Ethical foundations in sustainable fashion

Sustainability is fuzzy and wide concept and the discussion what to sustain continues, the resources or lifestyle. Furthermore how holistically the sustainability should be approached is under discussion. According to the holistic approach for environmental ethics ecosystems and biosphere as a whole should be considered, not individual’s rights. Furthermore in ethical discussion the value aspect is most important; what is considered to be valuable and from where value comes from. Furthermore environmental ethics raises deep questions; who counts morally and why. Moreover the human actions are under evaluation in environmental ethical discussion; “how should human beings act in the nonhuman natural world”. Environmental ethics can be applied in other fields e.g. in design and fashion. Values and ethics are fundamental grounds also for sustainable fashion. Environmental pioneer 1995 argues that “ethics are the philosophical basis for making choices about morals and values”. He further continues that “to think dispassionately about what we design and why, and what the eventual consequences of our design intervention may be, is the basis of ethical thinking”. Accordingly it is worthwhile to investigate the value base in sustainable fashion and further to consider the consequences of our design and industrial manufacturing processes in the clothing sector based on environmental ethics. Moreover it is important to understand the consequences of our design practices; e.g. how current design, manufacturing and business practices affect unsustainable consumption patterns. Products actually configure consumers’ needs and use patterns and hence design can be said to be “practice-oriented”, which leads to certain everyday consumption habits. Therefore designers, manufacturers and companies are responsible not only for the environmental impacts of the fashion industry but also for the unsustainable consumption behaviour of consumers and the increase of waste streams, i.e. the unbalance in the fashion system. This text provides an overview for ethical foundations in the fashion field. Even though a lot of research has been done lately in the sustainable fashion field, the views have been limited and not well grounded on philosophical knowledge about environmental ethics and value discussion.