MOMO Sustainable & Ethical Fashion Brand
MOMO NEW YORK Sustainable & Ethical Fashion Brand
As we realise the environmental cost of disposable fashion, Momonewyork pledges to increase sustainability and ethical practices in its production. The high quality boots, bags and clothes offered by Momonewyork are already in tune with the concept of slow fashion, for they can last years, or give even a lifetime of use. Today Momonewyork joins other sustainable clothing companies in a Fashion Revolution which strives for a fair fashion industry, where people and the environment are not exploited. We want to move towards a circular economy by designing out waste and making products that can be cherished beyond trends.
Momonewyork, an ethical clothing brand
Momonewyork offers responsibly-made shoes and handmade bags. We support local artisans in Thailand and India, thereby spreading wealth from high income countries to other parts of the world. Our makers are small family businesses and women who work out of their homes. The Indian patchwork used for Momonewyork boots and bags are handmade by villagers in India. Our tribal ethnic materials are sourced from the north of Thailand where ladies of the Hmong, Akha and Karen hill tribe hand-weave and hand-dye traditional textiles in their villages. These local handmade fabrics are sold to us by their kin in Chiang Mai, the nearest city from those difficult-to-access mountain villages.
We are proud to support heritage and the use of craftsmanship handed down through the generations. The fisherman trousers we offer is a design that comes from Thai local wisdom. As part of our fair trade program we make sure the weavers are paid fairly as are the seamstresses who produce the Momonewyork fisherman pants, kimonos and bags, and the family of artisans who make our shoes by hand.
Momonewyork, a sustainable clothing brand
Much of our materials come from India and our most successful collection, the Giva boot and facemask collection, is made of upcycled saris - this method of reuse produces a beautiful patchwork material that gives the bohemian-chic look also to our Momonewyork shoes, boots and bags.
Many of our boots have hemp as part of their composition. Hemp, according to fibre2fashion.com is a more eco-friendly fabric choice. And because all our items are made-to-order there is no wasted stock, which is a major complaint in the fast fashion world where piles of deadstock is often thrown out as thrash. Any extra material remaining from our production is made in to Momonewyork scrunchies and neckties. We love contributing to sustainability!
It’s time to face the truth about sustainability in the fashion industry
It’s unfortunately true: Fashion - our favourite pastime and preoccupation is ecologically unsound - boohoo! What’s more, many practices in the fashion industry can be unethical, from the unfair wages paid to makers to their working conditions.
Let’s make a change! See below how you can make a difference while still enjoying your clothes and strutting your style. Join the Fashion Revolution whose tag is, “We love fashion, but we don't want our clothes to come at the cost of people or our planet.”
Why is fashion unecologically sound?
Fashion production makes up 10% of humanity's carbon emissions, dries up water sources, and pollutes rivers and streams, according to weforum.org. A t-shirt takes 7,300 liters of water in its making (worldwidelife.org) as commercial cotton fields require huge reserves of water. Then mass dying and treatment processes, by disposing chemicals into water sources, cause further damage to the world’s water cycle.
How can we help?
Buying locally-made cotton when possible can help. Small time farmers grow cotton more ecologically than massive industries that are largely inefficient in their irrigation and force plant growth in unsuitable environments by using pesticides and chemical fertilisers. Look for labels indicating locally-sourced materials such as cotton that is locally grown. Choose organic cotton when possible as this is produced without chemical pollutants. Sustainable clothing uses non toxic, low impact dyes.
What about other eco fabrics?
According to Fibre2fashion.com, hemp, wool, soy silk, bamboo fabrics, jute, and corn fiber are considered as eco-friendly textile alternatives due to their availability from nature without the harmful effects of chemicals or toxins. Tencel is made from wood pulp and is becoming a more popular material having been used in Ikea’s collection of household products. Scientists are also developing textiles based on biopolymer methods and looking at using enzymes to produce sustainable synthetic fibres. We hope these will become sustainable options in the fashion industry in the near future.
When you choose a material for its sustainability you should also consider the impact of taking care of these fabrics post purshase. The washing of certain types of synthetic clothes such as jackets made of fleece sends thousands of bits of plastic into the ocean. Known as the microfiber problem, tiny, invisible bits of plastics are shed into our waste water which are then eaten by fish thus introducing plastic into the food chain, how worrying is that? To learn more check out <https://www.storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-microfibers/> And don’t panic! You can use a Guppy Friend Bag available at REI and other stores to prevent microfibre leakage instead of throwing away your beloved jackets and causing more fashion trash!
Slow Fashion vs. Fast Fashion
The world is producing more cheaply each year - known as fast fashion, i.e. clothes made in machine-operated factories or are highly processed - but these clothes are used for a shorter time. An unbelievable number of clothing is thrown out after they fall apart or go out of trend. The Newyork Times reports that 85% of textile waste in the USA then go to landfills or is incinerated.
The environmental impact of fast fashion is more damaging than international flights and maritime shipping combined, according to businessinsider.com. The Guardian reports that fast fashion, which they define as cheap clothes bought and cast aside in rapid succession as trends change, is responsible for 10 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions (https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2020/apr/07/fast-fashion-speeding-toward-environmental-disaster-report-warns).
What can we do?
The alternative to fast fashion is slow fashion. What is slow fashion or non fast fashion? Slow fashion takes a long-term view as a contrast to fast fashion’s short-term view. Wikipedia defines it as a production process that is respectful to people, the environment, and animals. Slow fashion produces value with minimal damage to the environment, with fairness to the people making the products and without animal cruelty. And if crafts and traditional knowledge are preserved, all the better!
Ecological AND ethical EQUAL slow fashion
Sustainability in the fashion industry is closely linked to ethical practices. If you want to help build a new global fashion industry you could start by being mindful of where your clothes come from and who makes them. The environmentally friendly clothing brand Mate sells organic cotton and “offer a whole fabric portfolio that identifies where each fabric material was grown, where it gets dyed, what collections it's used in, a little bit about the fabric itself, and how to care for it” (matethelabel.com). This is the type of information a conscious shopper seeks.
Through our purchases, we can make a positive difference for the people that make the clothes we wear every day, and ensure they have fair wages and environmentally safe working conditions.
A more equal distribution of wealth across the world will result in better living conditions, increased access to education, which in turn results in more awareness and understanding of the environmental impact a person can cause. While slow fashion may not solve all our environmental problems, making a move towards sustainability is definitely viable and helpful to global ecology.
Ethical clothing companies
While sustainability in the global clothing industry may be a long way off we can make a difference in our purchases and reduce our carbon footprint by supporting sustainable clothing brands. We salute Stella McCartney who is paving the way for sustainability in high fashion and Vivienne Westwood who advocates, “Buy Less, Choose Well, Make It Last”.
Here are examples of some of the more affordable ethical and sustainable clothing brands in the fashion scene.
ABLE. This brand focuses on creating economic opportunities, especially for women who have overcome extraordinary circumstances. This brand’s fair trade practices means you would be buying ethically sourced clothing.
The brand PACT offers cheap sustainable clothing. They are organic, GOTS Certified, fair trade, eco-friendly in their ethics. They have an affordable price point and high quality standards.
MOMONEWYORK practices ethical production in Thailand and sells worldwide. The high praise found in their reviews ensure the products will be loved over time, contributing to the slow fashion concept of long term use.
The more mainstream examples of sustainability and ethical practices in fashion include TOMS of Venice, California, the shoe brand that has given over 100 million pairs of shoes to children in need around the world.
Of high street fashion brands Zara’s parent company, Inditex, pledged that by 2025 they will only use cotton, linen and polyester that is organic, sustainable or recycled. H&M’s approach is to give an eco-friendly choice to their buyers by offering a “Conscious” fashion collection in its stores.
Through our purchases, we can make a positive difference for the people that make the clothes we wear every day, and ensure they have fair wages and environmentally safe working conditions.
What other ways can we support fashion that is ethically sound?
You can do your own recycling and even upcycling. Recycling can be done through flea markets, swap meets or simple exchanges with friends and at second hand clothing. Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, means transforming what we already have into something better or different that can be used in another way. Use your imagination and reuse the things you no longer need or pre-loved items in a way that is more pertinent or decorative. How about making those old jeans into denim shorts? Check out ideas on Pinterest or see what they are doing at Drycleanonlybkk.com where you won’t recognise any previously used items in the one of a kind pieces they’ve reincarnated into.
Together we can revolutionise the fashion industry!
Everything we consume, whether clothes, cars or candy, has an effect on the environment. Be mindful when you buy, think about the way things are packaged, how far they have travelled, its necessity in your life, the alternatives you have. It’s hard, and much weighs up against each other, like you can help someone in need on the other side of the globe eventhough your purchase has to travel a long way, but every little bit can, and does, help us move to a new paradigm.
Check out Momonewyork for affordable ethical clothing. We make gorgeous and functional totes, boots, and clothes for everyday use, summer travels, and beyond. Momonewyork is where you shop with a clear conscience!