Well, it's the same concept that- you get what you paid for (most of the times). Finest cashmere is called pashmina in India, but it is a term not recognized by the textile industry, and hence has many connotations. If you ever travel to Nepal, India or China, you'll see completely synthetic 100% viscose or rayon scarves and shawls being sold with the 'pashmina' tag, but, if you're a smart consumer, you'll know that it's impossible to find a cashmere or real pashmina piece for $5-20 anywhere in the world (unless you have some miraculous luck at an auction or a flea market ;)). Pashmina has just become synonymous with the word scarf these days. For conscious buyers, it means a lot more. It is not just Asia that creates fake cashmere, and while most buyers may think that everything that comes from Europe is usually 100% authentic, if you dig more, you'll find that the British and French were the first to set up cheap cashmere manufacturing units. They wanted to rapidly produce affordable knockoffs in mid-1800's but this idea of cheap cashmere shawls soon failed and they had to shut shops. Here is an interesting article on Wall Street Journal that talks about the journey of a Kashmiri shawl. Unfortunately, without having to travel anywhere, you can visit a few Etsy stores online that stock 100% acrylic/viscose scarves as handmade pashmina scarf. This deeply saddens me. On a few occasions, I have written to customer care of shopping portals like Etsy and Amazon informing them that their marketplaces should not be stocking such inferior quality scarves that use wrong fabric terminology. Shop owners are deliberately misleading customers, but people continue to buy from these shops that have thousands of positive reviews (customers pay $6-10 for a scarf that probably cost $0.10 a piece). Everyone is looking for a bargain and why not, but, I have a problem when sellers use terms like handmade, 100% pure and false fabric compositions to make a sale.
The photo below is a typical image of popular tourist destinations in India or Nepal selling fake pashminas.
At Gartika, we are super stoked to support the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF). AWF's goal is "to conserve viable and functional populations of Africa’s wildlife species embedded in their natural landscapes." As an organization, AWF is doing everything it can to conserve the African wildlife, protecting species that are on the verge of extinction, combating animal trafficking and poaching.
Furthermore, AWF is also working towards building more conservation awareness to support its people and communities for an overall economic development in the continent. "Just as the land across Africa is vast and varied, so are the ecological and economic challenges. While some nations contend with political tensions, others must ease the struggle for resources between people and wildlife. Despite these issues, Africa is a continent of great potential. Opportunities abound for improving the lives of Africans and wildlife. At the African Wildlife Foundation, we’re working throughout the continent to do just that and help Africans chart a course toward a sustainable future. We recognize that while every country, community, and region in Africa has different needs, they all want the same thing: an Africa that’s thriving for all. AWF works to unite villages, parks, and reserves in a vast, cohesive landscape, training local communities to work together to conserve wildlife and migration routes while protecting and advancing their own economic interests." The African Wildlife Foundation.
At Gartika, our goal is to offer you soothing fabrics and authentic products that are sourced responsibly from the environment. It's a proud moment for us to associate with the African Wildlife Foundation and support their goals, ideologies and vision.
Check out our slow fashion range here
]]>This fabric creation process seems no different than GMO's that produce unnatural fruits and vegetables. We don't give synthetic clothing that much importance (yet) because the fabric chemicals aren't directly ingested by us; however that time isn't far when we'll soon realize that every bit of exposure to chemicals in products we buy is causing the body to absorb harmful substances little by little. Just like our first choice in food is top-grade quality produce that keeps chemicals far away from us, we should start paying a little more attention to an industry that is rapidly producing synthetics and moving away from natural fabrics. Synthetic fabric is thermoplastic and there is nothing natural about it. This artificial fabric will react to heat, making it extremely flammable and its nonabsorbent quality caters to the manufacturing of swimsuits and other wet weather clothing industry (clothing wearables that are worn limitedly). Garments and accessories made of synthetic fibers such as acrylic or polyester cannot offer the same textile experience as natural cotton, silk, cashmere or other wool fabrics do. In fact the truth is that polyesters, acrylics, and nylons can even reverse the natural occurrence of perspiration that at times leads to bad body odors making things socially awkward.
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Increased consumption in the fashion industry has led to massive mass-production of fashionable garments that in turn has put extreme pressure on retail suppliers to create rapid product lines and also replenish the inventory at an equally faster speed. This is a major reason why companies are not able to fully control the toxic and bio-accumulative chemicals present in the textile industry. However, it is becoming increasingly important that consumers do not overlook this important aspect of a multi-billion dollar fashion industry which involves many processes like the souring of raw material, manufacturing, transportation, marketing and retailing and employs millions of people worldwide.
One of the most ethical companies that we can all recall is probably The Honest Company which was co-founded by actress Jessica Alba, "emphasizing on household products that are as non-toxic and healthy as possible." At Gartika, we conceptualized our business model following the same philosophy for sourcing the raw material and responsibly use Azo-free dyes in our fabric construction. It is natural that customers do not know about all the sweatshops operating globally that use unethical labour practices in the fashion industry; and needless to say they are also clueless about what goes behind a plush cashmere cardigan they just bought at a high-end store. While all that is alright, none of us should be alien to the term "conscious buyer" as it's certainly not hard to be one.
In simple words, we first need to completely eliminate toxic fabric dyes that are made of 70% synthetic compounds making them carcinogenic (cancer-causing), and containing heavy metals. Azo-dyes not only dangerously affect the textile industry workers who work with these dyes but also our environment as dye factories across the world are dumping tons of dye effluent into rivers. Now, it doesn't take a scientist to understand how bad that is for us and our future generations.
What's worse is that these chemicals affect us directly and research shows that clothing that uses harmful dyes, on coming contact with the human skin, due to heat and perspiration starts getting absorbed by our skin pores. It's highly possible that our skin starts feeling irritated due to these reasons and we don't even know why we are feeling a certain way. Some people with chemical insensitivity may also suffer from extreme symptoms such as dermatitis, allergic reactions, skin problems like eczema and sometimes even infertility. Here is a highly relevant Wall Street Journal article titled Do You Need to Wash New Clothes Before Wearing Them? The article also throws light on some other serious issues such as contracting infectious diseases from retail stores where many people try the same clothes in a matter of minutes.
The good news is that customers are starting to pay attention to the quality and creation of a product, urging more companies to do the right thing. We need more awareness to let the world know that ethically produced garments using low-impact dyes are not always exorbitant or dull and boring. If the consumption for harmfully dyed clothes decreases, then the demand for Azo-free clothing will automatically increase. There will soon come a time when just like the farmer's market, people will scout for small clothing shops as they'll probably want to know what has gone into their threads and yarn. A few companies who have acknowledged their responsibility and started to make an effort in this direction are H&M, Zara, Calvin Klien, Gap, Mango, Mark's and Spencer, The North Face and Victoria's Secret among others.
A brand new year with beautiful beginnings is here so let's hope more clothing companies understand the value of sustainable fashion that is not only trendy but good for your skin and also the environment.
Take a look at Gartika's chemical-free scarves launched this winter season and choose your unique pattern.