Before preaching or advocating Ethical sourcing practices, it is important to understand that, the first step to take is to create awareness. Our goal at Deepwear is to create an environment where Sustainable and ethical practices are no longer an option and are well embedded in the working of this industry. This is why we would like to start by helping people understand what and why are Ethical practices indispensable in these current times.
What is Ethical sourcing and Manufacturing?
Whether it’s due to the imminent environmental crisis, or a general shift towards becoming collectively more aware, kind, and generous, there has been a very prominent shift in recent times towards people taking responsibility for their actions and taking socially thoughtful decisions.
Ethical practices in the fashion industry is not a term that has been newly coined, it has always been a part of our moral responsibilities, but the concept of being ethical and having a fair and transparent way of living has gained a higher pedestal in more recent times. The demand for ethically sourced and produced fashion products is genuinely prominent now, with more ventures exploring the ethical route all the way from luxury couture houses to the streets. Ethical is no longer just a fancy add-on tag used as a marketing tool and is now being factored into production and budgetary strategies. But what does it mean for a business to source fashion products ethically?
Ethical manufacturing or Ethical sourcing refers to the process of making sure that the fashion products and services are sourced through sustainable and socially responsible processes. This encompasses the concept of paying a fair wage to the people who make the product and ensuring that they are treated with dignity and rights. It also includes checking of the environment in which they work is clean, hygienic, and safe, and that all social, economic, and environmental aspects are considered.
Why is Ethical sourcing and manufacturing necessary?
By taking up ethical resolutions, planning ethical strategies, and adopting social and ethical methods of sourcing, fashion brands can feel more confident that they are not exploiting labor and are practicing morally fair relationships with their suppliers.
An ethical way of functioning does not just give a clean conscience, it also offers a medium of trust to the consumers to place your brand on a higher pedestal, offering your brand a distinct USP.
Several ethically sourced materials and ethically produced fashion products made from sustainable options like renewable, organic, or recycled materials have an extremely loyal customer base. If you can manage to align your products and services to customers who understand the importance of ethical business practices, you can improve your brand value. As consumer awareness of product lifecycle and its impact continues to grow, Making brand decisions that do not negatively affect the people who make our products has become indispensable to enhance customer experience.
Not only from a consumer perspective, having an ethical supply chain assures good and comfortable relations with the suppliers, in turn increasing efficiency and reliability. A sustainable fashion production chain needs the effort of both the factory and the brand together.
If you are thinking of doing this, it is important that you are very clear about what statements you make to consumers. Be careful not to make claims that cannot be backed up by evidence, as you could be criticized for misleading your customers.
Creating with People and planet in mind
At Deepwear, We believe that Sustainability and ethical practices should not just be a marketing gimmick or a label on the product, but should be a way of living.
Throughout our journey as an International Fashion agency, we have faced a lot of queries regarding Ethical sourcing and Manufacturing. Especially those brands who wanted to modify their initial production chain and wanted to know more about it. We also had a lot of queries from larger businesses who aimed to approach the ethical lifestyle ensuring that their quality and price requirements are met while trying to fit into the newly received ethical directions.
At Deepwear, finding and connecting with factories, suppliers, and workshops who believe in the same morals and ethics as we do is our prime goal. We have a large database of Socially, environmentally, and ethically compliant factories all over the world. We rely on personally auditing the factories and suppliers by constantly visiting their sites and facilities and not only at the start, along with checking factory conditions, and practices to help us understand better. Our on-ground team audits the factories thoroughly to ensure that all ethical standards like work environment, standards, conditions, timings, etc are fair. Our cordial relations with our suppliers help us understand their needs and requirements more transparently, and hence help us provide the best support with regards to ethical production.
The reason Deepwear stands out from the rest is the fact that while we make sure Factories are treated ethically, we represent the brand first, and always strive to provide the best possible options to all their specific and niche requirements.
We also understand that there is a conflict of interest with regard to the authenticity of Certifications. Our experience has shown us the other side of fashion production where we have discovered great factories that were ethical but not certified, but on the other side have also encountered certified factories that did not live up to our standards. while At Deepwear we don’t just believe in certifications or beautiful websites as they both can be corrupted, at Deepwear we only believe in what we see with our own eyes and this is why we work from the ground, we audit each factory personally, we have our own set of quality and ethical standards, and qualifications. We are your eyes and ears on the ground. That is the only way we can give real guarantees and really protect your brand. This does not mean we completely disregard the system of certification, it simply means it is not the only method of auditing we use to approach a factory. Sometimes we have brands that require suppliers and factories that strictly follow certain certifications, and we acknowledge that and filter down options accordingly.
Deepwear can provide ethical and sustainable options at every stage of your production process be it design, tech packs, sourcing materials, production, packaging, distribution, etc. Our International team helps us spread our aim of promoting an ethical supply chain all over the world. To know more about our Social, ethical and sustainable practices and the options you can explore, get in touch.