legislation
or supply chain reporting legislation, which mandates that companies have.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
To take action at the moment.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
In New Zealand, for example, a company legally doesn't have
to do anything about exploitation and its supply chain. It
might happen or obligations to do something, but no legal requirement.
And so in New Zealand, the first thing that we
could do is require companies to have a look at
how they're producing their products and whether there's any risk
in modern slavery taking place. Then they had to disclose
(11:13):
that to the public and then ideally you'd have legislation
which also compels them to take action. And so TFN
has been working with the government on that for a
number of years and we're really hopeful that we will
see that kind.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Of legislation introduced.
Speaker 6 (11:27):
We have no modern slavery legislation in New Zealand. We
want them to introduce modern slavery legislation that includes due
diligence requirements, which means that you don't just have to
disclose where your risks are, but actually address and mitigate them.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
But there isn't.
Speaker 6 (11:41):
Any law so far that tells you to examine or
scrutinize your supply chain to identify where there could be
these risks of modern slavery taking place.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
You've also got companies which can take some responsibility in action.
So there are a bunch of things that the un
guiding printsos on business which actually state that it is
the end brand or that end companies responsibility to ensure
that human rights aren't being abused in the process of
producing their clothes or their products.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
And so we actually need to see companies changing.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
How they operate because at the moment, companies are able
to just externalize the human cost of producing their clothes
because they're not having to pay these work as well,
so they can get away with it.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
And that's not okay.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
And so we need to kind of like fundamentally change
the way that these companies work so that we don't
have a system that lets us exploit people in the
planet to give us cheap products.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
That's a really big thing to change.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
And then the other thing is that consumers do have power,
and I know that it is really hard for us
to make different choices when there's lots of financial pressure
on us. I guess people are under various degrees of pressure.
So I think we would really encourage people. If you
can afford not to shop at Timu and other fast
fashion companies, then don't make a different choice. Because these
(13:04):
companies rely on consumer demand, and consumer demand drives the
whole ultra fast fashion model. So the most powerful thing
that we can do to disrupt this system is to
reduce the amount that we are buying from these companies.
And when you take all of those things together, the government, businesses, consumers,
(13:25):
then you can start to make a dent in this issue.
But any one of those things alone is not going
to create the change that we want to see.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
I find it partning as well. I don't know about you,
but this new generation coming through there is a trend
towards ventage shopping and secondhand fashion and things like that.
Do you reckon that we're slowly getting it?
Speaker 1 (13:46):
I'd like to think so.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
I think that the generation that's the generation younger than
myself are so much more aware of the impact of
their actions, and they're so much more connected to issues
of justice or injustice around the world, so much more
aware of issues of the environment and climate and of
people being exploited. And so I do think that as
(14:08):
you know, we see that generation grow up, I hope
that they can hold those ideals close as they grow
up and that we can start to see a real
shift in how consumers operate.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
And you know what I actually hate seeing as well,
that I'm seeing more and more online is that local brands,
so those ethical brands from all over the world, really
they come up with a unique design, they show their
process from start to finish, they explain their costs. It's
a really big thing on Instagram and stuff now to
see the breakdown of what your garment actually costs to make,
(14:40):
but then you constantly see them saying, oh, it's another day,
this design has been stolen by XYZ. Sometimes they use
the same photos and it's the same images, but one
is thirteen dollars and the other is three hundred dollars.
It must be just so disheartening for those small brands
to see that and think why.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Yeah, I think you're right.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
It's very difficult for small companies to compete, both with
the machine that is fast fashion or ultra fast fashion.
I think we should really respect those companies which are
sticking to their values and producing clothing in a way
that's not exploiting people, because it would be the easy
choice for that company to try and take its price
(15:24):
down a little bit to be more competitive. But yeah,
I think we should as much as possible give our
support to companies like that. It feels like a lot
to spend, you know, one hundred and eighty dollars on
a dress or something, but the reality is people would
easily spend one hundred and eighty dollars, like on a
whol of clothing from a fast fashion brand and not
like half of it where some of it only once
(15:46):
throw it out, and really that same amount of money
would be much better spent on the consumer's behalf buying,
you know, one piece of clothing that's going to be
a staple in their wardrobe for years to.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Come thanks joining us.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Claire Small and local designers are arguing that imitation is
not the sincerest form of flattery as more and more
of their designs make their way onto the mega fast
(16:22):
fashion websites. Swedish brand h and M filed a copyright
lawsuit against she In, and complaints have poured in from
other designers like America's Chrome Hearts and French brand Mason Cleo.
And it's not just happening overseas either. Here in New Zealand,
Auckland store Crushes accused retailer Glassons of copying a T
(16:42):
shirt design. Co owner of Crushes, Rose Hope is with
us to discuss the importance of buying vintage and local.
First off, Rose, I know how incredibly popular Crushes is.
It's on cutting a hubitode in Auckland, and you guys
sell vintage wears and also New Zealand made stuff as well.
(17:05):
How important is it for people to consciously make those
choices rather than go down, say the fast fashion round.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
I think it's incredibly important because at the end of
the day, we have to consider what kind of world
we want to be living in. Like the trade off
between quality and presses something that we have to you know,
our throughout it's so easy to break and it's filling
up our landfill. We've got so much of it. We
don't even know what to do with it. We don't
(17:33):
even look after our goods anymore. But I also would
argue it's something that people seem to be really ready
for because when they come in and they feel the
quality of our goods or hear the story about who
makes what and why, there really is like a joy
to pardtake in something that's honest. You know, it's almost
novel now, which is a bit sad to say, but
(17:55):
there's a great thing. Someone really enjoy a product instead
of just participation in a trend or buying putting on
a whim.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Yeah, and you guys really advocate as well to mend
clothes also, which is something that I think that we've
all forgotten about. That's the thing.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
Yeah, I think if you own something and you choose
to put some money towards it, therefore your responsibility it's
kind of like what do you do with your households trash?
You know, like are you a recycler? Are you? What
kind of person are you? And what kind of responsibility
do you have towards the things that you own? And
so we put on workshops for mending as well as
(18:34):
putting on evains like the Akland Clothes Swaps where we
get five hundred people through to like re exchange their
goods and extend that life cycle of clothing.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
In terms of those ultra fast fashion retailers and the
fast fashion retailers. How disappointing is it when you see
someone's designs like yourself, like crushes show up on some
of these websites.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
It's so disappointing. And I've got so many of my
colleagues and like the creatives of Auckland have all been
affected by just someone coming in and taking a design.
In New Zealand, it's so small use here everything as well,
So it's like I know someone who's at the HQ
who's seen my friend's design on the mood board. You know,
(19:22):
I've ripped it off before the company could rip it off.
So I think what people need to understand is we're
so close to each other that it's not merely coincidence
that these things happen. It's like genuinely and deliberately feeling
a design. And then where does that leave us that
put in the hard work and you know, pay people
(19:43):
feeling to create it. Yeah, it really makes a cushion
whether you should continue with the design it or have
been completely devalued.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Because I know that you on the Crash's TikTok mentioned
that a fast fashioned New Zealand retailer ripped off one
of your designs.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
It went quite viral. Lessons ripped us off. Whether you
think the designer is close or not. I was infinitely
better when it's made in New Zealand. Two it's embroidered.
Speaker 6 (20:11):
Three we use secondhand, vintage dead stock blanks.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
Literally, no questionable exploitative labor laws were crossed to make this.
Speaker 6 (20:21):
It's as local, as ethical and sustainable as fashion can be.
Instantly you value our work.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Were you surprised that it did get such a reaction?
Speaker 3 (20:35):
I was surprised, to be honest. I made the video
while I was feeling everything, you know, and then kind
of went out for an hour and then came back
and my phone was blowing up. Then the response was
so positive and so many people chose to purchase the
original design from us, and so it was kind of
even though it was a very disappointing experience, it was
(20:58):
super hetwarming being able to explain in a video of
what the difference is that we make ours locally on
seeking hand dead stock T shirts and our manufacturing it
hurt nobody and exploded nobody, and for only I think
eighteen dollars more you could get the original. It's not
even much more expensive than something that has hurt so
(21:21):
many people in the planet along the way. And so
whether it was a deliberate coffee or just a coincidence,
who knows. But the fantastic thing is it really pointed
out that these identical pieces really had so much that
differently checked themselves from one another, and that everything that
(21:41):
it stands for, and it was just great to get
that many eyes on those differences.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Thanks for joining us, Rose.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You
can read more about today's stories and extend of news
coverage at enzid Herald dot co dot nz. The Front
Page is produced by Ethan Seals, Patty Fox, and Richard Martin.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Are the sound engineers. I'm Chelsea Daniels.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Subscribe to the front page on iHeartRadio or wherever you
get your podcasts, and tune in tomorrow for another look
behind the headlines.
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