Let’s talk about clothes – we all wear them, but do you ever wonder about who made them? With UK adults spending £162 billion on clothing each year and around 300 tonnes of clothing ending up in landfill or incinerated, where we buy our clothes and how it impacts people and the planet is an issue of creation care and justice – themes that underpin our work at BMS World Mission.
That’s why BMS has produced an Ethical Fashion Guide and Brand Checker.
Behind every label we wear are millions of people known to God: garment workers paid too little to live on, working long hours in unsafe conditions, with little power to challenge either. The Ethical Fashion Guide brings that reality into the light and shows what can be done about it.
It provides a great, practical way to engage young people in your church with whole-life discipleship through a subject that’s important to them, but it’s relevant to us all. Because how we shop is a justice issue, and lasting change depends on all of us, every purchase we make and every question we ask of the brands we buy from matters.
In the guide, you’ll find information on 336 brands that sell clothing and footwear in the UK. They have been assessed by the research team at our partner Baptist World Aid Australia, who have produced the Ethical Fashion Report since 2013. Each company is assessed in its efforts to ensure responsible care for the environment and treatment of workers in its supply chain.
You can influence change through everyday decisions, using this guide and the online Brand Checker as a starting point. With this handy tool, you can choose to buy less, speak out against injustice and inequality using the ‘speak out to brands’ option, and make considered purchases.