Most of you have probably come across the notion that sustainable fashion is expensive, but actually it’s not true: instead sustainable fashion is reasonably priced.
Yes, ethically made clothes do cost a lot more than fast fashion rags, but there’s a valid reason for this. At the end of the day, you do not have the right to waste humankind’s and this planet’s resources just so you don’t need to pay for your clothes.
The materials and the labour required to make those clothes cost money. So, why should you get them for a fraction of that cost?
Capitalism has taught us that instant gratification is what we need. But when we add to that the fact that the same capitalism has destroyed the fashion industry, why would we believe anything such a system teaches us?
It’s time for a mindset shift!
We consumers are the ones who pay the very high price of our greed-infested consumerism. We’re already paying the price in the shape of climate change. The only way we can save ourselves and the planet is to completely change the way we shop.
I’ve given you some pointers on how to change your value mindset here. The key point is to understand that in actual fact money doesn’t have any value. That’s the shift that needs to happen and we can achieve it by:
- Educating ourselves on the fact that the “value” we put on money is actually imaginary
- Realizing that the things that have actual value is everything else but money
- Both, immaterial and material things, that add value to our lives are actual sources of value
For example, in terms of clothes, sustainable fashion is reasonably priced because actual value went into creating those pieces. What do I mean? Well, let’s find out!
More on the topic: Ethical Clothing on a Budget: Tips to Build a Sustainable Wardrobe
Sustainable Fashion Is Reasonably Priced – Here’s Why
While it is true that it’s very difficult to get by in life without money, I repeat, it’s not money that holds value in this equation. This applies to fashion as well: the actual value is in
- the materials used to create the clothes
- the skills needed to design and make the clothes
- the fit
- the way a piece of clothing enables us to freely and visibly express ourselves.
To put it simply, a fast fashion garment made out of bad quality synthetic materials that doesn’t fit most people, doesn’t hold much value. It may give you freedom to express yourself, but the cost is in the big picture much higher than the actual value of that piece.
Are you starting to grasp the idea why sustainable fashion is reasonably priced instead of expensive? To further prove my point I interviewed one of my personal favourite brands, Son de Flor.
In the interview the brand’s co-founder, Vaida, opens up the process of making a dress and everything it entails. Because it’s a lot!
It’s an interesting peek to the backstage of an industry that we don’t actually know much about. To truly understand the value of the clothes you have, you need to know how much resources go into making them.
The initial idea behind a sustainable brand
Before we dig into the actual making of a dreamy Son de Flor dress, I wanted to find out how the brand got started in the first place. A lot of value is entwined into the stories behind actual fashion brands. Vaida, one of the founders elaborated:
“Son de Flor started very organically! First there was a dress and then we built a brand around it. I myself was going through a shift in my personal life. It was a hard period, but I am generally a positive person, so I took it positively, knowing that something good will come my way IF I keep faith.”
She continues: “So me and my sister replicated one beautiful timeless dress that our mom would wear during so many occasions always looking so elegant and stylish.” This dress became the brand’s signature product: Classic Dress with Peter Pan collar.
Initially the young women were just proud of their handiwork and wanted to showcase it on social media. And this quickly turned into a business idea:
“Back then Instagram was still very organic and some wonderful ladies found us via hashtags. We got a few inquiries on if we could produce that dress for them. We thought – why not.. And the rest is her-story!”
From the perspective of this article – how sustainable fashion is reasonably priced – I wanted to know about their fabric choice next.
Local production is valuable for the whole society
As explained above, sustainable fashion is reasonably priced because it uses natural, ecological fabrics. Creating these fabrics takes resources that then create value that is the actual fabric. Son de Flor’s chosen fabric is linen, which is one of the most sustainable fabrics in the world.
Vaida elaborates: “We are based in Lithuania and linen is a natural choice for us here as we have a very deep and long tradition in working and producing this fabric. Linen is so intuitive for us and we know it by heart.”
It also helped that there were plenty of linen manufacturers in the country to choose from. This made starting a fashion brand much more convenient than if they had to resolve to international producers.
Vaida continued that linen is “also handy and convenient to work with. Once we started this ‘love-affair’ with linen, the more we worked with it, the better we got to know it personally. Now we can call it a very stable, happy, joyful and fulfilling ‘marriage’!”
And that’s not all: “It has so many amazing qualities. Besides being a beautiful fabric, it’s also so kind to Earth and all the ‘Earthlings’! We could even say it’s a fabric with a Soul and that Soul is full of light!”
Now, imagine wearing a dress made out of a fabric that is so valued and respected by the makers.
Being ecological adds value
Vaida wasn’t quite done with praising linen as their chosen material to work with yet. She continued: “In fact, linen is a bio-based, biodegradable, recyclable fabric that’s also natural and vegan.” This is a fact that makes a garment invaluable for a lot of people.
She mentioned something that many people don’t consider when we talk about recycling clothes. If cotton is mixed with synthetic fabrics, it becomes unrecyclable. We don’t yet have technology to separate synthetic fabrics from natural fabrics for recycling purposes.
At Son de Flor sustainable fashion is reasonably priced because they have considered this. “We are very attentive to neither mixing linen with cotton nor any other fabric blends. We are proudly working with 100% linen.”
Their fabric selection isn’t limited to linen alone, though. “We do offer 100% merino wool garments in winter time. There we are working with certified producers to be sure the wool carries all certificates that confirm cruelty-free fabrics production.”
I mean, if you care about the planet and you’re not yet falling in love with this brand, I don’t know what’s wrong.
Brand value comes from operating sustainably
The thing with these Chinese ultra fast fashion brands is that they have quickly destroyed the aspect of brand value. Chasing the cheapest bargain has overrun the value that a brand brings to the mix. But that doesn’t change the fact that brand value still exists.
Vaida helps us understand this: “Along the way of building our brand we learned that it’s important to simply walk the talk and have no hidden agendas. Once there is integrity between all the parts of the brand, it’s simply growing.”
You see now? Transparency, trust, authenticity, these are all valuable things! This is why we say that sustainable fashion is reasonably priced.
She continues and sheds light on this even further:
- “We are working with linen which is a kind fabric
- we produce a timeless garment that hopefully lasts in use for decades
- we love our team and all the partners
- we treat them with respect and transparency for their input in our final garments, production and delivery services
- we respect the laws of our state and the security of our team-mates
- we have an amazing community we constantly talk to and engage with in order to gain their feedback and fulfil their wishes according to our capacities
- we are doing our best to add integrity in all parts of our business with the values that we are promoting – i.e. to make everything around us beautiful!”
And as we know, what’s beautiful on the inside reflects on the outside as well. This adds to Son de Flor’s brand value. “Beauty we understand as not only that there is something beautiful on the outside, but equally on the inside. Sometimes it means some hard decisions, but we stick to our principles and so far they’ve never let us down.”
How does sustainable pricing work?
By now you should have grasped the fact that what we consider “valuable” (money) actually doesn’t offer any value. Instead, true value exists in everything else. Everything that we can gain with money but also without.
To truly understand that sustainable brands are reasonably priced we need to look at how this pricing model works. As we know, the capitalistic pricing model is based on trampling human rights and abusing nature and the environment to ensure needless mass production.
A sustainable pricing model works differently, as Vaida kindly explains:
“As mentioned above, price is a very important factor when it comes to sustainable and relatively small fashion brands in the market. We do want to offer a high quality product, which comes with a price.” As in, fast fashion is cheap because it’s abusive, criminally produced fashion.
She elaborates: “[Son de Flor’s] price includes not only the fabric itself, but also rewards the people who are developing and producing that garment. The people who are taking care of the web-store as well as spreading the message. People who ensure that the journey of the dress is smooth from our warehouse to a customer’s doorstep and solve any challenges occurring on the way.”
Added costs add value
Fashion is not a simple industry to be an entrepreneur in. Which means all kinds of added costs. For example, Son de Flor has to have all kinds of facilities to maintain stock, production and deliveries.
“There are taxes we pay for our team members to protect their future and also to the state to maintain social services. We also need to make sure there is space for growth and re-investment.” So, sustainable fashion is reasonably priced because it’s fairly, legally and responsibly priced.
Vaida continues: “As a company we have made a decision to have no hidden agendas but to be transparent and legal on all parts of our business. From development of the products to maintaining our team to sales to communication to book-keeping.”
None of this comes without challenges, of course. “Sometimes it’s very difficult as it requires so much analysing, so much planning and then adjusting the plans depending on the actual situation.”
Add to that the current state of the world, inflation, etc. and you’ve got yourself a knot to solve. “But so far it’s working out, which means we are on a good track” Vaida states.
Sustainable brands recognize the economic implications of fair pricing
At the end of the day, we have been living in an economic crisis since 2008. This has reduced the buying power of a lot of people globally, which has also contributed to the rise of fast fashion brands.
Even if some people would rather shop from ethical brands, they simply can’t afford to. Brands like Son de Flor are aware of this.
“We are making sure to organize all kinds of means so that all members of our community have a chance to own a Son de Flor linen dress if they really, really want to.”
She elaborates: “From splitting payments, to sales, to pre-loved events, to give-aways, we also listen to the stories of our clients and most of the time we find a way!”
On top of sustainable brands being reasonably priced I think this is what separates sustainable fashion brands from the fast fashion corporations:
The focus is on the customer and on the community!
These brands create actual value for their customers because they value their customers. It’s a beautiful circle that feeds itself in the most positive way.
Final Thoughts
In my personal opinion, it’s absolutely bonkers that we live in a system that promotes destruction. Destruction of industries, craftsmanship, jobs, responsibility and the whole Planet.
A system that deprives people of the means to make positive, even healthy purchase decisions for themselves just because sustainable fashion is reasonably priced.
I do believe, though, that a shift is upon us. None of us can ignore climate change anymore, it’s part of our lives now. And the worse things get, the more I hope people will turn to positive radicalism.
We will prioritize our own wellbeing and value. And to do that we devalue things like work, money and success, and replace it all with quality, freedom and peace. The actual sources of value.
Son de Flor is definitely doing its part. They are offering the world ecological, beautiful and fair clothes that hold so much more value than what their price would indicate.
While this article focused on the pricing side of things, I’ve also written a review of Son de Flor, in case you’re curious to learn more about the brand. Not surprisingly, I’m a fan of this brand, thanks to my sky blue dream of a dress from them.
It’s one of my most valued pieces of clothing: it’s gorgeous, versatile and IT HAS POCKETS! I’m so grateful that the brand could spare the time to answer my questions for this article. And I truly hope it sheds some needed light and clarity on the question of pricing that revolves around ethical fashion. ♥
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