What Are We Really Buying? NZ-Made or Fast-Fashion
By Nadia Herlambang
Introduction
Purchasing locally-made clothes supports the community and pushes for sustainable fashion. However, ‘Made in New Zealand’ is a phrase that is becoming increasingly rare as the costs of ethical materials, facilities and skilled workers continue to rise. Fast fashion is taking over the fashion industry with the aid of a multitude of online shopping websites, steadily keeping up with the latest trends and as well as producing numerous dupes of high-end brands like Louis Vuitton. Fast-fashion can be defined as cheap, low-quality trendy clothing that emulates catwalk or celebrity fashion culture, appearing rapidly to meet consumer demand. The sheer accessibility of fast-fashion promotes mass over-consumption. The idea of buying kiwi-made fashion pieces and supporting local businesses remains appealing; however, so does getting a multitude of affordable clothes without even having to leave your house.
The Laws behind ‘Made in New Zealand’
The Consumer Information Standards (Country of Origin (Clothing and Footwear) Labelling) Regulations 1992 state that every article of clothing and footwear, apart from the ones in this Schedule and second-hand articles, must be labelled or marked with a permanent label to show the country it was made or produced. Moreover, the label must be clearly displayed for the customer.
Section 13 of the Fair Trading Act (FTA) details how no person in trade should “make a false or misleading representation concerning the place of origin of goods or services. Selling items with no or incorrect country of origin label can bring about an infringement notice with a fine of up to $NZD 1,000. This action can be escalated to the Commerce Commission making a prosecution case against the individual or company for a FTA1986 breach, that can result in a fine of up to $NZD 10,000 for an individual or $NZD 30,000 for a business. Misleading consumers about the country a product was made in, such as advertising an item as “Made in New Zealand” when it was manufactured overseas, also carry fines for breaching the FTA. Companies may be fined up to $NZD 600,000, whilst individuals can be fined up to $20,000.
When ‘Made in New Zealand’ doesn’t mean ‘Made in New Zealand’
It came to light in 2018 that the fashion brand WORLD had been marketing t-shirts, sweatshirts, and sweatpants priced at nearly $200, as “Made in New Zealand” ; however, they were actually manufactured in Bangladesh and China. In particular, a strawberry sequin t-shirt was exposed as being a t-shirt sourced from the brand AS Colour (made in Bangladesh), with sequin patches sold by TongLiang Boutique, a Chinese online store. The cardboard tag on the item stated “Fabriqué en Nouvelle Zélande” (translated as ‘Made in New Zealand’). This revelation was especially controversial because the company ‘prided themselves’ on ethical manufacturing and locally made clothes. It was the first fashion label in the world to be endorsed by the United Nations, and its highly critical co-founder Denise L’Estrange-Corbet claims that the “Made in New Zealand” labelling referred to the swing tag itself.
The Commerce Commission found the tags were a breach of the Fair Trading Act, and WORLD promised to stop attaching the tags to imported garments and refund customers who bought the t-shirt thinking they were made in New Zealand.
Although this situation was arguably a rare occurrence, it can cause a continued distrust in seemingly ethical clothing companies. With consumers in the 21st century aiming to purchase more sustainable items and support local businesses, this can prove problematic when the companies themselves are not abiding by the laws of appropriately labelling their items.
Issues arising from Fast Fashion
The fashion industry involves trends which come and go. However, the rise of social media, accompanied by increased popularity of easily accessible fast fashion sites, has created a cycle of constant “microtrends”. “Microtrends” are trends with a short lifespan and quick turnover. Some microtrends include the cow-print era of 2021, and more recently, metallic pants.
Although “microtrends” may come back into fashion in the future, as shown through the rise and fall of low-rise pants, most of these trends phase out just as quickly as they appear. Following these “microtrends” has led to masses, specifically an estimated 180,000 tonnes of clothes and textile waste are dumped in NZ landfills every year. Micro-trends are a macro-issue.
Despite our clean-green image, Kiwis are still addicted to fast-fashion. 45% of 1000 respondents to a 2021 survey by Levi’s revealed that they are still buying the cheaper clothes even with the knowledge the quality won’t last that long.
The Future of NZ Fashion
The biggest New Zealand fashion event is making a reappearance after a three-year hiatus. New Zealand Fashion Week (NZFW) is set to return on August 29 2023, after being postponed in 2020 and 2021, then cancelled in 2022. This year, NZFW is offering more available shows for the public, aiming to facilitate public interaction and engagement with the innovative fashion ideas displayed in the shows. NZFW has seen a shift away from being an exclusive, industry focussed event, towards being a more inclusive one. This development may encourage Kiwi’s to engage with and purchase New Zealand made fashion products when possible.
Some ethical and sustainable fashion brands made in New Zealand can be found here, here, and here. Including the brands:
Some other avenues which may not necessarily promote kiwi-made fashion, but do support kiwi businesses are thrift-stores or op-shops, and repair cafes. These encourage sustainability.
The thrift store Crushes on Karangahape Road recently hosted Aotearoa’s largest clothing swap. More than 400 people attended bringing with them up to 10 pre-loved clothing items to swap for new goods. Leftover clothing was quality-checked and donated to Salvation Army and Auckland City Mission stores; resulting in reduced clothing waste as well as ensuring the event was accessible and sustainable. Repair Cafés are free pop-up events where people can bring their broken or damaged belongings to be repaired by local volunteers. In Wellington, there is the Trust organisation which runs monthly repair café workshops.
As more options for getting NZ-made sustainable fashion items pop up, hopefully more people will engage with them.
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