Evolving is one of our core values at Fair Anita. When there are so many important aspects of ethical fashion, it may seem strange that we hold this specific value so closely. However, because the world is not stagnant and we are not a perfect organization, we recognize there are always ways to improve. We need to push ourselves to become more ethical + sustainable continuously.
Here are three reasons why evolving is so essential when creating ethical fashion.
1) We have to start somewhere. No one is perfect, and if we want to create big change in the world, well, we have to start somewhere. As we learn and grow into a bigger brand and serve more people and do more work in our communities abroad and at home, we realize that where we started is not going to work as we grow. For example, we recently began a deep dive into the sustainability practices of all our partner 19 cooperatives. While we know most of our products are made from sustainable/upcycled/recycled materials, we don’t have exact numbers and don’t know the true impact of using sustainable materials. Doing a deep dive into our sustainable practices means that we will be better at educating our customers. W also can work with
our global partners on how to make things even more sustainable. While we always have focused on being a sustainable and ethical organization, we did not have the capacity to go in-depth into this top. Still, if we waited to start until we had all this information, we may have never gotten our feet off the ground and wouldn’t be leaders in the industry today.
2) We can’t possibly know everything. Creating + marketing ethical fashion is a nuanced process, and we don’t know how to do it perfectly. At times we may use language that causes more harm than good, while this doesn’t make us super happy it allows us to learn and grow from that space. Over time, we have changed our language to be more inclusive and showcase our partners’ talents. This growth is vital for us to communicate with our customers our impact and the strength and entrepreneurship of our global partners who we work with every day.
3) Progress isn’t made by staying stagnant. If we want to be true changemakers, we have to constantly push ourselves to do better. By pushing the boundaries of what already exists, we can fight and work to create systems of change that have a considerable impact. This wouldn’t be possible without continuously evolving.