Calling a man draped in a simple loincloth as a pioneer of sustainable fashion might seem absurd in a world of celebrity bloggers and influencers. However, Mahatma Gandhi transformed the way a whole nation dressed by propagating a philosophy built on kindness towards people by adopting considerate practices in fashion. Gandhi ensured that throughout his political and social journey, his clothes depicted sartorial integrity. The phrase sartorial integrity was introduced in an essay by Peter Gonsalves from Rome University titled “Half Naked Fakir-The Story of Gandhi’s Personal Search for Sartorial Integrity” and refers to a state in which an individual’s moral well-being affects the way they dress and present themselves to others.
Gandhi’s voyage towards sartorial integrity consisted of various stages. As a young 18-year-old adolescent, when Gandhi went to London, he believed that dressing as an English gentleman was important since wearing the right clothes would give him the respect he deserved in the company of others. When Gandhi reached South Africa as a 24-year-old advocate, he was accustomed to receiving the same courtesy he experienced in England as a barrister. However, South Africa carried deep-seated prejudices against the coloured races. Gandhi’s conviction that the English dress code would give Indians social respectability was left jolted when he was thrown out of a train in 1893, even though he had purchased a first-class ticket and was dressed in European attire.
Even at this point in his life, Gandhi failed to understand why the white South African Government could not differentiate between well-educated Indians and Indians who worked as menial labourers. His encounter with Balasundaram, an Indian labourer who had been beaten, made Gandhi aware of his privilege and left a mark on his conscience. During the 21 years he stayed in South Africa, Gandhi began to study the plight of the poor labourers and decided that it was only appropriate for him to choose clothes that demonstrated his commitments. Thus, he started wearing what he called the ‘mourning robe’ which consisted of the white kurta and dhoti.
When he returned to India in 1915, Gandhi realised that the situation of the Indian labourers had become deplorable. The raw material farmers were producing was exported to the textiles based in Lancashire, England, and then imported as expensive finished cloth in India that today forms the basic premise of what we term as fast-fashion. This process was causing the deprivation of work opportunities for the local population and the profits the labourers could have earned from the exported raw material. Further, the British exploited labourers by earning huge profit margins on their work, while labourers were given minimal wages. Therefore, in 1918, Gandhi began his movement for khadi, where he asked an entire nation to stand against the exploitation of labour and asked every Indian to spin their yarn and weave their cloth.
Gandhi elevated the status of khadi as a national cloth as people of all classes came together. Khadi for Gandhi symbolised homogeneity, simplicity, and the absence of class status, where people from diverse backgrounds weaved their way to economic freedom through slow fashion. Bandana Tewari, the former editor-at-large of Vogue and a sustainability activist, believes the Khadi movement was the first rebellion against fast-fashion recorded in India and made mills in England standstill. As an act of humility and solidarity with the poor, Gandhi himself decided to drape what is now considered his trademark, the loincloth. It had become inconceivable for him to accept a lifestyle higher than the lowest in the land.
Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence towards people and dignity for all is relevant today, as the fast-fashion industry in current times also functions similarly. Nowadays, retail brands outsource production to supply chains that rely upon underpaid labour from factory workers in countries that include India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, and Thailand, where laws protecting workers are almost non-existent, and poverty is an integral part of society. Recruiters for the garment industry promise decent wages, proper meals, and time off for school to children and women. In reality, the conditions that many of these workers face can be labelled as modern-day slavery. Garment workers in India receive around Rs. 10,000 to 12,000 while the living wage, as calculated by the Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA), is Rs. 29,323. Since many such women do not belong to a trade union or do not have written contracts, they have no way of complaining about abusive or unfair treatment. In many cases, workers only received a tenth of the minimum wage specified in India. However, fashion retailers rarely lose a large section of their customer base over poor labour practices because people generally ignore the people and processes involved in the clothes they wear. Some claim that sustainable brands are often more expensive and time-consuming, and choosing such a lifestyle is an option available only for the privileged sections of society. Consumers also justify buying products from major brands that are unethically made by stating that these brands often outsource production, which allows them to conveniently distance the brand from its malpractices.
In today’s times, Gandhi’s vision of sartorial integrity translates into a movement for slow fashion, which uses clothes to improve socioeconomic conditions. Gandhi foresaw the repercussions of a market economy that depended on consumerism since it separated economic ethics from moral considerations, making the pursuit of wealth the ultimate human goal. He, therefore, advocated for the minimisation of wants and created the concept of consuming what an individual can produce. In Gandhi’s words, “there is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness.” In the era of digitisation, it is less about privilege and more about conscientiousness. Digitisation also makes it easy to find low-cost brands that do not engage in the exploitation of labour. Society has the power to push for fairer business practices by holding brands accountable if they fail to be transparent about their pricing. A people-centred method should be adopted since there are many options of brands people can buy from now. It is time to become aware of the processes and the people involved in the clothes that we wear.
As a student of sociology, Nanao has realised that the subject exists everywhere. Now she is on a journey to examine political, cultural, historical, and economic realities through a sociological lens. This voyage has led her to Itisaras. She enjoys studying mythological texts and literature to present alternative opinions to popular narratives. Her love for history has also developed into an interest in exploring monuments around her.