Ethical fashion opportunity awaits
Those who know me won’t be surprised to learn I do not know a lot about fashion. I spend most of my week in a tie and suit and, owing to a newfound obsession with kitesurfing, much of my weekend in a wetsuit.
But it’s with some interest that I’ve been observing a change in the conversation about fashion in Asia.
In years gone by when Asia was mentioned in the context of clothing and fashion, our minds immediately leapt to sweatshops in China, or polluted rivers outside factories, or Indian farmers poisoned by the pesticides used around cotton.
While this is still a reality in some parts of Asia, it is an increasingly dated view as there is a shift in the way those in the know talk about fashion and clothing in the region.
I’m noticing an increasing number of New Zealand clothing labels that, while still producing in Asia, are refusing to deal with manufacturers that harm people and the environment.
Instead, they’re spending time in places like India and Indonesia, building an understanding of the business culture, building relationships, asking hard questions about the process, and asking what they can do to make sure the people making their products are not being exploited.
New Zealand companies like Little Yellow Bird, which makes ethically-sourced uniforms in India, have been loud and proud
about where and how their clothing is made. In doing that, they’ve highlighted one of the ways in which our everyday lives are connected to Asia.
But there’s been another noticeable shift in thinking.
Asia is no longer just a place we source our clothing from – it’s also a multibillion-dollar market for New Zealand designers to tap into. A growing middle class in a number of countries in the region is creating new markets.
The recently-released report The State of Fashion 2019, which reports on the global fashion economy and associated trends, predicts China will overtake the United States as the largest fashion market in the world this year. Ahead of this trend is New Zealand fashion designer Kiri Nathan, who last week – with some Asia New Zealand Foundation sponsorship – set off with a group of other Ma¯ ori fashion designers for a whirlwind tour of China’s fashion world.
The schedule included a chance to showcase their work at Guangzhou International Fashion Week, a photoshoot that puts Chinese models in their clothing for use in advertising campaigns, and meetings with potential buyers. One such potential buyer is VIP.com, a online clothing retailer that boasts nearly 30 million active users.
Nathan sees the potential in China, having led a delegation in 2017 too, and is determined to make sure Ma¯ ori designers in particular are equipped to make the most of these opportunities.
India is also set to be a major player in the global fashion scene – in three years, the country’s apparel market is predicted to be worth close to $60 billion, putting it on par with Britain and Germany.
New Zealanders need to capture only a tiny fraction of those markets to succeed.
But we don’t need to be competing with labels producing runs in the hundreds of thousands. We’re best placed to produce small runs of well-made and edgy clothing that appeals to the high-end of the market.
Industry experts reckon fast fashion will trend downward in the next decade as consumers start to demand clothing that has a more positive impact on people and place, and start to buy less of it. So New Zealand labels would do well to position themselves as purveyors of quality and ethically-made clothing.
One of our raisons d’eˆ tre at the Asia New Zealand Foundation is to convince people of this fact: New Zealand’s present and future – economically, culturally and socially – are firmly tied with Asia.
The fashion world is a perfect example of this. The clothing we buy is often made in Asia and the consumer choices we make have a direct impact on the communities they’re made in.
There are opportunities now and in the future for New Zealand-based companies to change the way they think of the apparel industry in Asia, to build relationships that bring benefits on both sides. It has the added bonus of being a value-add industry, complementing our commodity-based ones.
There is also enormous opportunity for New Zealand labels to start pitching their wares to the region’s increasingly discerning fashion lovers. Get to know the country, the culture, the people, and Asia’s your runway.