“The Factory” editorial

Preview editorial from S/S 2021 issue
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Sustainability passes through the value chain of the fashion industry as well. The value chain is formed by all the productive steps of the clothes and accessories we wear but, unfortunately, in the last decades we have lost interest in it, also because of globalization which has dispersed these aforementioned steps all over the world.
Let us make a simple example: the Merino wool is usually produced by sheep in Australia, where it is sourced, cleaned and priced. It is then shipped in the Souther East Asia (between China, Bangladesh and India), where it is transformed into threads and cloths. After that it is sent to factories in other parts of the world, where it is sewed to create garments. Garments are then finished (with labels and buttons and so on) in other factories and they finally finish their journey on the shelves of stores, more or less one year after the raw wool has been fleeced. It is an extremely long journey, both figuratively and not, but very few people know it. It is important to shed light on the production chain since it is the only way to resonate on the impact of the fashion industry on the planet and people as well.
This is the reason why The Factory is such a gem, because in a time greatly focused on marketing and image, it reminds us that clothes are products just like others, made by ideas and hands that work, God knows where and in which conditions, to constantly feed the fashion machine.

Photography Petra Vaessen
Style Richard Schreefel
Model Marlijn Hoek c/o 100% Management
Hair Style, Makeup Danine Zwets for Ellis Faas and Kevin Murphy