Ethical Issues in the Fashion Industry free essay sample

Ethical Issues in the Fashion Industry Introduction This essay reflects on the lecture titled Creative Economy by Martin Bouette. I found this lecture relevant to my final project. My topic is the changing trends in the apparel industry. How Corporate Social Responsibility affects the supply chain, going local from global, vertical from horizontal. The lecture is relevant in many aspects, for example the knowledge societys changes and ethical issues and responsibility within the apparel industry. The first part of the essay briefly speaks about the lecture Creative Economy and also introduces my final project. The second part explains in more detail the difference between horizontal and vertical integration. It also overviews the different kind of ethical problems in the industry in the last 10-15 years and specifies the problems through examples fashion retailers as well as how these problems affect the consumers. After as an answer from the companies for these ethical problems the essay introduces Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and gives an example of a well developed CSR policy within the apparel industry. The essay finishes with a summery and speculating about different solutions. The Creative Economy The Lecture Creative Economy by Martin Bouette analyses the relationship between the market and creativity. It has four parts: A short historical overview, a section highlighting its turning points, followed by introducing political factors, and finishes with contemporary issues like: technology, ethics, the environment and the aging population. The first two parts are about the historical background of the creative economy and how these historical trades reflect todays practice. It gives examples like the Asian Silk Road and Sutton Hoo Treasure (7th Century AD, England). It argues that Asia had well skilled creative people working in manufacturing who produced quality goods. It also states that competitive development was as rife in the 7th century as it is now. It shows the turning points like the Great Exhibition (1851), the craft revival by Morris (1865) and the Bauhaus ( 1919-1933). After the beginning of the industrial revolution, the Great Exhibition showed the advantages and disadvantages of mass manufacturing. The United Kingdoms arts and crafts revival lead by Morris versus mass production in the 19th Century was idealistic and elitist but protested for the skills and knowledge in design and manufacturing. And finally the Bauhaus as the last major turning point in the history of the creative industry worked for mass production but quality objects (though they hand made all of there pieces) which are well designed, stylish and functional. The third part is about political factors. In this part of Martins lecture we got a definition of the so called Creative Industry: ‘The creative industries are those industries that are based on individual creativity, skill and talent. They are also those that have the potential to create wealth and jobs through developing intellectual property’ DCMS 2010. The thirteen main fields of the creative industry are: advertising, architecture, art and antiques, computer games, crafts, design, designer fashion, film and video, music, performing arts, publishing, software, TV and radio. It also argues that creativity is about flaw and constant changing and that the UK is the last centurys knowledge society which gives opportunity for creative development, but it is about to change right now, so provides some examples from other (Asian) countries like: Taiwan and South Korea. These countries are developing rapidly. They spend a lot of money to support their own creative industry (Taiwan has a Creative Industry Development Policy made in 2010). The last, fourth part discusses contemporary issues. The four major points of this part are: Technology, Environment, Aging population, and Ethics. Technology: It is about the revolutionary introduction of the the touch screen interface for electronic devices such as the iPhone, and the future of health care with smart fabrics, or about CAD to develop craft. The Environment: This part argues that who is responsible for the environmental damages, how much concern the designer has for our environment. Aging Generation: says that older generations are a strong market for quality design, because they have time to enjoy all its benefits and they can afford it. And finally Ethical issues, which is the most important from my point of view. This is the part were my project could connect to Martins lecture. It gives data about child labour in different countries in different industries. It argues that our society should educate consumers better to know more about the true cost of products they buy. The lecture says that the commercial success depends on these four factors I explained before. My Project In my original project proposal I was intended to research trends in manufacturing such as going local from global and going vertical from horizontal integration. However I realized since that such trends are mostly triggered by Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies responding to customer demands. I would like to narrow down my project to focus on the affects of CSR on the apparel industry’s supply chain. Therefor my research project aims to examine how CSR as a global trend affects vertically and horizontally integrated manufacturing in the fashion/apparel industry. A company won’t integrate vertically its production if it against its business interest. There are some vertically integrated businesses in the industry because the global imbalance is disappearing both in terms of consumer demands and production and labor costs. In order to meet public demand for ethical issues companies would rather use Corporate Social Responsibility Policies than truly integrate vertically their business models. True vertically integration only comes into play if it is essential to the bottom line.