S-words: Sustainability, Slow Cloth, Slow Fashion

I haven't written much about the world of sustainable textiles and clothing lately, but here are a few interesting links:

• Anaka has a provocative post, Giving Crafts a Bad Name, on her Getting Down To It blog for BrassTacks Madras. Her caveats apply to everyone who makes handmade goods; quality still matters, and is too often left out of the craft equation these days. Scroll down to the April 30 entry (for some reason I'm not able to isolate a link for the post). Anaka works with artisans in India and is able to thoughtfully critique what many of us in the West romanticize about traditional textile techniques:

Most craftsmen will argue that handmade goods can never have the same perfection as a mill-made product. That is true, but there is a line (and it is not such a fine line) between the charming irregularities of a good-quality handmade product and a downright substandard job. Pressed further, the craftsmen will tell you that good quality (“the way our ancestors used to do it”) is no longer possible because it either costs too much or no one is willing to do that kind of painstaking work anymore.
With my understanding that good craftsmanship is possible (because I have seen good craftsmen produce outstanding work), it really gets my goat when traders or even some craftsmen prefer to blame the craft rather than take the effort required to improve their quality.

• Rajboori makes beautiful, colorful silk quilts and home textiles using silk that they say leaves the silkworms unharmed. I've frequently said that I'm more concerned about human rights and labor issues in silk manufacturing than about the silkworms, but let's assume, so our heads don't explode, that people making "peace silk" are committed to ethical human labor as well. Rajboori has an interesting blog here. While they're a little self-congratulatory -- okay, a lot -- they are making beautiful products that seem to be made with a Slow Cloth attitude: "The designs would be contemporary but the artisanship would be traditional." (The link came from Fibercopia.)

• I struggle with the S-word -- sustainability. It means nothing and everything. This helps: Charles L. Redman, director of the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University, where President Obama recently gave the commencement address, offers these five elements of sustainability to the New York Times' dotearth blog: 

1. Awareness of the challenges facing us and the interconnectedness of the world and of our actions
2. Creativity to deliver innovative solutions in technology, business and social relations
3. Stewardship of limited and precious natural, human and cultural resources
4. Institutions that are flexible and effective because they continuously learn, adapt and provide leadership
5. Values that enhance equity, justice and inclusiveness

•  The beautiful Resurgence magazine has published "The Tyranny of Trends," an essay by Charty Durrant, former fashion editor of The Sunday Times, the Observer and British Vogue. This is a wonderful treatise on the economic, social and psychological costs of fast fashion, and the need for a true paradigm shift to a Slow Fashion model. I'm quoting one paragraph here but I really encourage you to read the whole thing:

Modern fashion is made from many seemingly incompatible ingredients, but the cornerstones are built-in obsolescence, fear of humiliation, and sexual attraction. Warmth, comfort and personal style have for the most part taken a back seat. As the ‘trend frenzy’ deepens, we can see that fashion is no longer about style and self-expression: it is primarily about judgement – self-judgement and judgement of others. A toxic media reporting how women ought to look, and celebrity obsession further enforce this strange new paradigm. Our self-image is distorted and it is now an indisputable fact that our collective psyche is in deep pain. 

(The link came from my beloved Alabama Chanin blog.

Housekeeping:
I realize this could have been four separate posts - this week I'm going to try to switch to shorter, more frequent posts to make it easier on everyone. Also, a few weeks ago I turned off the annoying Capcha function for comments, hoping to get more of my readers to reveal themselves. Now the toxic spam is showing up, and I'm not getting any more comments than usual, so I will give it another day or two and then likely will have to turn Capcha back on. Sorry, but that's how it goes. And please do comment!

Life continues to be really strange but interesting. I think things will settle down in the next few weeks; I'll be very busy but at least the path will be a little more defined. I'm looking forward to the Surface Design Association conference, from which I plan to blog later this month; please do let me know if you'll be there.

photo of golden silk fibers by woowoowoo. Some rights reserved.

Comments

[Shauna Chapman]

What I found disappointing about the Resurgence article is the endorsement and mention of eco/ethical labels which, in my mind, are only slightly eco, slightly ethical and vaguely sustainable--and operated by very large commercial entities and consortia. I felt that the argument for the article derailed towards the end. It may be sour grapes, I admit, but there are small, independent labels out there producing excellent goods with true Product Provenance which do not get a look in.

Shauna Chapman
Founder, Quail By Mail
www.quailbymail.co.uk

[Lainie]

K, thank you for your thoughtful comment. I think "artist and artisan" is a terrific solution to the dilemma we all struggle with.

Look at this coming Sunday's NY Times magazine -- the preview is up now -- the feature article is on reclaiming the value of working with your hands. Mostly it seems to talk about things like car repair rather than stitching, but that's the author's perspective -- he rebuilds motorcycles -- and the broader point is very well made.

And that may be the silver lining of the recession: craftsmanship rediscovered and reinvested with meaning and respect.

[K-eM]

I too get frustrated by those who equate craft with low quality. It is an unfortunate association that has been born out of truth. Too many people moving too fast to do anything right. Besides why make it when you can buy it? I get that question a lot. That kind of attitude enables the justification of making something that's lower quality, rather than taking pride in making something of high but handmade quality.

As someone who does both art and craft I've struggled with definitions. Why should what I create, using the same mind and creativity, be separated into two categories or words depending on the materials I use? Why does my craft automatically go down in value because of that word, even though I have put the same care, love, and skill into that as I put into my art.

Words become so easily contaminated and then we begin to behave according to that contamination. "Craft is low quality, therefore I will make low quality craft."

So, now, in an effort to skirt the contamination and redefine my crafts, I've made some word changes. When asked if I'm crafty, my response is "I am an artist and an artisan." It sounds a bit like snobbery, but it certainly puts the value back into what I do.

[Rose]

Thanks so much for sharing the article, The Tyranny of Trends, which I saw on Knitting on Impulse. Passed it on to my 20 year old daughter, who is minoring in Women's Studies. Glad to have found your blog.

[deb]

I read that whole article "The Tyranny of Trends" and marveled that someone in the industry finally mentioned that the damned Emperor was nekkid AND ugly!

The Styles of the Times has been an ongoing reminder of how this industry has led several generations down a path of self-loathing and self-destruction. I can just picture anyone connected with fashion recoiling in horror from even contemplating the issues brought up in that article. Visualize all the damned souls scrambling around on an Hieronymus Bosch canvas, well dressed according to each other.