Toxic Fashion
How sad, what a disappointment, how guilty I feel!
Last January we discovered “Little monsters in the closet” a report by Greenpeace Asia where clothes from of 12 well-known brands have been tested: Adidas, American Apparel , Burberry, C & A , Disney, GAP , H & M, LI- Ning , Nike, Primark , Puma, Uni-qlo. All the brands tested have at least one product in which hazardous chemicals were detected, about this I will not comment much because you can just download the report (here) and draw conclusions.
A few days ago the result of a new survey was published by Greenpeace International “A Little Story about a Fashionable Lie” that has found a wide range of hazardous chemicals in clothing and footwear for children produced by eight brands of luxury fashion: Dior, D & G, Giorgio Armani, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Trussardi, Versace. Along with the report, available for download here, was launched the campaign #thekingisnaked in which ambassador of the organization in the fight against toxic fashion is the Russian model Eugenia Volodina , who took part in the shooting by photographer Andrea Massari based on Andersen’s fairy tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes”.
“Once upon a time, in a kingdom-not-so-far-away, there lived a little King. His mother wanted only the very best for her darling son, and brought him the most luxurious garments made by the finest merchants in all the kingdom. But no matter how expensive the fabrics, nothing was fit for this King. For he could see something his mother could not. “These merchants are trying to deceive us! Their clothes are full of nasty chemicals and I’m not going to wear them ever again!”
The campaign “Little Monsters” has achieved the goal for which many brands, including Burberry also, are committed to the reduction of chemicals.
PFOA, phthalates and nonylphenol ethoxylates are endocrine disruptors, substances that, when released into the environment, may have potentially harmful effects on the reproductive, hormonal or immune system or be carcinogenic, while the antimony is a poison similar to arsenic, which as antimony trioxide is used as a catalyst in the textile industry and can cause dermatitis , irritation of the respiratory tract and immune system disorders.
My reaction as a mom is disconcerting: since Sissi was born I bought many clothes from these luxury brands, many from Burberry, many from Armani, Dior, D&G (some are still in the closet to wear, brand new!). I’ve spent money (sometimes too much ) thinking of buying not only a “beautiful” brand but also and above all quality, a good cotton, soft and fresh. Just like in the fairy tale… maybe sometimes even giving up something for me… to know this facts, disappoints.
My purpose is therefore to buy from now always brands that are organic, sustainable, with cotton oeko tex… already I’m changing a bit my fashion-horizons and thanks to this blog I would like to make known to you my “discoveries” !
It reminds me of the same thoughs that I had long ago on the beauty when I opened my eyes and began to read the INCI and I realized that the anti-wrinkle face creams and lifting serums from these luxury brands (coincidentally the same of childrenswear) I bought spending a fortune are actually “empty creams” without active agents, full of silicones and parabens, creams that give the illusion of having a skin tighter and capture you with their delicious perfume but do not contain (or if they do, only a very low percentage) really active anti-aging. Conclusion: I found some good brand with a good INCI, my skin is (almost) perfect and I’m saving even a little!