As a ‘cruelty-free blogger’ and vegetarian, it is safe to say that I am committed to ensuring no animals are harmed through the purchases that I make, whether that be skincare, make-up or the clothing that I buy. But what if I was to tell you that being ‘cruelty-free’ is not enough, that we must also look at ways that we can reduce our carbon footprint and promote sustainability. Because the reality is that our clothing contributes to the destruction of our planet, through the way it is manufactured, produced and shipped, which all adds up to air miles and increases emission costs. But there is more to sustainable fashion than just using ‘local couriers’ to reduce air miles, we must also think about how our clothing is made. What factories is the clothing being created in? How does it affect its workers and are they employing workers for an unfair wage?
Frida Khalo Street Art
As someone who does live on a budget, despite my moral intentions, many of the brands that I do wear are ‘cheap’ and thus have questionable moral ethics surrounding their manufacturing process. But we shouldn’t boycott suppliers who are not sustainable, instead we should educate them and ourselves. Don’t forget that clothing made is a response to our wants and desires, whether that be clothing that is fair-trade or in alignment with ‘fast consumer culture. The truth of the matter is, while 80 % of my wardrobe is made up of ‘fast-fashion’ due to its accessibility and price within my budget range, the other 20 % is sustainable. So the more that we raise awareness and increase demand for organic fabrics like cotton, the more sustainable our wardrobes will become in the process.
While I had always been interested in ‘sustainable fashion’, it was not until I came across Hawthorn, a manufacturing ‘supplier’ that I actually put ‘real thought’ into how clothes are manufactured outside of a ‘factory environment’. After all ensuring I am cruelty free and making more attempts to be ethical in my consumption of food, clothing, products and more is one thing but what if I was to tell you that the manufacturing process is just as integral to maintaining the credibility of ‘sustainability’? Moreover it is through ‘manufacturing’ that we can help conserve ‘energy and water’, recycle and reduce waste and as a result minimize our ‘environmental footprint’. Which is why I was interested to get to the heart of the source and hear what Rob-founder and CEO of Hawthorn- thought about sustainability.
1) Tell Us A Bit About Yourself…
My name is Rob Williams and I’m a Director here at Hawthorn, a clothing manufacturer based in the City of London. Although our headquarters are in London, we work internationally and have factories across the world. We mainly work with clothing brands, however we also have some corporate customers who we produce uniforms for. We produce everything from casual wear such as tee shirts, all the way up to high end tailoring and everything in between, fully customized to the requirements of the client.
Jaycaes Mural Old Street
2) Tell us about your average customer. Do you work with any sustainable brands?
Because we offer low minimum order quantity clothing manufacturing; the lowest in the industry in fact for fully custom garments, we work with a lot of start up and small to medium clothing brands. We do indeed work with sustainable brands and have seen an increase in the amount of sustainable brands we have come to work with over the past couple of years. At first the requirement for organic cotton was high, however we have also come to work with brands who specialize in fabrics derived from bamboo and hemp for example.
3) As A Cruelty Free Blogger, ensuring that the clothing I buy and the products that I consume are ethical and cruelty free is integral to my personal beliefs. Tell me why consumers should ‘care about sustainability ‘ and how it can reduce our impact on the environment?
What you mention here is something that is becoming more and more important to the general public, and echoes the beliefs of many of our clients who are looking to move towards sustainable fashion and who want to be able to show their retail customers that they are being responsible when it comes to their supply chain. Retail customers specifically should care about the sustainability of the clothing they buy, simply because more sustainable products being bought will help to reduce the environmental impact and carbon footprint of the fashion industry on the planet. For example, fossil fuels are used to produce polyester – a fabric which is traditionally used by “fast fashion” brands to keep the cost of a product down. Although polyester does have some practical uses for active wear, tee shirts only usually have a synthetic element as a component to reduce costs, whereas if that were swapped for organic cotton, it would have a serious positive environmental change.
Paquita BCN Instagram
4) Sustainability often has this label of being ‘un-affordable to the masses’, which seems to be a reason people give for choosing ‘fast fashion’. In your own words how can we make ‘sustainable fashion’ more accessible?
Part of the reason for promoting sustainability is that at this point in time it is slightly more expensive to produce environmentally friendly fashion, however this doesn’t have to be the case. As demand increases for fabrics like organic cotton, bamboo derived fabrics and hemp, the costs will reduce as volume increases. Making sustainable fashion more accessible is a case of convincing large brands, and those high street chain stores who produce items in the hundreds of thousands to begin working with sustainable materials. This will have a massive effect on the cost of eco friendly fabrics, and is something that needs a real push from the big players in the industry to achieve. This will make these fabrics more affordable for the likes of our customers who are smaller businesses who are usually being cost conscious in the start up phase of their business.
5) As a fellow entrepreneur, I am interested in how you maximize your brands potential and where you see your brand in the next five years. Tell me, since you started your brand, what have been your main objectives and how have you outlined ways to meet them?
We actually started Hawthorn after beginning our own fashion brand and having a lot of trouble with other manufacturers. This led us in to producing clothing for ourselves at first, and then small batches for other brands, before deciding that manufacturing, rather than actually being a clothing brand ourselves was a lucrative business to be in. We originally set out to be an all encompassing brand solution, and we set about positioning ourselves as a manufacturer of everything that a fashion brand could ever want, including accessories.
However, over the years we have realized that clothing specifically is where the demand is, as you would imagine, and that production of other items were taking our focus away, so we narrowed the business down to be just clothing, and have removed accessories. In 5 years time, I hope to be continuing to work with brands and most importantly, making a difference to the industry in a bigger way than we are right now. For us, sustainability is a big part of that, and we actively encourage our customers to choose sustainable fabrics for their products.
6) We live in what I call a ‘fast consumer culture’ and over the years I have noticed patterns emerging in the clothing and manufacturing industry. Tell me in a paragraph what you think the future holds for sustainability and why?
Methyl Woskerski Instagram
The whole “fast consumer culture” notion is becoming increasingly frowned upon within not just the fashion industry, but all industry. In fashion, even those brands who’s business models are “high volume – low price” are starting to make the effort to introduce sustainable methods of manufacturing in to their ranges. As this continues and other brands follow suit, the cost of these fabrics will fall to a level which means it is more accessible than it is currently, and smaller brands will naturally follow suit. With the “fast fashion” label being something most brands want to disassociate themselves with these days, it is highly likely that sustainable fashion will become increasingly popular for that reason alone.
7) You mentioned that you work with both sustainable and non-sustainable brands. What percentage of the clients that you work with are sustainable clients and how have you seen this percentage increase over the years?
Presently around 15% of the brands we work with only use fully sustainable materials, however a further 10% have sustainable elements within their ranges. We have introduced stock materials which are fully sustainable such as organic cotton, hemp and bamboo fabrics which we encourage our customers to use in their ranges. There has been a marked increase in the use of sustainable fabrics over the past two years; before that no customers were using them, however due to the increase in awareness over the topic and our introduction of them to our capabilities, they are gaining in popularity. We aim to have 50% of our customers using fully sustainable fabrics within the next two years now that it is something we are directing them towards.
8) I have found that many start up companies who are interested in manufacturing and exporting sustainable clothing have dedicated forums . Is there a forum at your company for aligning and cross-pollinating ideas on sustainability? If so why?
We do not have a dedicated forum at Hawthorn for aligning ideas on sustainability, mainly because our customers prefer to keep their identities confidential and by its very nature a forum would take away from that. It is a great idea to promote sustainability however, something which we are trying to do using our blogs. We have recently published a blog about sustainability which can be found here.
9) It is great that more and more brands are reducing their impact on the environment but it is still not enough and there is more to be done. As a manufacturing company that produces both sustainable and non-sustainable clothing, what do you do as a brand to reduce your carbon footprint and how can other brands follow suit?
Street Art France
As a clothing manufacturer, we have a direct link to the subject in hand and are actively promoting sustainability in everything we do. With that being said however, some brands will never be able to use fully sustainable fabrics since their products require the use of man made materials. Those who use polyester in active wear and tracksuits for example. We have introduced new fabrics to our capabilities and are promoting them, along with trying to educate our customers through blogs and our outreach methods. This isn’t the only way that we are reducing our carbon footprint though. We have recently had an internal initiative to become more environmentally friendly in everything we do, from ensuring equipment and machines are not left switched on when in use, to becoming more economical with fabric usage to bring down the amount of material required for a batch of items.
10) It is difficult to guarantee that a product will be 100% sustainable, after all with travel importation, many clothing suppliers ship out their products to clients worldwide. Do you exclusively work with ‘home clients’ or do you work with clients abroad too?
We work with brands all over the world, meaning that there will naturally be some elements such as transportation which will never be fully sustainable. We believe however that if we can help to make the fashion industry more environmentally friendly at source, this will have a great impact on the planet. As other industries, such as transportation become more sustainablethemselves through the use of renewable energy, the overall carbon footprint of everything we do and everyone we work with will fall.
11) With other 7.5 Billion people worldwide it has become increasingly difficult for manufacturing suppliers and clothing retailers to spread the message of being ‘sustainably conscious’, with many consumers relying on ‘fast fashion’ to meet their demands. The Question is in your eyes can we achieve sustainability in the context of exponential growth of demand and an exploding population and how can manufacturing suppliers like yourself help curb this ‘demand’?
Butterfly Street Art London
You’re correct, we are a small part of a huge industry and change is required not just from us, but from those who have previously been the pioneers of fast fashion. The sustainable clothing industry is similar to the organic food industry in some ways, with only a small number of consumers currently willing to pay the extra for something which is environmentally friendly. We believe the secret to real change is to promote sustainability, and make it something which consumers will want to be a part of, thus giving the large corporations and high street stores who use fast fashion in abundance to make a change to meet this demand. Suppliers like ourselves are helping to promote this notion by bringing more small sustainable brands to the market, each of whom have an influence over their following.
Thank you Rob for speaking to us about ‘sustainable fashion’ here at Faded Spring, it has been an enlightening Q &A to say the least and has made me more conscious about the ‘materials that I choose’ when purchasing products. In fact I don’t know about you (readers) but as a consumer, I had no idea that the production of ‘polyester’ and other man-made materials was made from ‘fossil fuels’, to reduce clothing costs. While materials like ‘organic hemp’ or cotton are more expensive than synthetic materials, if we continue to ‘seek out’ more ways to bring more organic products into our home, suppliers and manufacturers will recognize a pattern emerging, where consumers are seeking more ‘ethical alternatives’ to ‘synthetics’ and naturally due to consumer demand, this will transfer into more clothing retailers promoting sustainable fashion!
What Are Your Thoughts On Sustainable Fashion?
*Collaborative Post
what a great point to make , lovely post , i would definitely pay a little more for the environmentally friendly wear,
I too am a fan of sustainable fashion and really enjoyed your interview.I am also a lover of street art, and your post appeals me a lot. My favorite one is Butterfly street London and Street art of France. They are so colorful and bright.
A very interesting interview – lots of food for thought!
What an interesting post to read. I’m the same as you, budget constraints mean that a lot of my clothing is fast fashion. I’ll certainly be looking more for organic/fairtrade or sustainable fabrics and brands now.
What a great post, love the outfit and the artwork. I think if more companies made environmentally friendly items that were stylish people would pay more for them.
Whilst I’m always thinking about the types of fabrics I want next to the children’s skin, I’d never given any thought to the sustainability of clothing. It will definitely be something I think about for the future though; especially as a mum who wants to leave a world for her children.
I’ve never actually heard of sustainable fashion but it has really opened my eyes and I would definitely be willing to pay a little extra for this! Really interesting – thanks Ana!
Fantastic interview, a really great read. It has given me a lot to think about x
That’s a really interesting interview, very informative, I’m sure you’ll provoke many thoughts which is a great thing. I fully agree with everything written there, my only problem with sustainable fashion is the prices of clothes being much higher than regular brands and sadly, I simply can’t afford for my wardrobe to be 100% sustainable. I believe even a small change matters though 🙂 x
There are some very thought provoking points in this post and the interview. Sometimes it becomes difficult to follow sustainable fashion and makeup but what matters the most is to keep trying.
Great interview. This addresses something that should be more important to all of us, disposable fast fashion is horrendous both for people and the environment. Interesting to hear an industry take on it.
What an amazing interview, I have to admit I’ve not heard of Hawthorn before, I am going to have to head over to their website now though and check out their styles.
My mummy would like to help by buying clothes from local brands that are manufactured in the UK, also buying second hand through care boots and charity shops.
Awesome. Thanks for sharing your interview with Rob Williams. I think we should really give sustainable clothing a try. Caring for our environment is just a small task to do in exchange for a better world for our future kids. I will check out the Hawthorne website and encourage my friends and family to do the same.
An interesting read. Due to fast fashion I often shop at cheap brands etc x
I found this interview very interesting to read. It has opened my eyes a bit more to sustainable fashion.
I try and buy organic clothing for the kids but have to admit that a lot of my stuff is cheap and cheerful from the supermarket so no idea if it is ethical
I recently did a post on sustainable fashion in the fast fashion Industry . Its a very complex problem and the more I delve into it the bigger it seems. I think we as consumers have the power to slow down the fast fashion industry. I am not suggesting that we bycott it as budget , lifestyle etc all determine what brands we purchase . But we could all purchase less frequently and not be so quick to but six tee shirts just because they’ve been reduced to €2 each.
I keep learning so much about sustainable/slow fashion and I feel so bad for buying stuff in ”sweatshop stores” :/
That’s a great interview! So informative
I am happy to read that you want to look pretty but not at any cost! Its horrible to buy a something made of animals just to look good?!? Ok if we must survive but for the sake of beauty? There are so much more in life than to look pretty…like animals!
This is a great interview. I love sustainable fashion and really wish I had more of it but unfortunately it’s out of my budget a lot of the time x
I would love to live a more sustainable life, but like you mentioned, my budget also doesn’t stretch to it. This interview really makes you think about it more though. Hopefully with more and more businesses moving away from the fast, throw-away fashion the costs will eventually come down.
I am a sustainable fashion person but i really dont have a budget. It’s a wonderful interview.
I do think more needs to be done to make sustainable clothing more mainstream. Where possible i do buy more sustainable clothing.
This was super interesting, I never thought much of carbon footprint and environment when it came to clothing. Although 80% of my wardrobe is of organic cotton and hosiery so I guess I was on a correct track. Personally I don’t like synthetic and polyester . But thanks for this knowledge.
I love the idea of sustainable fashion, although struggle to know what brands are/aren’t sustainable. Is there a website where the average consumer to go to tell? Or something on the label that would indicate to us one way or the other? Thank-you to Hawthorn for leading the way in this industry! x
What a great interview, I’m definitely going to try and make better choices when it comes to buying sustainable fashion x
I am obsessed with everything that you cover here. I am a teacher and I am trying to raise awareness through my students because I feel that I cannot do anything else at this point.
I love how you and your blog/brand is expanding Ana. For me personally, don’t kill me, but I never have ever really thought about sustainable fashion and carbon foot print. But if it does help I do like to be aware about the brands and where they stand ethically.
It’s a really interesting point with some great subjects touched upon. I think that we don’t think about chemicals in our clothing enough to consider higher priced sustainable products which are much better for us. It needs to be highlighted much more.
Great blog! I love sustainable fashion too. I wear cheap brands also but never thought of the carbon footprint side of it. I’m glad I came across your blog. Now, I’ll always keep that in mind.
I’m always on a crazy manhunt to find clothes that are fair trade and could possiby be recycled. There are a few sustainable alternatives to popular products on the market which makes me sad that they don’t get the same recognition. I’d honestly rather pay a little more for good quality clothing that I know didn’t harm any people along the way.
Great post, I’m a natural beauty lover as well and my kids wear lots of organic clothing as well x
Great interview! I know what you mean about not knowing about how the produced the polyester and how it leaves a larger carbon footprint. I have been learning a lot about the types of energy we use to produce all kinds of materials and it’s sad how much damage we do to the environment as a result. Thanks for highlighting this. It’s so important.
What a really interesting read, it highlights such important points that we, as consumers are just as responsible as the manufacturers.