Garment production work ‘is just not respected enough’
MORE SUPPORT is needed for small businesses trying to be sustainable, according to a Calderdale entrepreneur.
Ruby Creagh, who makes sustainable hand stitched leather bags and accessories from her Hebden Bridge studio, said support for small businesses was the biggest hurdle.
“I feel like it’s very hard to be self-employed, and they don’t nurture people who are,” she said.
“It can suffocate people, and then often in school, nobody is really taught about being selfemployed, that would be really good to just encourage people to start their own little thing, really.”
She added: “When you’re starting something, and you want to be sustainable, it’d be really good if there was more grants for people to do things like that, because it is a lot of money to put into something and it’s very difficult to start up something like that, it’s near impossible.”
Ms Creagh said she had worked multiple jobs to pull together funding to start her venture, but added: “It’d be good if there were some schemes out there for starting up sustainable brands.”
Meanwhile a woman who has sworn off fast fashion said people would be more likely to buy sustainable clothing if they knew of the skill that went into producing garments.
Eve Griggs, a 24-year-old from Tingley near Leeds, said that she had moved away from buying new clothes after learning about the shocking conditions some workers abroad and in the UK are forced to endure, and now only buys secondhand or from reputable retailers.
Miss Griggs, who previously studied fashion, said she was acutely aware of the expertise in the industry.
“You know how long it takes to learn and these people who are earning minimal amounts produce these items, whether it’s abroad or over here, it is just not respected enough,” she said. “If I can take myself out of that, I feel a lot better about it, but I want to raise more awareness and I’m always preaching about ‘do you know where this stuff comes from?’”
Miss Griggs said she spent hours scouring website Ebay to pick up clothes whether secondhand, vintage, or manufactured new but sold as secondhand. “By buying them secondhand, you’re completely eradicating that whole production process,” she said.