Are we wearing our values?
by Jordan Codispoti
Near the city center of Florence, Debora Florio, entrepreneur, and activist, opened the Bio Fashion Lab as a space to make changes in the fashion industry. She actively works to create awareness of the dark side of fashion and provides a space to do so, while also supplying a plethora of hand-picked second-hand clothing and emergent designers’ work. Florio started her career with the fast fashion brand ZARA, a sector that has become synonymous with inexpensive clothing produced rapidly to adapt to trends. At a certain point, she began to notice certain behaviors in consumers, a connection between their shopping behaviors and emotions. It became clear to her that marketing and the influence of big brands created shopping addictions in vulnerable consumers; she was not immune to this either. This personal reflection drove her to ask a deeper question: “What do I want to represent in my clothing?”
The fast-fashion industry lacks both human and environmental sustainability and she set out to change this. Workers, both garment and retail, are exploited. Being asked to work overtime, receiving a minimum wage, and working in unsafe environments–this is all unsustainable and can be answered with respect. She highlighted a business model of pressure that trickles down from the big brands who pressure manufacturers who pressure their workers to produce garments through poor practices. One environmental impact she opened our eyes to was the issue of cut and paste when brands mimic a design from a higher-end brand resulting in a lawsuit. When the high-end brand wins, the retail stores are ordered to cut and burn hundreds of pieces.
Florio knew action needed to be taken and started a blog, Bio Fashion Lab, to share the information she was learning. She pursued a master’s at Polimoda in Florence in Sustainable Fashion. She then opened the Bio Fashion Lab to serve as a space for workshops, events, and ethical shopping practices. Our conversation with Florio acted as a holistic response to our interviews with Francesca Liberatore and Desiré Madonna, owner of Eticlò. Rather than pretending it is impossible to fix or contribute to the problem, Florio was the first to offer solutions, on both an individual and corporate scale, to promote environmental and human sustainability efforts in the fashion industry. She first addressed where transparency can be found for an individual consumer which is online through associations, like Fashion Revolution, that can confirm a company’s ethical practices. This requires someone to seek out this information and that is why she is working to create awareness. The simple answer is to buy less and reimagine what you already have. She also offered solutions to how large fast-fashion brands, such as ZARA, need to pivot away from profiting from clothing. There are ways companies can profit from experiences, workshops, and services to promote sustainability while also benefitting from a recognizable brand name. From repairs or opening a second-hand exchange plan, there are ways for brands to avoid 30% of their products ending up in landfills.
When asked what she wants her clothing to represent, Florio responded “Respect.” Respect not only for herself and her emotions but for the environment and workers who made it. Her honesty was refreshing as it did not avoid truth but rather addressed the issue of consumption and how both individuals and brands can work together to change the lives of garment workers and mitigate the environmental impacts of this industry. It is important to ask ourselves each time we enter a store. “Are we wearing our values?”