The first-ever Congressional Slow Fashion Caucus was established by a group of Democratic lawmakers to combat the rapidly escalating fast fashion illness. Last month, the ten members of the caucus ‘ founding team and other rulers, employees, and celebrities gathered on Capitol Hill to make the big news.
Surrounded by backers holding signs that read,” Reduce, Repair, Rewear, Recycle”, conference leader Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat from Maine, addressed how fast fashion has aggravated economic issues.
” Last month, I was able to see a pile of discarded clothes in the Chilean desert that was so large it could be seen from room,” Pingree said. ” And the truth is that we are really concerned about the culture crisis.”
Pingree works for the Environmental Protection Agency because she is a performance member of the House Appropriations Interior and Environment Subcommittee. She hopes that the conference ‘ now established relationship with the EPA does lead to successful policy.
” Often, people do n’t understand the role that fashion is playing today in our climate crisis”, Pingree said.
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Large retail businesses such as Patagonia were also in attendance at the press event, alongside ThreadUP, the largest online thrift shop, and representatives from the Garment Worker Center, a worker’s rights firm, to handle their concerns about mass-produced clothes.
Chief legal officer of ThreadUp, Alan Rotem, said the launch of the Slow Fashion Caucus is a good starting point to establish” climate-smart” policies in the fashion sector.
The Slow Fashion Caucus ‘ launch gives us a strong platform to forge ahead, Rotem said. ” Together, we can advance the fashion policy agenda and alter the incentives to advance our shared planet and resources.”
When speakers took their turns at the podium, they explained how their outfits were both environmentally conscious, whether it was to thrift their outfits or how their purses were made of sustainable materials.
” I’m an LA girl and so I love looking stylish, but mostly when it is sustainable”, said caucus member Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif.” In fact, my whole outfit today is sustainable”.
” I also like to thrift. This is a secondhand sweater and it looks great, right everybody”? Pingree said. ” In fact, my bag is made of recycled leather”.
Members of Congress demonstrated it is possible to still be” trendy” without contributing to the climate crisis as an incentive to shop for quality rather than cheaply by putting a sustainable twist on their version of the outfit of the day.
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” When I have to replace my work boots every year instead of the five years that used to work”, caucus member Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., said. ” America trades, people lose”.
Fast fashion, in contrast to well-made clothing and wage workers, offers the convenience of quickly made and affordable clothing, hidden behind the glamor of the fashion industry. Fast-fashion companies offer minimum wages and harsh work conditions, according to a member leader at the Garment Worker Center, in order to meet quick turnaround times at extremely low piece-rates.
The garment worker said,” What slow fashion would mean to me is a production model that allows me and my fellow workers to be treated with respect at work.” Where my labor and skill are valued during the production process.
The new caucus echoes The FABRIC Act‘s messages, calling for improvements to the working conditions in the fashion industry, and reforming the piece-rate pay scale. However, the proposal of the FABRIC Act has n’t moved past committee since introduced in 2022.
Kamlager-Dove was a co-sponsor of the bill, and believes the new-birthed caucus is a more centralized outlet focusing on issues within the fashion industry, with better chances to gain federal-level attention.
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” The push for sustainable fashion has yet to gain federal momentum”, Kamlager-Dove said. Which is why we are launching the Slow Fashion Caucus is so exciting?
Collectively, the new caucus aims to execute environmental and fair labor practices to develop policies, especially before leaving irreversible damage.
” Reshoring textile production and processing is a win-win and win for our economy, our workers and the environment”, Pingree said.
Public policy is the best way to address issues relating to the apparel industry, it believes as the new caucus continues to raise public awareness.