Ready-to-Wear: An Industry Victim of Fast Fashion
There was a time, not so long ago, when clothes were made to last. Each of us remembers a sweater knitted by our grandmother that endured year after year. Our wardrobes were small, but that suited us just fine. Then came the 2000s, and with them, fast fashion. The idea of these entrepreneurs? To offer us new items every day at rock-bottom prices. Their goal? To get us hooked—and it worked brilliantly. Seeing dresses, skirts, or bikinis for €5 triggers impulsive buying. Worse, we tell ourselves that if the size doesn’t fit or the garment doesn’t last, it’s no big deal given how little we spent.
Today, fast fashion dominates the majority of the ready-to-wear market. To keep its promises, it produces quickly and cheaply.
Southeast Asia provides fertile ground for this, as:
- labor is extremely inexpensive,
- labor laws either don’t exist or aren’t enforced,
- environmental damage goes unnoticed.
Among these Asian countries are notably Bangladesh and Laos.
And the unsold stock? It’s incinerated or abandoned en masse in open-air landfills. This overproduction comes at a terrible ecological cost.
In fact, it’s estimated that the textile industry is the third-largest polluter in the world, after agriculture and transportation.
It also has a human cost. Employees and local populations use polluted water and breathe air filled with carcinogenic particles. At La Caravelle, these methods outrage us, and we’ve vowed never to take such shortcuts.
Eco-Responsibility Shouldn’t Be a Sales Pitch
Moreover, in the swimwear industry, many brands engage in greenwashing by purchasing eco-friendly European fabrics only to ship them to Asia—8,000 kilometers away, by plane—to be made into swimsuits. This practice is obviously nonsensical from an ecological standpoint and misleading to consumers.
For us, producing sustainably is a no-brainer.
For us, sustainable production is the foundation of our craft—a standard that every fashion brand should adopt.
We’re Not Perfect, But We’re Doing Our Best
Being transparent also means admitting we’re not all-powerful.
For example, we’re too small to produce crochet swimsuits made from GOTS-certified (ecological label) cotton. To do so, we’d need to order quantities that are, for now, beyond our reach. That said, it remains a medium-term goal.
On the topic of organic production, it’s worth noting that in India, farmers receive no subsidies to transition to organic farming. Additionally, an organic plot yields just one harvest per year, compared to two for conventional farming. It’s therefore also up to consumers to accept paying a bit more for durable clothing.
It will take time, but we have no doubt that mindsets will eventually evolve.
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