Why is fast fashion regularly pointed out?Here are elements of comparison of the modes of design and production of fast fashion with those of a brand that makes the manager's effort to enlighten you: midnight on earth.
The latest GIEC report is alarming, climate concern is supposed to be on everyone's lips and yet fast fashion always has a bright future ahead.Latest example, the Chinese Fast Fashion giant (which I would not name) has just lifted the tight sum of almost $ 2 billion in order to continue its development internationally.
This fundraising illustrates mainly one thing: consumers pay attention to their budget.What is difficult to blame them for given the drop in purchasing power ...
In truth, it is all our mode of consumption that is to be reviewed.And midnight on earth try to participate.
The brand is born from the dismay of Marie Viard Klein, its founder, not to find a pair that meets all its ethical requirements.This is how midnight born on earth was born in 2016.La Griffe offers sandals, boots, sneakers, babies and socks every season without any animal material and partly composed of recycled materials.
But what is really the difference between a pair from Minuit on Earth and a brand that offers Sneakers at € 30?
How is the creation on the side of Fast Fashion really?
Information is known: the fashion industry is among the most harmful to the environment, running that of oil.But then how does it work exactly?To answer it, it was the historian and specialist in fashion ecosystem, Audrey Millet who gave me many elements of response.
She explains that, very often, the big brands of Fast Fashion do not have a stylist or an internal creation team.The items are directly ordered from style offices, or creation factories.And when the company is accused of plagiarism, it defends itself by rejecting the fault on the style desk.
Paying for a designer and for the sale of a drawing rights is more expensive than delegating the protection of a sketch: Fast Fashion goes at the cheapest.If you find items at € 5, they have probably not been designed ethically by well -treated stylists.
"In Fast Fashion, less than a month flows between the drawing of the garment and its sale in shops"
Fast Fashion designates the production and dissemination of clothing collections in record times.The offer is constantly renewed, often up to twice a month, to create desire in the consumer and give her the feeling that by continuing to buy, she will be in the trend.
In opposition, the so-called Slow Fashion brands offer only two to four collections per year, one per season, or even use the pre-order to produce only the necessary and thus avoid surplus and waste.This is the case of midnight on earth.
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What are the processes of a more responsible creation mode?
At midnight on Earth, the design of a collection is planned more than a year before its launch in production.
The claw has no trouble revealing her processes and plays the game of transparency: the designer imagines the models and sends the drawings by software to her workshops near Portugal in Portugal and near Nantes in France.Then comes the choice of materials, then prototyping, thanks to the model maker, which materializes the drawing and which can conceptualize the patterns of the different parts of the shoe.
Obviously, if the creation team decides to test new materials, or to imagine a new category of products, these deadlines can be considerably longer because it is necessary to take into account a whole series of tests to verify the viability of the project.
For midnight on Earth this was the case when using an apple vegan imitation leather was envisaged for objects that deserve more resistance, such as belts, sneakers or bags.We had to test the resistance, wear and tear, and lifespan ...
While for fast fashion objects, few quality control tests are carried out, even less research and development.And it quickly feels at home when you dare to wash clothes from disposable fashion brands ...
Midnight on Earth has chosen to maintain its design and manufacture in Europe (Portugal, France).Countries close to France which allow teams not to explode their carbon footprint during their trips to get there or for the delivery of pairs to the French warehouse.This effectively has an impact on the price, in comparison with brands of Fast Fashion.
Behind a pair of shoes at low prices, there is necessarily someone somewhere who suffers.
During his visio conference on the theme: the price of fast fashion versus that of luxury, Audrey Millet explains that the prize has a story.Originally, it was one of the criteria, with the brand and quality, which distinguished low -end items for mass markets from high -end items reserved for more luxurious markets.
But today, it is difficult to differentiate an article at 20 € from another from another at 200 €.To draw prices down, brands save scale: the more they buy enough to produce astronomical quantities of parts, the more they can obtain prices on materials, production costs, etc..Which ultimately allows them to sell each piece cheaper.
So how did it become so easy to sell at low prices?Well it all starts with the reduction of production costs which encourages to produce in developing countries where the workforce is less expensive.But this requires more intermediaries as well as a longer routing.
This triggers industrial pollution, social disorders as well as damage to human health: which invariably leads to the exploitation of the workforce.In addition, fast fashion companies fight against wages in emerging countries, which maintains social and economic inequalities, in addition to causing a lot of industrial waste and therefore pollution.
Learn more about midnight on earth
What is the right price for a shoe?
At Minuit on Earth, the prices of shoes vary between 110 € and 150 €.The claw has chosen Italy for the manufacture of its materials and Portugal for its design of its products.Two countries where the regulations protect workers.They are paid there at their fair value and work without chemicals likely to have harmful effects on their health.
Once the first part of creation has been completed, comes the manufacture and it starts with the cutting of material cookie or laser machine depending on the machine robotization rate.Then comes assembly, assembly and sowing.And finally, the finishes which allow the brand to add the details that make it happy like the laces, the pimples and to tweak everything.
"Since we are a small business, the volume of products created and marketed is necessarily less than in fast fashion, but it is also and above all a desire on our part not to leave the collections as frequently as they.The goal is to make small collections with small volumes, not to encourage overconsumption.»»
How to unlearn to consume?
Why do we love our wardrobe so far?Mainly because of the emotion created during the act of purchase.A state that we will try to find again and again by always consuming more.
Far from the shots of eco-responsible brands with minimalist models, midnight shoes on earth are colorful, graphics while being designed to last.
Beautiful objects that you will have fun seeing and putting back, which make a story over time, that is the principle of the slow fashion: take the time to appreciate longer.
Read also: user manual to move from fast food to a more ethical and responsible style
