Women have been at the heart of the clothing industry for centuries – as workers, consumers, activists, and thought leaders. What is visible today as a sustainable fashion movement has deep-rooted feminist and political origins that reach back to the 18th and 19th centuries. A text by Marzia Lanfranchi.
The textile and clothing industry has always been closely linked to women's lives. It shapes societal expectations regarding body and appearance, it employs the majority of women worldwide – and it is also a field in which women have repeatedly fought for social justice, better working conditions, and sustainable production methods. Sustainability in fashion is therefore not a new phenomenon, but rather part of a historical feminist discourse.
As early as the 19th century, long before terms like "ethical consumption" or "sustainable fashion" existed, women used clothing as a means of political expression. The so-called Free Cotton Movement arose at a time when cotton became the engine of industrialization—and was simultaneously based on the systematic enslavement of Black people. The slogan "Cotton is King" was emblematic of an economic system that generated enormous profits while reducing people to commodities.
The Free Cotton Movement was part of the international Free Produce Movement, which called for a boycott of goods produced using slave labor. Women played a particularly central role. Although excluded from formal positions of power, they used their influence in the private and public spheres: through conscious purchasing decisions, educational work, and by organizing networks, markets, fairs, and fundraising campaigns.
Quaker women like Anna Richardson in Great Britain and activists in the USA made it clear that consumption is never neutral. Clothing became a political statement. Women raised funds, supported escaped slaves, produced literature and art, and deliberately used fashion to bring moral issues into everyday life. Anti-slavery fairs, for example, consciously presented aesthetically pleasing products made from "free cotton" to reach people outside the movement as well.
Many of these women are largely unknown today. Their work has been historically marginalized, even though it significantly contributed to financing political movements and advancing social debate. Activists like Sarah Parker Redmond, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Eleanor Clark exposed the fact that the prosperity of European cities like Manchester was based on cotton produced through slave labor—and specifically appealed to other women to use their voices and their purchasing power.
These historical parallels are frighteningly relevant today. Even now, the garment industry remains one of the most exploitative sectors. Modern slavery persists, and women are disproportionately affected. Millions of women worldwide work in poorly paid, insecure, and informal jobs, while decision-making positions in fashion companies remain predominantly held by men.
At the same time, it is women who are driving the sustainable fashion movement forward – as designers, activists, scientists, and entrepreneurs. Nevertheless, a significant gap exists between commitment and actual power. Historical and current examples show that real change is only possible when gender equality is understood as an integral part of sustainable transformation.
REFERENCES & FURTHER READING
- Moral Fiber: Women's Fashion and the Free Cotton Movement, 1830-1860
- The Abolitionist Sisterhood
-Sarah Parker Redmond and Anne Knight
- Cotton vs Conscience
- Women Against Slavery: The British Campaigns, 1780–1870
- The Force of Fashion in Politics and Society
Manchester, cotton and anti-slavery
- Empire of Cotton
- Cotton: The Biography of a Revolutionary Fiber
- Why Is the Sustainable Fashion Movement Being Led by Women?
- How Women Are Leading the Sustainable Fashion Movement
- The Women Leading Fashion Sustainability
- The Fashion Industry Is One of the Biggest Supporters of Modern Slavery Across the Globe
- Men Are Dominating Industries Aimed at Women — Here's What To Do About It
- Gender Equality Index
- Towards Change: 'Free-Grown' Cotton
- Pincushion, Am I Not Your Sister
- The Charitable Work of Eleanor Clark in the 1850s and the 1870s
- Quaker Women, the Free Produce Movement and British Anti-Slavery Campaigns
- Garment Production: The Female Face of Modern Slavery
One in 200 people is a slave. Why?
Fazit
Sustainable fashion is inconceivable without a feminist history. For generations, women have demonstrated that consumption is political – then as now. Anyone who is serious about sustainability must also consider power dynamics, gender equality, and historical responsibility. History teaches us that change begins where conscious decisions are made.