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Allegra Ghiloni

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Could ethical consumption ever become part of consumers shopping habits on a large scale, particularly in the fashion industry?

Ethical consumption is a market that is growing however will we ever reach a stage where it is part of all consumers shopping habits and what do you think the future of the market looks like?

I am currently writing my dissertation on the future of the ethical fashion market and am interested in opinions and thoughts on the matter.

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    Gail . 50+

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    Jan 18 2013: If you look at it from a broad perspective, the most ethical use of fashion would be a return to nudity or simple, unadorned t-shirt like hand-loomed garments as a fashion statement. Ethical consumption sounds rather oxy-moronish to me.

    How do you see it?

    • Gordon Barker 10+

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      Jan 19 2013: I live in Alberta where there is a "Flash Freeze" going on right now. The temperature went from +7 to -8 in 3 hours with a wind chill at -18.
      Take your nudity and shove off.
      I'm wearing the outside of dead aminals and modern fibers stuffed with feathers
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        Gail . 50+

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        Jan 20 2013: You keep wearing those dead animal skins, Nanook of the North. You need them to brace yourself against bitter winds.

        But my attention to this question had more to do with a student of the fashion industry, that survives by changing styles every year- using peer pressure to force people to discard and replace - talking about ethical consumption. If the fashion industry were to believe in ethical consumption, it would put itself out of business. I found it a rather humorous question and my reply was not an indictment on your lifestyle. When I lived in Maine, I also wore dead animal skins and modern fibers stuffed with feathers. If we were all to live on a tropical island where nudity would work, there wouldn't be many humans on the earth.

        Sorry to hear about your flash freeze. Get ye to a hot tub and sauna to remember what warm feels like, if you should ever wonder if it will return to you again.

        • Gordon Barker 10+

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          Jan 20 2013: That was my first thought to your original answer. Exactly how many humans would be left if we all had to live in the "nudity zone" of the earth. Probably not too many. Nobody would want to be a blacksmith. Those sparks are really at the wrong level.

          You're right on about the fashion industry. Manufacturing moves around the globe like some type of plague and runs about two seasons ahead of the climate. Market directly to youth who can develop fads within days and abandon them just as fast and you have the perfect environment for an industry that ignores both environment and economics.

          If the fashion industry actually practiced ethical consumption, many of the more uselless brands would go out of business but enough would always survive because there would continue to be a market, albiet much smaller

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