sustainable fashion essay

News from the Columbia Climate School

Why Fashion Needs to Be More Sustainable

The pandemic slowed fast fashion to a standstill. Now as the world opens up and we are socializing and going places, we want to dress up again. But after living a confined and simpler life during COVID, this is a good time to take stock of the implications of how we dress. Fashion, and especially fast fashion, has enormous environmental impacts on our planet, as well as social ones.

Since the 2000s, fashion production has doubled and it will likely triple by 2050, according to the American Chemical Society. The production of polyester, used for much cheap fast fashion, as well as athleisure wear, has increased nine-fold in the last 50 years. Because clothing has gotten so cheap, it is easily discarded after being worn only a few times. One survey found that 20 percent of clothing in the US is never worn; in the UK, it is 50 percent. Online shopping, available day and night, has made impulse buying and returning items easier.

According to McKinsey, average consumers buy 60 percent more than they did in 2000, and keep it half as long. And in 2017, it was estimated that 41 percent of young women felt the need to wear something different whenever they left the house. In response, there are companies that send consumers a box of new clothes every month.

Fashion’s environmental impacts

Fashion is responsible for 10 percent of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions and 20 percent of global wastewater, and uses more energy than the aviation and shipping sectors combined.

Impacts on water

Global fashion also consumes 93 billion metric tons of clean water each year, about half of what Americans drink annually.

Cotton is an especially thirsty crop. For example, one kilogram of cotton used to produce a pair of jeans can consume 7,500 to 10,000 liters of water—the amount a person would drink over 10 years. Cotton production also requires pesticides and insecticides, which pollute the soil; runoff from fertilized cotton fields carry the excess nutrients to water bodies, causing eutrophication and algal blooms.

The dyeing process for fabrics, which uses toxic chemicals, is responsible for 17 to 20 percent of global industrial water pollution.

Seventy-two toxic chemicals have been found in the water used in textile dyeing.

Contributions to climate change

To feed the fashion industry’s need for wood pulp to make fabrics like rayon, viscose and other fabrics, 70 million tons of trees are cut down each year. That number is expected to double by 2034, speeding deforestation in some of the world’s endangered forests.

The fashion industry produces 1.2 million metric tons of CO2 each year, according to a  MacArthur Foundation study.  In 2018, it resulted in more greenhouse gas emissions than the carbon produced by France, Germany and the UK all together. Polyester, which is actually plastic made from fossil fuels, is used for about 65 percent of all clothing, and consumes 70 million barrels of oil each year. In addition, the fashion industry uses large amounts of fossil fuel-based plastic for packaging and hangers.

Less than one percent of clothing is recycled to make new clothes. The fibers in clothing are polymers, long chains of chemically linked molecules. Washing and wearing clothing shorten and weaken these polymers, so by the time a garment is discarded, the polymers are too short to turn into a strong new fabric. In addition, most of today’s textile-to-textile recycling technologies cannot separate out dyes, contaminants, or even a combination of fabrics such as polyester and cotton.

As a result, 53 million metric tons of discarded clothing are incinerated or go to landfills each year. In 2017, Burberry burned $37 million worth of unsold bags, clothes and perfume. If sent to a landfill, clothes made from natural fabrics like cotton and linen may degrade in weeks to months, but synthetic fabrics can take up to 200 years to break down. And as they do, they produce methane, a powerful global warming greenhouse gas.

Microplastic pollution

Many people have lived solely in athleisure wear during the pandemic, but the problem with this is that the stretch and breathability in most athleisure comes from the use of synthetic plastic fibers like polyester, nylon, acrylic, spandex and others, which are made of plastic.

When clothes made from synthetics are washed, microplastics  from their fibers are shed into the wastewater. Some of it is filtered out at wastewater treatment plants along with human waste and the resulting sludge is used as fertilizer for agriculture. Microplastics then enter the soil and become part of the food chain. The microplastics that elude the treatment plant end up in rivers and oceans, and in the atmosphere when seawater droplets carry them into the air. It’s estimated that 35 percent of the microplastics in the ocean come from the fashion industry. While some brands use “recycled polyester” from PET bottles, which emits 50 to 25 percent fewer emissions than virgin polyester, effective polyester recycling is limited, so after use, these garments still usually end up in the landfill where they can shed microfibers.

Microplastics harm marine life, as well as birds and turtles. They have already been found in our food, water and air—one study found that Americans eat 74,000 microplastic particles each year. And while there is growing concern about this, the risks to human health are still not well understood.

Fashion’s social impacts

Because it must be cheap, fast fashion is dependent on the exploited labor force in developing countries where regulations are lax. Workers are underpaid, overworked, and exposed to dangerous conditions or health hazards; many are underage.

Of the 75 million factory workers around the world, it’s estimated that only two percent earn a living wage. To keep brands from moving to another country or region with lower costs, factories limit wages and are disinclined to spend money to improve working conditions. Moreover, workers often live in areas with waterways polluted by the chemicals from textile dyeing.

How can fashion be more sustainable?

As opposed to our current linear model of fashion production with environmental impacts at every stage, where resources are consumed, turned into a product, then discarded, sustainable fashion minimizes its environmental impact, and even aims to benefit the environment. The goal is a circular fashion industry where waste and pollution are eliminated, and materials are used for as long as possible, then reused for new products to avoid the need to exploit virgin resources.

Many designers, brands, and scientists — including students in Columbia University’s Environmental Science and Policy program — are exploring ways to make fashion more sustainable and circular.

Since 80 to 90 percent of the sustainability of a clothing item is determined by decisions made during its design stage, new strategies can do away with waste from the get-go.

To eliminate the 15 percent of a fabric that usually ends up on the cutting room floor in the making of a garment, zero waste pattern cutting is used to arrange pattern pieces on fabric like a Tetris puzzle.

Designer YeohLee  is known as a zero waste pioneer, employing geometric concepts in order to use every inch of fabric; she also creates garments with the leftovers of other pieces. Draping and knitting are also methods of designing without waste.

3D virtual sampling can eliminate the need for physical samples of material. A finished garment can sometimes require up to 20 samples. The Fabricant , a digital fashion house, replaces actual garments with digital samples in the design and development stage and claims this can reduce a brand’s carbon footprint by 30 percent.

Some clothing can be designed to be taken apart at the end of its life; designing for disassembly makes it easier for the parts to be recycled or upcycled into another garment. To be multifunctional, other garments are reversible, or designed so that parts can be subtracted or added. London-based brand Petit Pli makes children’s clothing from a single recycled fabric, making it easier to recycle; and the garments incorporate pleats that stretch so that kids can continue to wear them as they grow.

3D printing can be used to work out details digitally before production, minimizing trial and error; and because it can produce custom-fit garments on demand, it reduces waste. In addition, recycled materials such as plastic and metal can be 3D printed.

Sustainable designer Iris Ven Herpen is known for her fabulous 3D printed creations, some using upcycled marine debris; she is also currently working with scientists to develop sustainable textiles.

DyeCoo , a Dutch company, has developed a dyeing technique that uses waste CO2 in place of water and chemicals. The technology pressurizes CO2 so that it becomes supercritical and allows dye to readily dissolve, so it can enter easily into fabrics. Since the process uses no water, it produces no wastewater, and requires no drying time because the dyed fabric comes out dry. Ninety-five percent of the CO2 is recaptured and reused, so the process is a closed-loop system.

Heuritech , a French startup, is using artificial intelligence to analyze product images from Instagram and Weibo and predict trends. Adidas, Lee, Wrangler and other brands have used it to anticipate future demand and plan their production accordingly to reduce waste.

Mobile body scanning  can help brands produce garments that fit a variety of body types instead of using standard sizes. 3D technology is also being used for virtual dressing, which will enable consumers to see how a garment looks on them before they purchase it. These innovations could lead to fewer returns of clothing.

Another way to reduce waste is to eliminate inventory. On-demand product fulfillment companies like Printful  enable designers to sync their custom designs to the company’s clothing products. Garments are not created until an order comes in.

For Days,  a closed-loop system, gives swap credits for every article of clothing you buy; customers can use swap credits to get new clothing items, all made from organic cotton or recycled materials. The swap credits encourage consumers to send in unwanted For Days clothes, keep them out of the landfill, and allow them to be made into new materials. Customers can also earn swap credits by filling one of the company’s Take Back bags with any old clothes, in any condition, and sending it in; these are then resold if salvageable or recycled as rags.

But perhaps the least wasteful strategy enables consumers not to buy any clothes at all. If they are mainly concerned about their image on social media, they can use digital clothing that is superimposed over their image. The Fabricant , which creates these digital garments,  aims to make “self expression through digital clothing a sustainable way to explore personal identity.”

Better materials

Many brands are using textiles made from natural materials such as hemp, ramie or bamboo instead of cotton. Bamboo has been touted as a sustainable fabric because it is fast-growing and doesn’t require much water or pesticides; however, some old growth forests are being cut down to make way for bamboo plantations. Moreover, to make most bamboo fabrics soft, they are subjected to chemical processing whose toxins can harm the environment and human health.

Because of this processing, the Global Organic Textile Standard says that almost all bamboo fiber can “not be considered as natural or even organic fibre, even if the bamboo plant was certified organic on the field.”

Some designers are turning to organic cotton, which is grown without toxic chemicals. But because organic cotton yields are 30 percent less than conventional cotton, they need 30 percent more water and land to produce the same amount as conventional cotton. Other brands, such as North Face and Patagonia, are creating clothing made from regenerative cotton—cotton grown without pesticides, fertilizers, weed pulling or tilling, and with cover crops and diverse plants to enhance the soil.

Textiles are also being made with fibers from agriculture waste, such as leaves and rinds. Orange Fiber, an Italian company, is using nanotechnology to make a sustainable silky material by processing the cellulose of oranges. H&M is using cupro, a material made from cotton waste. Flocus makes fully biodegradable and recyclable yarns and fabrics from the fibers of kapok tree pods through a process that doesn’t harm the trees. Kapok trees can grow in poor soils without much need for water or pesticides.

In 2016, Theanne Schiros, a principal investigator at Columbia University’s Materials Research Science and Engineering Center  and assistant professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), mentored a group of FIT students who created a bio-design award-winning material from algae. Kelp, its main ingredient, is fast growing, absorbs CO2 and nitrogen from agricultural runoff, and helps increase biodiversity. With the help of Columbia University’s Helen Lu, a biomedical engineer, the team created a bio-yarn they called AlgiKnit . Having received over $2 million in initial seed funding, the start-up, based in Brooklyn, is scaling up for market entry.

Schiros and Lu also developed a microbial bioleather. The compostable material consists of a nanocellulose mesh made through a fermentation process using a culture of bacteria and yeast. Schiros explained that these bacteria produce cellulose nanofibers as part of their metabolism; the bacteria were used in the fermentation of kombucha as early as 220 BC in what was Manchuria and in vinegar fermentation as early as 5,000 BC in Egypt. Biofabrication of the material is 10,000 times less toxic to humans than chrome-tanned leather, with an 88 to 97 percent smaller carbon footprint than synthetic (polyurethane) leather or other plastic-based leather alternatives. The fabrication process also drew on ancient textile techniques for tanning and dyeing. Schiros worked with the designers of Public School NY  on Slow Factory’s   One x One Conscious Design Initiative  challenge to create zero-waste, naturally dyed sneakers from the material.

Schiros is also co-founder and CEO of the startup Werewool , another collaboration with Lu, and with Allie Obermeyer of Columbia University Chemical Engineering. Werewool, which was recognized by the 2020 Global Change Award, creates biodegradable textiles with color and other attributes found in nature using synthetic biology . “Nature has evolved a genetic code to make proteins that do things like have bright color, stretch, moisture management, wicking, UV protection—all the things that you really want for performance textiles, but that currently come at a really high environmental cost,” said Schiros. “But nature accomplishes all this and that’s attributed to microscopic protein structures.”

Werewool engineers proteins inspired by those found in coral, jellyfish, oysters, and cow milk that result in color, moisture management or stretch. The DNA code for those proteins is inserted into bacteria, which ferment and mass-produce the protein that then becomes the basis for a fiber. The company will eventually provide its technology and fibers to other companies throughout the supply chain and will likely begin with limited edition designer brands.

Better working conditions

There are companies now intent on improving working conditions for textile workers. Dorsu  in Cambodia creates clothing from fabric discarded by garment factories. Workers are paid a living wage, have contracts, are given breaks, and also get bonuses, overtime pay, insurance and paid leave for sickness and holidays.

Mayamiko  is a 100 percent PETA-certified vegan brand that advocates for labor rights and created the Mayamiko Trust to train disadvantaged women.

Workers who make Ethcs ’ PETA-certified vegan garments are protected under the Fair Wear Foundation , which ensures a fair living wage, safe working conditions and legal labor contracts for workers. The Fair Wear Foundation website lists 128 brands it works with.

Beyond sustainability

Schiros maintains that making materials in collaboration with traditional artisans and Indigenous communities can produce results that address environmental, social and economic facets of sustainability. She led a series of natural dye workshops with women tie dyers in Kindia, Guinea, and artisans in Grand-Bassam, Côte d’Ivoire, and collaborated with New York designers to make a zero-waste collection from the fabrics created. The project   connected FIT faculty and students to over 300 artisans in West Africa to create models for inclusive, sustainable development through textile arts, education, and entrepreneurship.

Partnering with frontline communities that are protecting, for example, the Amazon rainforest, does more than simply sustain—it protects biodiversity and areas that are sequestering carbon. “So with high value products that incorporate fair trade and clear partnerships into the supply chain, you not only have natural, biodegradable materials, but you have the added bonus of all that biodiversity that those communities are protecting,” she said. “Indigenous communities are five percent of the global population, and they’re protecting 80 percent of the biodiversity in the world…Integrating how we make our materials, our systems and the communities that are sequestering carbon while protecting biodiversity is critically important.”

The need for transparency

In order to ensure fashion’s sustainability and achieve a circular fashion industry, it must be possible to track all the elements of a product from the materials used, chemicals added, production practices, and product use, to the end of life, as well as the social and environmental conditions under which it was made.

Blockchain technology can do this by recording each phase of a garment’s life in a decentralized tamper-proof common ledger. Designer Martine Jarlgaard partnered with blockchain tech company Provenance to create QR codes that, when scanned, show the garment’s whole history. The software platform Eon has also developed a way to give each garment its own digital fingerprint called Circular ID. It uses a digital identifier embedded in the clothing that enables it to be traced for its whole lifecycle.

Transparency is also important because it enables consumers to identify greenwashing when they encounter it. Greenwashing is when companies intentionally deceive consumers or oversell their efforts to be sustainable.

Amendi , a sustainable fashion brand focusing on transparency and traceability, co-founded by Columbia University alumnus Corey Spencer, has begun a campaign to get the Federal Trade Commission to update its Green Guides, which outline the principles for the use of green claims. When the most recent versions of the Green Guides were released in 2012, they did not scrutinize the use of “sustainability” and “organic” in marketing. The use of these terms has exploded since then and unless regulated, could become meaningless or misleading.

What consumers can do

The key to making fashion sustainable is the consumer. If we want the fashion industry to adopt more sustainable practices, then as shoppers, we need to care about how clothing is made and where it comes from, and demonstrate these concerns through what we buy. The market will then respond.

We can also reduce waste through how we care for our clothing and how we discard it.

Here are some tips on how to be a responsible consumer:

• Buy only what you need
• Look for sustainable certification from the Fairtrade Foundation , Global Organic Textiles Standard , Soil Association , and Fair Wear Foundation  
• Check the Fashion Transparency Index to see how a company ranks in transparency.
• Learn how to shop for quality and invest in higher-quality clothing
• Choose natural fibers and single fiber garments
• Wear clothing for longer
• Take care of clothing: wash items less often, repair them so they last. Patagonia operates Worn Wear , a recycling and repair program.
• Upcycle your unwanted clothes into something new
• Buy secondhand or vintage; sell your old clothes at Thred Up, Poshmark, or the Real Real.
• When discarding, pass clothing on to someone who will wear it, or to a thrift shop
• Rent clothing from Rent the Runway , Armoire or Nuuly

“I think the best piece of clothing is the one that already exists. The best fabric is the fabric that already exists,” said Schiros. “Keeping things in the supply chain in as many loops and cycles as you can is really, really important.”

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I’ve been buying second hand and or making my own clothes my whole life and I’m 72. It makes sense, it’s cost effective and that way you can buy more clothes or fabric. Win win.

So r u saying it is more cheap this way?

yes it does im the youngest of 7 so i get hand me downs it way more ecofrindly to

This is an excellent article! I am writing a paper on sustainable fashion and find this article to be an informative and eloquent resource in my research! Thank you!

What has Fast Fashion done to the labor practices, working conditions and wages of workers in Asian countries and what can be done to promote more sustainable and fair practices in the industry?

Making your own garments from natural, and ideally organic, fabrics is one of the best ways to both love your wardrobe (because the color, fit and design is something that works for you, specifically) and you can incorporate Construction techniques that prolong the life of the seams and the garment overall. just make sure you shrink it first!

Fabric scraps can be saved and repurposed, as solid pieces or patch worked together. A scrunchie. A cloth bag. Menstrual pads. Potholders. Tiny cloth plant pots. Little travel bags to protect shoes, hairdryer, toiletries, to separate socks and underwear. There are high end men’s shirts that incorporate interesting prints inside the collar and cuffs, for example. Then there is the ministry of making quilts. Quilts can be sent to refugees who Use them for warmth at night and for walls by day. they don’t have to be elaborate or elegant, but using a little bit of love and creativity, you can create something attractive. Torn sheets and worn out clothes can be repurposed and using them as fabric to instruct young sewers And how to handle different types of fabric is another worthy use. Imperfect attempts could be useful if the learner turns out a dog bed cover, or little sweaters for those dogs that get cold all the time. Animal shelters are usually very happy to receive these kinds of things.

Sewers can meet together for fabric swaps in the same way that people sometimes get together to do wardrobe swaps. That might be that someone else is done with the exact fabric that would be awesome to mix with something that you have left over.

very interesting. please share with us

Best post. Good to see content like this.

your information is very helpfull.

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Sustainable fashion is an all-encapsulating term comprising eight key parts.

• Ethical and Fair-Trade Fashion.
• Eco-Friendly or ‘Green’ Fashion.
• Vegan and Cruelty-Free Fashion.
• Slow Fashion – as in slow manufacturing.
• Upcycled Fashion.
• Thrifting, Swapping, Sharing, Renting Fashion.
• Circular Fashion – reuse of discarded and recycled materials.
• Conscious Fashion – consumers’ role.

Ethical and Fair-trade are two great examples of sustainable fashion.

Ethical and Fair-trade activities (in fashion) are related to the welfare of industry workers.

That is – child labor, gender rights, safe working conditions, fair-trade manufacturing, and all other social justice aspects.

Ethical Fashion and Fair-trade Fashion  can be further detailed based on the activities conducted.

Ethical fashion companies , activists, and brands deal with people and their mental or physical welfare.

On the other hand, Fair-trade organizations and brands ensure the creation and maintenance of supply chains where farmers and manufacturers get a fair share of the cut in exchange for their products.

Together, both terms cover the socio-economic aspects of the fashion industry.

As such, all actors involved in these actions seek ways to improve working conditions, wages, and fair trade practices.

Both terms are used for environmental problems caused by the fashion industry.

Waste creation, water and soil pollution, and reckless resource use accelerate the global climate crisis.

Over 90% of clothing brands use plastics and other non-biodegradable fibers that cause environmental damage at scale.

For example, every year, over 70 million barrels of oil are used to make polyester fibers that eventually end up in oceans, killing animals or people by entering the food chain.

As a solution, green-fashion companies advocate the replacement of plastics with eco-friendly, biodegradable, and natural fibers that feed the environment.

To date, results are positive as the number of companies using eco-friendly and green materials, such as organic cotton, hemp, mushroom leather , kelp leather , etc., is on the rise.

Vegan and Cruelty-free Fashion terms describe products manufactured without using materials of animal origin or obtained without cruel means.

Similarly, all activities undertaken by vegan and cruelty-free fashion campaigners aim to bring to consumer attention industrial animal farming and animal exploitation for fashion.

However, there are arguments that vegan fashion causes more damage than good.

The argument states that most PETA-approved ‘Vegan Fashion Brands’ use PVC and plastic-based alternatives to animal leather, which saves animals from sacrifice but kills them by polluting their environment.

More recently, proponents of the vegan fashion movement insist that for a vegan clothing brand to qualify as a ‘sustainable fashion brand,’ it must also pay attention to its environmental impact.

Most cruelty-free and vegan clothing brands achieve it by using leather alternatives made from plants, fruits, mushrooms, or even in the lab.

Slow Fashion is a recent term adopted to describe a way of manufacturing fashion, somehow at the opposite pole of ‘fast fashion.’

Compared to industrial en-mass manufacturing, slow fashion is produced by expert artisans, hence the use of ‘artisanal fashion’ to describe the same thing.

However, it is not just the use of finite materials and wasteful manufacturing practices that depletes the planet’s resources and creates pollution.

Fashion consumption and garment maintenance play equally essential roles in achieving sustainable fashion – more about that below, in the ‘Conscious Fashion’ section.

Upcycled Fashion is a term that describes reusing and repurposing textiles , materials, and garments to re-create fashion.

This facet of sustainable fashion upcycled is very popular amongst contemporary fashion designers and celebrities, to the point of seeing a new form of high-end luxury fashion .

As old fabrics carry their own stories of usage, wear, and life, Upcycled Fashion is more than a new way of reviving and turning old fabrics into new clothes.

The inclusion of upcycled materials in the making of new garments adds uniqueness to the final product.

As such, creating couture via Upcycled Fashion ensures that the final piece is always unique and, thus, rare.

However, the opinions are split regarding how relevant Upcycled Fashion is to achieving sustainability in fashion.

The benefits of using upcycled materials to create clothing and accessories are tremendous:

• Upcycled Fashion helps with waste reduction.
• Reuses materials with no purpose and would otherwise end up in landfills.
• Reduces carbon and toxic gas emissions resulting from manufacturing and transport.

On the other hand, upcycling has environmental issues that can’t be ignored:

• Upcycled garments release twice the number of microfibres that pollute oceans and the food chain, killing animals and people.
• Upcycling requires more energy and chemicals than what otherwise would have been used in the case of novel materials.

Secondhand clothing, swapping, sharing, clothes, thrifting, and renting fashion are great examples of sustainable fashion.

Available in thrift stores and second-hand shops, thrifting is a tremendous way to avoid the negative impact of fashion manufacturing.

The garments already exist, so they are unnecessary to manufacture them again.

Moreover, there is no use of toxic chemicals, the release of greenhouse gases, or the use of a pesticide for a new collection.

However, there is a less discussed downside to renting, thrifting, swapping, and sharing all similar forms of second-hand and vintage fashion shopping .

Ilaria Urbinati, a celebrity fashion stylist who has Rami Malek, Dwayne Johnson, Armie Hammer, Bradley Cooper, and John Krasinski amongst her clients, explains:

“WITH one hand, you’re doing good for the planet. WITH the other hand, you’re doing harm to yourself.”

The problem stems from the difficulty of assessing the quality and the condition of the garment you will procure this way.

Little by little, animal leather or plastic garments will release toxic chemicals on your skin.

In time, these substances will affect your hormonal balance, showing on your skin, hair, nails, etc.

Circular fashion is another excellent example of sustainable fashion.

The term describes ‘closed-loop’ systems, or manufacturing approaches aiming to recover discarded materials and waste and reintegrate them into production.

There are many types of circular fashion innovations .

But the most common form of a ‘closed-loop’ system in the fashion industry is recycling polyester and other plastic-based materials and putting them back into fashion production.

Conscious Fashion is the most popular example of sustainable fashion, seen as consumers’ way to fight the problems caused by Fast Fashion.

Above all, the environmental impact of fashion depends greatly on consumers’ choices and how long they’re using their outfits.

Since the emergence of fast fashion, garments have been used half as much compared to 15 years ago.

This is caused in equal measure by the lower product quality and the insatiable desire to buy and showcase the latest trends.

Therefore, Conscious Fashion proponents aim to educate consumers on the value of choosing slow over fast or on how to care for their garments.

For example, washing and drying a pair of jeans is 2/3 of the total energy consumed during the garment’s life.

In the case of underwear, the laundry process alone takes more than 80% of the total energy used.

The takeaway is that regardless of sustainability, washing garments requires electricity, water, and detergent.

Why is Sustainable Fashion Important?

One of the most asked questions is, does the world need sustainable fashion?

It does, without a doubt, and here are the top 5 reasons :

Due to urbanization, population growth, and consumer shopping patterns, the global production of municipal solid waste will rise to 3.4 billion metric tons by 2050.

Sustainable fashion brands are critical in reducing waste generation by manufacturing premium apparel from long-lasting materials.

This enormous waste is created by fast fashion companies that launch weekly fashion trends and fulfill them with poor-quality, low-priced products.

In comparison, sustainable brands focus on quality clothing products from long-lasting materials.

Moreover, sustainable fashion brands rarely follow fast fashion trends.

Cheap fast fashion garments are made possible by harsh working conditions for garment workers.

Most fast fashion brands produce garments in developing countries where workers are paid less than a living wage.

Poor safety and health conditions, long working hours, and the constant pressure to produce all create an environment of worker exploitation.

Frequent child labor accusations have also been brought against fast fashion brands.

On the other hand, sustainable fashion brands prioritize fair wages and safe working conditions for all employees.

Fast fashion has a huge carbon footprint from material creation, manufacturing, transportation, and even textile waste decomposing in landfills.

For example, most fast fashion clothes are made from petroleum-based materials.

Think acrylic, nylon, and polyester; production and disposal require significant energy.

On the other hand, sustainable fashion utilizes biodegradable materials from natural or recycled fabrics.

These materials require little to no chemical treatment, less energy, less water, and no pesticides or fertilizers to grow.

The fashion industry is one of the largest water consumers in the world right now.

The water is consumed not only for washing garments but also during manufacturing, dyeing, and finishing processes.

To put that into perspective, it takes about 2,720 liters of water to make one cotton shirt and a whopping 7,000 liters to make one pair of jeans!

On top of consuming water, clothing production impacts the environment by polluting freshwater with toxic chemicals that find their way into waterways.

In comparison, most sustainable fashion brands have “water on budget” policies that limit water usage during clothing production.

Moreover, sustainable fashion prioritizes organic textiles made from linen, hemp, and organic cotton, which require little to no water during production.

Animals are vital to our ecosystem, each playing a key role in ensuring Earth is habitable.

As such, any threat to wildlife and other animals’ safety should concern us all.

Leather bags, shoes, fur coats, and other goods made from animal leather, feathers, and wool affect animal populations and, thus, the survival of humanity on this planet.

In comparison, clothing brands that are cruelty-free and vegan protect animals.

These companies use leather and fur alternatives in their products, saving animals from exploitation and death while preserving the ecosystem’s balance.

Most Asked Questions in Sustainable Fashion

Sustainable fashion refers to clothing designed, manufactured, distributed, and used in environmentally friendly ways.

Ethical fashion, a related term prevalent in the conscious consumerism world, refers to clothing made in ways that value social welfare and worker rights.

Because environmentalism goes hand in hand with socially equitable practices, however, ethical and sustainable fashion are intricately tied together.

The word sustainable means “capable of being sustained.” Therefore, a sustainable fashion industry must operate in ways that can continue working for years and decades.

Unfortunately, this is not true of today’s industry, dominated by ‘fast fashion’ manufacturing, which refers to clothing intentionally designed to be consumed quickly at low prices, leading shoppers to view clothes as disposable – wearing them just a few times before throwing them out or moving on to newer and trendier cheap clothes.

The current fast fashion cycle is far from sustainable because it depletes the Earth’s natural resources exponentially, exploits workers worldwide, and results in an overwhelming amount of waste.

In contrast to traditional fashion houses with only a few seasonal collections per year, fast fashion brands churn out as many as two new collections per week in a continuous cycle of production, consumption, and waste creation.

Imagine this: A clothing brand is considered “ethical” for ensuring proper working conditions and fair wages for garment workers.

However, if the same ethical label uses plastic and other synthetic materials, it falls into the non-eco-friendly category.

Moreover, the brand becomes unethical from an animal welfare angle if it uses animal leather.

So, performing one of the mentioned activities is insufficient for a label to be considered sustainable.

It must abide by as many terms as possible to ensure environmental and social sustainability.

In straightforward terms, greenwashing happens when companies claim they are doing good for the environment (or social justice) while they are not!

According to Wikipedia, “ Greenwashing, also called “green sheen,” is a form of marketing spin in which marketing IS deceptively used to persuade the public that an organization’s products, aims, and policies are environmentally friendly.”

Greenwashing in fashion happens through deceptive certifications.

The purpose of certifications in fashion is to build trust between buyers and retailers.

However, for a company to ‘obtain’ one of these certifications, producing a single organic cotton t-shirt is sufficient.

In reality, sustainable fashion certificates are granted to whoever pays for them.

It is a minefield where large corporations amass certificate after certificate.

At the same time, small family labels that cannot afford to pay for certifications are left out and made to look unethical or unsustainable.

There are a few things you can do to ensure the garment you buy is not ‘greenwashed.’

• Check the certificate issuer – is it an independent or a commercial enterprise?
• See where the materials in your product are coming from.
• See if the brand’s philosophy resonates with yours.
• What is the brand’s view on the future of fashion?
• Check if the brand is on dedicated vintage clothing and sustainable fashion marketplaces.
• Finally, ask the brand questions about the materials used and see how open and prompt they are.
• If you don’t get an answer, that’s a bad sign, no matter how many sustainable certificates they have.

The fashion industry can be produced sustainably – via organic materials, biodegradable dyes, and engineering patterns that create zero waste.

But regardless of how many sustainable materials we use, shopping behaviors must also change to address social and environmental concerns.

The fashion industry is still elevating its social and environmental standards, and you can help by shifting towards a green, eco-friendly, and sustainable wardrobe.

The primary role of sustainable fashion is to be aware of fashion consumption’s environmental impact.

By now, you should be familiar with the most famous examples of sustainable fashion: ethical, slow, vegan, eco-friendly, fair trade, recycled, upcycled, etc.

You also learned the best ten sustainable fashion companies right now, brands you can trust and support.

As you keep exploring and shopping, ensure the brands you’re buying from are minimizing their negative impact on the environment while improving the working conditions of their people.

Check if the label is sustainable; just because they sell vegan handbags or vegan leather jackets , it does not mean it is also eco-friendly.

Increase the lifespan of your clothing and accessories by repairing, remaking, upcycling, and reusing your products.

Buy from sustainable clothing companies that respect biodiversity, the ecosystem, and the natural resources of this planet.

From brands that use carbon dioxide-free and renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, and ocean, at every stage of the manufacturing and recycling processes.

In summary…

With a carbon footprint accounting for over 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions , it’s no secret that the fashion industry is destroying the environment.

A change is needed, from creating more awareness towards sustainable fashion practices to taking an active role in making a change.

Fortunately, positive changes in the fashion landscape are happening: more ethical brands, customers demanding sustainable clothing brands, and even a dedicated, ethical clothing search engine.

Sustainable fashion focuses on clothing designed, manufactured, distributed, and used in environmentally friendly ways.

To support sustainable fashion, you should:

• Purchase locally-made clothes from factories run on renewable energy or clothes made with low-impact, natural, and organic materials, recycled, up-cycled, from deadstock materials, eco-friendly dyes, and/or zero- or low-waste designs.
• Purchase thrift or second-hand clothing.
• Prolong the life of your clothes by taking care of them well, mending and tailoring them as needed, and making alterations to modernize their looks to match your current tastes.

Do you think policymakers should step in and enforce sustainable fashion practices as they did with automobiles’ toxic emissions?

Which of the eight constituent parts of sustainable fashion is the most important to you and why?

Please comment below so others can benefit from your expertise and knowledge.

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Championing sustainability and veganism from Sao Paulo to London, Ana Alves is a dynamic force in the fashion and beauty industry. With a decade-long writing career, Ana's compelling narratives on sustainable fashion have graced the pages of Forbes, Wired, Vanity Fair, and more. Ana's journey spans key roles at Unilever and Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, where she honed her marketing acumen. As an Editorial Contributor at WTVOX and Fashion & Style Editor at The VOU, Ana shapes the discourse on sustainable fashion.

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Thanks for introducing the Higg Index. This is a good step forward in standardizing the metrics for the industry

Amazing article. Thank you!

i am studying a fashion on my own. your article is a amazing and kind. thank you for your important knowledge. huge love!!

A lot of people don’t tend to think in terms of price/carbon footprint per wear. In long run, spending money on something timeless and well-made basically costs less than buying cheaply made fast fashion stuff that needs to be replaced in a year. I think part of the problem, though, is the lack of brick-and-mortar options for ethical fashion. It’s so difficult to find physical stores where you can inspect the quality and fit before you buy.

I’ve learned more about sustainable fashion from this article than 3 years of uni studies and research. Thanks for explaining in such detail what is sustainable fashion and more importantly, why sustainable fashion is so important right now, your articles are beautiful and much appreciated.

Crazy how many people say they care about sustainable fashion but in reality they either have no idea what they’re talking about, and say that just for virtue signaling, or simply don’t care. Sustainable fashion is not just about shifting to organic cotton t-shirts because you think are better for your skin, but about animals, the environment, plants, crops, and people. So if you’re into sustainable clothing and fashion, do your homework and this article is such a great source!

I thought that I know what sustainable fashion means until I came across this excellent article. Well put together, and easy to understand, it made my life so much easier and got me a top mark on the sustainable development assignment!!! Love you guys!

As a doctor in Brazil, sustainability in general and sustainable fashion, in particular, are very important to me, and my peers. Wish my country would introduce similar eco-friendly policies that force local fashion brands to take a more sustainable approach to manufacture and selling.

I’m a self-taught mixed media artist, special effects makeup student, glitter enthusiast, kitsch fanatic, lover of obese animals, connoisseur of burritos, and an all-around good citizen that’s trying to make a living out of San Francisco by teaching people how to paint, cook, and so on. Sustainable fashion is a new subject to me, but it comes from my interest in reducing material waste in the products we cook, the painting we use, the vax, and so on and I feel that the knowledge I got here applies to my business as well.

I feel that the word ‘Sustainability’ in the context of fashion is still misunderstood and issued. Sustainable fashion should describe ways of reducing environmental impacts – from raw material creation, processing, and manufacturing to wearing and caring for and even clothing disposal. Yet, it’s all about preserving materials which is just a small facet of the whole concept.

This has taught me a lot since i am a person who is not on fahion but i wear clothes that are on quality because i dont want to go shops and buy again

Great and informative article, I have been one to religiously look at the info label on most of the clothes I wear and discovered that not all clothing are off environmentally conscious material, whether expensive or not. This has changed my relationship with purchasing clothes not for just supporting a certain brand but to support the awareness of the brand in creating clothes sustainable and made from eco friendly materials.

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Vogue’s ultimate guide to sustainable fashion

By Emily Chan

Sustainable fashion is a term that’s increasingly used (and overused, often with little to back it up) these days, as we all become ever more aware of the serious environmental impact of our clothes —with the industry responsible for a shocking four to 10 per cent of global greenhouse-gas emissions every year. But what does sustainable fashion actually mean?

In short, it’s an umbrella term for clothes that are created and consumed in a way that can be, quite literally, sustained, while protecting both the environment and those producing garments. That’s why cutting CO2 emissions, addressing overproduction, reducing pollution and waste, supporting biodiversity, and ensuring that garment workers are paid a fair wage and have safe working conditions, are all crucial to the sustainability matrix .

Considering the number of factors involved, there are still too few brands out there currently tackling all of these complex issues, and even those that are will admit that there’s always room for improvement. This means simply shopping for items labelled ‘sustainable’ is not enough; we need to completely rethink our purchasing habits and the way we consume clothes.

So, if you want to ensure your wardrobe is as sustainable as possible moving forward, here’s everything you need to know. 

1. Buy less and buy better

It may be a cliche, but the mantra “buy less and buy better” is key when you consider that a staggering 100bn garments are being produced globally every year. Before making a purchase, sustainability consultancy Eco-Age ’s chief brand officer Harriet Vocking advises that you ask yourself three all-important questions: “What are you buying and why? What do you really need? Will you wear it at least 30 times?”

2. Invest in sustainable fashion brands

Buying better can also mean supporting designers who are promoting sustainable practices, including the likes of Collina Strada , Chopova Lowena and Bode, who all use upcycled textiles in their designs. Narrowing your search for specific items can also help, whether that’s seeking out brands producing activewear more sustainably (such as Girlfriend Collective and Indigo Luna), swimwear (including Stay Wild Swim and Natasha Tonic) or denim (Outland Denim and Re/Done).

3. Shop secondhand and vintage

With secondhand and vintage now increasingly accessible thanks to sites such as The RealReal, Vestiaire Collective and Depop, consider buying pre-loved items when looking to add to your wardrobe. Not only will you extend the life of these garments and reduce the environmental impact of your wardrobe as a result, you can also find one-of-a-kind pieces that no one else will own. Look to the likes of Rihanna and Bella Hadid — both vintage aficionados — for inspiration here.

4. Try renting

Instead of buying a new dress for that wedding or BBQ this summer (Covid restrictions permitting, of course), it’s now easier than ever to rent something to wear instead. According to one study , an astonishing 50m garments are bought and worn just once every summer in the UK alone — a dirty habit we need to quickly ditch, given that the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is burned and landfilled every second .

5. Avoid greenwashing

As consumers become ever more aware of their environmental footprint, greenwashing—brands using vague, misleading or false claims to suggest it’s more eco-friendly than it actually is—is becoming increasingly prevalent. Look beyond buzzwords such as ‘sustainable’, ‘eco-friendly’, ‘conscious’ and ‘responsible’ to see if brands have detailed policies to back up their claims.

6. Know your materials

Understanding the impact of materials is crucial when it comes to making more sustainable purchases. A good rule of thumb is to avoid virgin synthetics such as polyester—which makes up 55 per cent of clothes globally—as these are derived from fossil fuels and take years to break down. Not all natural materials are made the same: organic cotton, for example, uses significantly less water than conventional cotton and doesn’t use harmful pesticides.

By Alessandra Signorelli

By Nupur Sarvaiya

By Emma Specter

Look for certifications from the Global Organic Textile Standard (for cotton and wool), Leather Working Group (for leather) and Forest Stewardship Council (for viscose) to ensure the materials used to make your clothes have a lower impact on our planet.

7. Ask who made your clothes

With the pandemic highlighting the extreme difficulties faced by garment workers around the world, it’s essential that the people who make our clothes are paid a fair wage and have safe working conditions. Seek out brands who openly disclose information about their factories and their policies around wages and working conditions.

8. Look for scientific targets

To find out if brands are serious about reducing their environmental impact, a good place to start is checking whether they have committed to scientific targets. Brands who have signed up to the Science Based Targets Initiative , for example—which includes Gucci-owner Kering and Burberry—must have goals for reducing CO2 emissions that are in line with the Paris Agreement .

9. Support brands who have a positive impact

Eco-minded brands such as Mara Hoffman and Sheep Inc are starting to consider how fashion can have a positive impact on the environment rather than just reducing its impact. Regenerative agriculture —farming practices such as no-tilling and growing cover crops — is a growing trend within fashion that aims to restore soil health and biodiversity.

10. Watch out for harmful chemicals

Hidden chemicals that are used to treat our clothes are a serious concern, polluting local waterways and posing a risk to garment workers. Keep an eye out for the Made in Green by OEKO-TEX and Bluesign certifications, which set out requirements for chemical usage during the manufacturing process.

11. Reduce your water footprint

Given that the production of textile uses an astonishing 93bn cubic metres of water annually — the equivalent to 37m Olympic swimming pools—we should all be more conscious about the water footprint of our clothes. As mentioned previously, organic cotton uses significantly less water than conventional cotton (91 per cent less, according to one study ), while the use of low-water dyes also reduces water consumption.

12. Be conscious about vegan fashion

While animal-derived materials such as leather and wool come with environmental and ethical concerns, vegan alternatives, which often contain synthetics, can also be harmful for our planet. Luckily, there are exciting innovations entering the market, such as Bolt Threads’ Mylo leather, made from mycelium—the roots of fungi—which has already been adopted by Stella McCartney .

13. Take care of your clothes

Extending the life of your clothes is crucial when it comes to lowering the environmental footprint of your garments , and ensuring they don’t end up clogging landfill sites after just one or two wears. Ensure your clothes last as long as possible by not overwashing them (which will also lower your CO2 emissions and water consumption), as well as repairing them instead of throwing them out.

14. Avoid microplastic pollution

As it’s difficult to avoid synthetics altogether (nylon and elastane are still required in activewear and underwear to get that all-important stretch), washing clothes can release thousands of microplastics into our waterways and oceans, causing harm to marine life that ingest the tiny particles. Luckily, there’s a simple solution: investing in a microplastics filter such as a Guppyfriend washing bag , in which you can put your synthetic garments or a Cora Ball that you put in with your laundry.

15. Ensure your clothes have a second life

When clearing out your closet, being conscious about how you dispose of your clothes will help stop them from ending up in landfill. Re-selling your clothes or organising a clothes swap is the best way to ensure they’ll have a second life, as well as donating to charities and organisations that are looking for used clothing. For worn-out pieces that can no longer be repaired for reused, look for recycling schemes specifically for those items, where possible.

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The Myth of Sustainable Fashion

• Kenneth P. Pucker

Despite high-profile attempts at innovation, the industry has failed to reduce its environmental impact so far.

Few industries tout their sustainability credentials more forcefully than the fashion industry. But the sad truth is that despite high-profile attempts at innovation, it’s failed to reduce its planetary impact in the past 25 years.  Most items are still produced using non-biodegradable petroleum-based synthetics and end up in a landfill. So what can be done? New ESG strategies such as the use of bio-based materials, recycling, and “rent-the-runway” concepts have failed. Instead, we must stop thinking about sustainability as existing on a spectrum. Less unstainable is not sustainable. And governments need to step in to force companies to pay for their negative impact on the planet. The idea of “win-win” and market-based solutions has failed even in one of the most “progressive” industries.

Few industries tout their sustainability credentials more forcefully than the fashion industry. Products ranging from  swimsuits  to  wedding dresses  are marketed as carbon positive, organic, or vegan while  yoga mats made from mushrooms  and  sneakers from sugar cane  dot retail shelves. New business models including recycling, resale, rental, reuse, and repair are sold as environmental life savers.

• Kenneth P. Pucker is a professor of practice at The Fletcher School at Tufts University and was formerly the chief operating officer of Timberland. kpucker31

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Fast Fashion and Sustainability Essay

Fast fashion and its environmental footprint, shifts in public opinion and growing role of csr, governmental effort and its relevance, interventions needed, barriers to implementation and steps to undertake.

Finding a balance between development and sustainability has been an objective many people find difficult to attain. The use of resources has been intensifying annually due to the increasing population and people’s growing demand. The fashion industry is now seen as one of the most vivid illustrations of unreasonable use of resources (Bick, Halsey and Ekenga, 2018). Fast fashion can be referred to as “a business model based on offering consumers frequent novelty in the form of low-priced, trend-led products” (Niinimäki et al., 2020, p. 189). On the one hand, this model has enabled millions of people to access more clothes that are more affordable. On the other hand, adverse environmental and social impact has been substantial as well. Due to the shift towards more sustainable business practices, the fast fashion industry is also undergoing certain changes. This paper includes a brief analysis of the ways to address consumers’ fashion-related needs and reduce the negative environmental impact of the fast industry.

To some people, the fashion industry may seem rather irrelevant compared to such traditional giants as the oil industry, but the former has a considerable share in the global market. It has been estimated that the value of the world’s fashion industry is approximately 3,000 billion dollars, which is over 2% of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Shirvanimoghaddam et al., 2020). The consumption of textile goods has almost doubled during the past two decades and reached 13kg per individual or 100 million tons annually (see Figure 1).

Such significant growth comes at a price that is mainly associated with a tremendous effect on the environment (see Figure 2). For instance, Shirvanimoghaddam et al. (2020) stress that only 15% of the wastes are recycled. It is noteworthy that developing countries are more vulnerable since a considerable portion of the used textile is a part of the second-hand clothing trade (Bick, Halsey and Ekenga, 2018). For example, over 500,000 tons of used textile goods are exported from the USA (Bick, Halsey and Ekenga, 2018).

Recycling mainly occurs in western countries, which makes the environmental burden of developing countries more pronounced (see Figure 2). In addition to the contamination of vast territories used as landfills, fast fashion wastes often penetrate into diverse ecosystems due to inadequate waste management (Mehta, 2019). Textiles produced of low-quality components contaminate the ocean and suburban areas. Since a considerable part of production facilities is located in developing countries, these areas are affected most. The governments of these countries tend to place a lower value on ecological problems, which leads to undesirable effects.

In addition to the environmental impact, the fast fashion industry is closely linked to the consumerism culture that is still prevalent in the world (Niinimäki et al., 2020). According to the social practice theory that is a social theory focusing on the human society and its peculiarities, things are seen as an indispensable part of human existence (Reckwitz, 2002). Things have become something more than objects used to satisfy individuals’ needs. People see things as “objects of the knowing subject” and “constitutive elements of forms of behaviour” (Reckwitz, 2002, p. 253). In simple terms, things have an influence on people’s behavior, and fast fashion can illustrate this process. Many people find it critical to wear fashionable things to be a part of a group (sub-culture) or express themselves (Barnes and Lea-Greenwood, 2018). Others want to buy new things for the sake of acquiring a new thing or in the course of socializing (Afaneh, 2020). Fast fashion offers numerous ways to satisfy people’s needs and make them feel members of a larger community.

E-commerce has contributed to the growth of unsustainable behaviors as purchasing has become even easier and more affordable (Niinimäki et al., 2020). People are enticed to buy more as they can save more (and buy more) without even leaving their homes. The COVID-19 pandemics contributed to the increase in online sales. Niinimäki et al. (2020) emphasize that this business model is even less environmentally sustainable due to the peculiarities of logistics. Container boat transportation typical of traditional retailing is replaced by air cargo in e-commerce, so the environmental footprint is more significant.

Although the human society is still characterized by the focus on consumerism, people are becoming more responsible. Consumers start being more environmentally conscious and try to reduce their negative influence on the environment (Javed et al., 2020). The rise of the corporate social responsibility approach can be seen as companies’ response to this trend. Manufacturers try to develop sustainable ways to produce goods, reduce natural resources consumption, and introduce recycling incentives. C&A is one of the leaders in adopting sustainable practices in the industry (see Figure 3). The third of the garments the company sells can be referred to as eco-friendly goods ( Sustainable fashion , 2020). The retailer claims that they focus on the production of garments of recyclable cotton and try to adopt a holistic approach to the production process in order to ensure the reduction of CO2 emissions and proper waste management (C&A, n.d.).

H&M initiated several projects aimed at reducing its wastes. In addition to second-hand sales and the promotion of more durable fashion, H&M developed the concept of recyclable jeans (Mehta, 2019). The company utilizes natural components to produce jeans and accessories that are easily recyclable. Another fast fashion leader in the global market, GAP, has also expressed its intention to move to a circular industry (Mehta, 2019). The two large textile producers show their commitment to sustainable practices, which resonates with the overall attitudes to the matter in different countries.

It is necessary to add that, along with companies’ willingness to build positive images and adopt CSR strategies, regulations imposed by national governments and international institutions encourage businesses to employ sustainable approaches. These efforts are instrumental in setting the minimum level of CSR activities necessary to improve environmental sustainability and offering directions to move for further development (Mehta, 2019). The primary areas covered within the scope of these efforts include CO2 emissions reduction, recycling, waste management, and resource consumption.

Some of these initiatives include the provision of financial support and tax reduction to high-achievers in dropping the levels of CO2 emissions (Niinimäki et al., 2020). The EU government is introducing diverse regulations concerning waste management, forcing and encouraging companies to recycle instead of bringing their wastes to landfills (Wang et al., 2020). It is important to note that European countries display different approaches and commitment to environmental sustainability. Such countries as Germany, Norway, and Finland have progressed considerably, while less wealthy states lag behind. Trade policies established by the USA are aimed at ensuring global equity (Bick, Halsey and Ekenga, 2018). Such regulations impose restrictions related to importing and exporting used textiles. Companies are encouraged or directly forced to donate to the projects aimed at the development of recyclable industry and similar initiatives (Mehta, 2019).

Further steps in the areas mentioned above are necessary for the minimization of the negative effect of the fast fashion industry. The standards existing in the western world are quite appropriate and under proper review each year (Bick, Halsey and Ekenga, 2018; Mehta, 2019; Wang et al., 2020). In addition to various strict regulations regarding CO2 emissions and waste management, the UK government, for instance, has the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan for fast-fashion companies to follow (Abdulla, 2019). This voluntary plan of action encourages companies to join in and suggest their strategies to comply with the existing and upcoming standards. Numerous retailers and fashion industry leaders tend to join the initiative, which positively affects their overall image and gives an opportunity to contribute to the development of sustainable practices for the entire industry.

The UAE can become a major advocate of sustainable practices for the development of the region. The country posed a number of KPIs to be reached by 2021 regarding waste management, emission reduction, and other environmental aspects. Some of the 2021 environmental targets include the improvement of the portion of treated waste of total waste generated ( Environment and government agenda , 2020). It also aims at reducing the consumption of non-sustainable energy, as well as decreasing CO2 emissions. However, there are no specific restrictions on the fashion industry. Moreover, the policies tend to be confined to the exact practices of companies without paying sufficient attention to the activities of their partners, which has become a norm in the EU countries.

The introduction of new restrictions rather problematic as businesses oppose such laws and try to shape the politicians’ agenda in different ways. Many laws and norms are regarded as unnecessary and harmful restrictions imposed by irresponsible politicians trying to win votes (Abdullah, 2019). Educating the public about potential hazards and possible ways to mitigate the negative consequences can be instrumental in achieving the consensus in the society (Afaneh, 2020).

The provision of direct financial support can also become an effective strategy governments can utilize to make the fast fashion industry more circular. Small and medium-sized companies are facing significant issues related to the COVID-19 pandemics (Brydges and Hanlon, 2020). The situation related to the pandemics can serve as the basis for the promotional campaigns popularizing sustainability. It is possible to emphasize that humans are vulnerable to numerous global challenges, while sustainable practices are key to the successful development of the society.

Large retailers and manufacturers tend to set new standards and norms accepted by consumers. For example, H&M, in collaboration with other fast fashion companies, has launched initiatives aimed at the reduction of their environmental impact (Javed et al., 2020; Mehta, 2019). Such incentives should obtain governmental support that can be manifested in financial or educational aspects. American officials can also promote such initiatives through international platforms such as the World Trade Organization or other institutions.

Although the benefits of such efforts can hardly be overestimated, governments can be reluctant to be involved in such incentives. As mentioned above, financial constraints countries have to face make environmental issues seem less relevant and urgent. Activists should ensure that the most urgent ecological topics are discussed in the society, which will make countries address them. Consumers can also become less concentrated on environmental issues due to their financial issues (Afaneh, 2020).

Activists and governments should pay much attention to raising people’s awareness of the economic burden of less sustainable practices in the long run. Social media have been utilized effectively to discuss numerous issues and encourage people to take a particular action. Such incentives as H&M’s online second-hand platform and such products as recyclable jeans should receive high publicity facilitated by the governmental support (Mehta, 2019). Being sustainable should be synonymous with being competitive, and governments can help businesses see the exact paths to achieve competitive advantages based on environmental aspects.

On balance, societies are becoming increasingly aware of environmental issues and willing to adhere to sustainable practices. Durability and recyclability are seen as more relevant in the modern societies. Governments try to develop regulations and standards, facilitating the changes and shifts towards environmentally friendly behaviors. Although these trends are more pronounced in developed countries, developing states are also integrated into the process of this transformation. However, numerous barriers to the implementation of projects aimed at establishing sustainable norms are apparent. Global financial issues can be regarded as major reasons for the slowdown in changes. Nevertheless, governments, companies, activists, and the public should remain in close contact in their effort to create a more sustainable fast fashion industry. Numerous incentives launched in different countries and regions show that governments can contribute to a gradual shift towards sustainable industries.

Abdullah, H. (2019) ‘UK government outlines steps to fix fast fashion’, Just-Style . Web.

Afaneh, S. (2020) ‘I can’t quit fast fashion as a student, but I can change how I shop’ , Lifestyle . Web.

Barnes, L. and Lea-Greenwood, G. (2018) ‘Pre-loved? Analysing the Dubai luxe resale market’, in Ryding, D., Henninger, C. E. and Cano, M. B. (eds.) Vintage luxury fashion: exploring the rise of the secondhand clothing trade . London: England, pp. 63–78.

Bick, R., Halsey, E. and Ekenga, C. (2018) ‘The global environmental injustice of fast fashion’, Environmental Health , 17(1), pp. 92-95.

Brydges, T. and Hanlon, M. (2020) ‘Garment worker rights and the fashion industry’s response to COVID-19’, Dialogues in Human Geography , 10(2), pp. 195-198.

C&A (n.d.) ‘Our vision: making sustainable fashion the new normal’ . Web.

Environment and government agenda (2020). Web.

Javed, T., Yang, J., Gul Gilal, W. and Gul Gilal, N. (2020) ‘The sustainability claims’ impact on the consumer’s green perception and behavioral intention: a case study of H&M’, Advances in Management & Applied Economics , 10(2), pp. 1-22.

Mehta, A. (2019) ‘ Beyond recycling: putting the brakes on fast fashion ’ , Reuters Events . Web.

Niinimäki, K., Peters, G., Dahlbo, H., Perry, P., Rissanen, T. and Gwilt, A. (2020) ‘The environmental price of fast fashion’, Nature Reviews Earth & Environment , 1(4), pp. 189-200.

Reckwitz, A. (2002) ‘Toward a theory of social practices: A development in culturalist theorizing’, European Journal of Social Theory , 5(2), pp. 243-263.

Remy, N., Speelman, E. and Swartz, S. (2016) ‘ Style that’s sustainable: a new fast-fashion formula ’ , McKinsey & Company . Web.

Shirvanimoghaddam, K., Motamed, B., Ramakrishna, S. and Naebe, M. (2020) ‘Death by waste: fashion and textile circular economy case’, Science of the Total Environment , 718, pp. 1-10.

Sustainable fashion: how are the leaders in fast fashion doing? (2020). Web.

Wang, D., Tang, Y. T., Long, G., Higgitt, D., He, J. and Robinson, D. (2020) ‘Future improvements on performance of an EU landfill directive driven municipal solid waste management for a city in England’, Waste Management , 102, pp. 452-463.

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Essay on Sustainable Fashion

Students are often asked to write an essay on Sustainable Fashion in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Sustainable Fashion

What is sustainable fashion.

Sustainable fashion means making clothes in a way that is good for the environment and people. It’s about using materials that don’t harm the earth and making sure workers are treated fairly. This kind of fashion tries to reduce waste and pollution from making and throwing away clothes.

Why is it Important?

It’s important because the fashion industry creates a lot of pollution and waste. By choosing sustainable fashion, we help protect our planet. It also ensures that people making our clothes work in safe conditions and get fair pay.

How to Support Sustainable Fashion

You can support sustainable fashion by buying less and choosing better quality items that last longer. Look for brands that care about the environment and their workers. Also, recycling and donating old clothes instead of throwing them away helps reduce waste.

250 Words Essay on Sustainable Fashion

Sustainable fashion is about making clothes in a way that is good for the environment and people. It means using materials that do not harm the earth and making sure the people who make the clothes are treated fairly and work in safe conditions.

Fashion is a big industry that can harm our planet. It uses a lot of water, creates waste, and sometimes uses chemicals that are bad for the earth. Sustainable fashion tries to fix these problems by being more careful about how clothes are made and what they are made of.

Materials Matter

Sustainable fashion uses materials that are better for the environment. This includes organic cotton, which doesn’t use harmful pesticides, and recycled materials, which help reduce waste. These materials are kinder to our planet and help keep it healthy.

Helping People Too

Sustainable fashion also looks after the people making the clothes. It makes sure they have safe places to work and are paid fairly. This is important because everyone deserves to be treated well at their job.

How You Can Help

You can help by choosing to buy clothes from companies that care about sustainable fashion. Look for clothes made from eco-friendly materials and companies that treat their workers well. By making these choices, you can help our planet and the people on it.

500 Words Essay on Sustainable Fashion

Sustainable fashion is about making clothes in a way that is kind to our planet and the people who live on it. It means creating clothing that uses less water, less energy, and fewer resources. It also means treating the people who make our clothes fairly, giving them good working conditions and fair pay. Sustainable fashion is important because the way we make and use clothes right now is causing a lot of harm to our world.

Why is Sustainable Fashion Important?

The fashion industry is one of the biggest polluters in the world. It uses a lot of water and chemicals to make clothes, which can hurt our rivers, lakes, and oceans. The industry also produces a lot of waste. When we throw away clothes that we don’t want anymore, they often end up in landfills where they can take hundreds of years to break down. By choosing sustainable fashion, we can help reduce pollution and waste.

How to Choose Sustainable Fashion

Choosing sustainable fashion can be as simple as looking for clothes made from natural or recycled materials. Materials like organic cotton, bamboo, and recycled polyester are better for the environment because they use less water and chemicals to produce. You can also look for brands that are committed to fair labor practices, meaning they ensure good working conditions and fair wages for their workers.

Another way to be more sustainable with fashion is to buy less but choose better quality items that will last longer. This means you won’t need to replace your clothes as often, which reduces waste.

Reusing and Recycling Clothes

One of the easiest ways to practice sustainable fashion is by reusing and recycling clothes. Instead of throwing away clothes you no longer want, you can donate them to someone in need or sell them to someone else who can use them. This gives the clothes a new life and reduces waste. You can also look for second-hand clothes when you need something new to wear. Buying second-hand is a great way to get unique items and save resources.

The Future of Sustainable Fashion

The future of sustainable fashion looks promising. More and more people are becoming aware of the problems with the current fashion industry and are looking for ways to make a change. Designers and brands are also starting to focus on creating more sustainable clothing. This includes using new technologies to make fabrics that are better for the environment and finding new ways to reduce waste.

In conclusion, sustainable fashion is about making choices that are better for our planet and for the people who live on it. By choosing to buy sustainable clothing, reusing and recycling clothes, and supporting fair labor practices, we can all make a difference. The future of fashion is sustainable, and by making these choices, we can help create a better world for everyone.

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Essay: Sustainability and fashion

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• Subject area(s): Environmental studies essays
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Most of us know what fashion is, and most of us have an idea about what sustainability is. But when it comes to the relationship between the two, we can very easily find ourselves on new ground. Is it even possible to think fashion and design without responsibility? It is. And we do. On a daily basis design is carried out, manufactured and consumed without the slightest concern for responsibility.

One could easily be led to believe that the relation between design and responsibility is fairly new however, designers have at all times considered this relationship.

As a result of fast changing fashion trends and declining apparel prices, consumers tend to renew their wardrobe more frequently, buying more garments than ever before. This trend leads to a continual growth in production of textiles, use of non-renewable resources, and increasing disposal rate. At the same time, people are becoming more environmentally conscious.

Sustainability has become a popular subject for research in the textile and clothing field in recent years. Several handbooks have been published to help designers, retailers and consumers make informed decisions. Environmentally conscious fashion blogs and shopping sites recommend sustainable products to their growing lists of subscribers (Fletcher, 2008) .

Respected, high-end designers and retailers such as People Tree (UK), and Katharine Hemnet (UK) pioneered sustainable fashion in the 1990s and earlier. They used fair trade fibres, recycled waste into raw materials, ensured safe conditions in factories, paid living wages, and employed artisans in developing countries (Fletcher, 2008). In 2005 Peter Ingwersen founded the Danish brand Noir – Ingwersen wanted Noir to be the first luxury clothing brand to incorporate social responsibility into the business model and blend organic and fair trade principles with mink, leather and similarly luxurious materials. The founding idea behind Noir was thus to create socially conscious fashion in an industry that is not otherwise known for its commitment to social responsibility. In other words: “We want to be known as the first brand to turn corporate social responsibility sexy” .

Recently, sustainability research and development has again become high priority for couture design houses, niche retailers, specialty chains, small businesses, and mass retailers. There is also some discussion on how to get corporations and researchers to take action, implementing ecologically and sustainability today, rather than waiting for consumers to change their behavior.

Sensing a paradigm shift in the near future, retailers of all price points are incorporating some element of sustainability into their operations or have future plans to do so. Now, mass retailers including Marks and Spencer, Top Shop, H&M, Gap and Levi’s are integrating sustainable materials into their product lines, with the use of organic, recycled and rapidly renewable fibers. Companies are implementing policies to ensure better treatment of the more than 26 million people worldwide involved in textiles and clothing production (Black, 2008).

Sustainability in fashion has not yet reached the ‘tipping point’ to motivating widespread change in consumer behavior. Consumer’s clothing behaviors have profound impacts on the environment, including purchasing behavior, clothing care, and final disposal.

A lack of education or general understanding of environmental effects may be the underlying cause for most consumers’ present unsustainable behavior. Clothing labels are inadequate in informing the average consumer about the entire lifecycle of clothing, and there is little widespread understanding of globally accepted sustainability standards and certifications (Black, 2008). Price may also prevent some consumers from purchasing sustainable fashion products. A consumer’s willingness to pay, combined with perceived value of the design, have a great influence on the purchasing decision, even for the ecologically conscious consumer. If a product is too expensive for consumers to afford or not profitable for manufacturers, it cannot be considered sustainable, which is one of the greatest challenges of producing sustainable fashion.

Consumers’ decisions on how they care for clothing, including detergent selection, water temperature setting, and drying method have significant effects, due to the chemicals in detergents or bleaches, amounts of energy used, and emissions released into the atmosphere (Fletcher, 2008; Black, 2008). Garments that need to be laundered frequently multiply the impacts. A t-shirt, for example, is washed 30-40 times during the consumer use phase (Black, 2008). Clothing disposal also has lasting effects because the decomposition process of certain fabrications can span several decades. Unlimited options exist in terms of recycling, re-use, repair and redesign to keep end-of-lifecycle fashion products out of landfills (Black, 2008; Fletcher, 2008).

Personally I often hear people talking about how we need to take more care of the environment. It is becoming serious business for most of us, that we cannot keep growing and putting all kinds of things into the ground or the animals, if we want to preserve the planet and the reason. We are moving away from ‘more and cheaper’ towards ‘less and better’. Quality over quantity – in every aspect of life.

This being said, I find that most of the people talking about this very seldom actually put action into words. It seems like everybody’s talking about it, but no one actually takes it that last step further. To actually do something about it!

Purpose/Problem definition

Re-design of Used Clothes as a Sustainable Fashion Solution – Consumer Interest and Experience

The primary aim of this mixed methods study is to explore the viability of a service or business in redesigning used garments as a sustainable alternative to disposal.

Research Questions

Three over-arching research questions will guide this study in order to identify;

1) a profile of the potential consumer,

2) which garments have potential to be re-designed,

3) recommendations for future redesign businesses.

RQ1: Who are the potential consumers for apparel re-design?

i. What demographics describe potential consumers? (Who are they?)

ii. What might interest potential consumers to use a redesign service?

iii. How will consumers self-report their clothing behavior?

RQ2: What garments have potential to be re-designed?

i. What garment categories are most popular for redesign?

ii. What attributes of garments will be re-designed?

iii. What is the extent of re-design requested?

RQ3: What might be some of the best practices for the re-design process?

i. What must a redesign business provide (re-designer’s skills, facilities, supplies)?

ii. What are the desired points of entry and levels of involvement consumers wish to have in the process?

iii. How should re-design be marketed to attract the attention of potential consumers?

iv. How does consumer satisfaction influence their willingness to pay, recommend to others, and length of continued wear of the garment?

Through focus group discussions and questionnaires with closed-ended items, I seek to answer who potential redesign consumers are, and thereby the appropriate target market for the service.

I want to collaborate with the focus group participants to conceptualize practical, executable rede-sign plans for used garments – garments that the participants bring themselves.

After the garments have been re-designed they will be presented to the participants, in order for them to give feedback. These suggestions may be used to develop recommendations for a future redesign business.

Artefact Analysis of the garments?

Limitations

The term sustainability ranges widely, but in order to have a specific aim and more focus, I have decided on the part of sustainability that has to do with expanding the life-cycle of the actual garment.

The focus group will be a challenge – first of all finding people who want to participate, people who do not already have a relation to me or each other, and people who have different backgrounds in order to get a broader perspective and different opinions on the study. I will have to prepare myself, and my questions in a way to gain the most from the group meetings. Furthermore, I have to decide how many participants is enough/good for the process. Also the numbers of participants will affect the amount of garments to re-design – and in the end affect the time range for the assignment.

Because participants volunteer for the study, it is likely that they want to minimize the time they invest in the collaboration.

3. Literature/Theories/Empiri

• Definitions

• Sustainability

• Sustainable Consumption

• Sustainable Fashion

• Clothing Disposal

• Slow fashion vs. fast fashion

• (Sustainable) consumer behavior – trend types, PEJ ‘Trends til tiden’

• Attaching emotional value to clothing – Donald A. Normann (teapot slides) vs. other source

• Clothing disposal and recycling

• Clothing redesign – created/added (Verganti – design-driven innovation)

• Part conclusion – (opsumér, sammenlign teorier og bring videre med til næste del)

Definitions

Prior to discussing the present study and its purpose, it will first be important to clarify the follow-ing definitions and concepts to ensure the meaning is understood throughout this assignment.

Sustainability

There may be as many definitions of sustainability as there are groups trying to define it. However, different ways of defining sustainability are useful for different situations and different purposes. A variety of definitions of sustainability, have been written into books to inform and educate about sustainability indicators, or ways to measure sustainability. One of these definitions is as follows, “sustainable means the capability to continue producing food and fiber indefinitely and profitably without damaging the natural resources and environmental quality on which all of us depend” (Bell & Morse, 1999). A consensus must be established so we know when and how we can or have achieved sustainability. Certain conditions must be maintained in order to consider a product or pro-cess sustainable, including quality of service or product, human quality of life, and overall well-being of people (Bell & Morse, 1999).

Sustainable Consumption

Consumption is sustainable when consumers reduce the quantity of goods they consume and choose products made through processes that support social and environmental integrity. Sustainable con-sumption involves pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase components.

“Fashion is a dynamic social process by which new styles are created, introduced to a consuming public, and popularly accepted by that public” (Sproles, 1979, p. 5).

People in Western societies feel the need to “keep up with fashion,” even to the point of competing with one another to purchase the newest, most recent trend. Consumers, in their efforts to be fashionable, constantly demand new-ness, which in turn causes a frantic push for retailers to stay ahead of the trend curve, producing disposable, trendy items faster than ever before (Black, 2008).

Sustainable Fashion

Fletcher defined sustainability in the fashion industry as conducting business to promote human well-being and to preserve natural integrity. To Black, sustainable fashion is a paradox because of the nature of the business which profits from the rapid turn of cheap, trendy clothes in high volume. Sustainable fashion includes all aspects of a garment’s lifecycle: fiber cultivation, fabric and garment production, manufacturing, distribution, consumer laundering, reuse, and final disposal. Many sus-tainable raw materials exist, such as organic cotton, lyocell (regenerated cellulosic fiber), recycled polyester, and other post-consumer sources. Sustainable production also includes safe conditions for workers, low-impact fiber production fabrications, and dyestuffs, recycling of industrial by-products, and low-waste pattern cutting (Black, 2008; Fletcher, 2008).

Clothing Disposal

Clothing disposal includes recycling, reusing, and throwing away unwanted clothes. Recycling might entail down-cycling old clothes to rags, or up-cycling into other garments (for example, sum-mer tops made of brightly printed vintage scarves). Other methods of disposal include donating to charity, passing down to other family members, swapping with friends, selling to consignment shops, throwing in the trash, and selling on eBay or Trendsales.

Slow fashion vs. fast fashion

As more is learned about slow fashion, it has become clear that it is not just another term for ethical fashion or the antithesis of fast fashion, but a process that embodies the direction of the textile and apparel industry to incorporate more conscientious decisions at all levels of the textile and apparel complex from retailers to consumers (Fig. 1). Slow fashion is a means to combat the consumption issue which addresses the lack of sustainability of the fashion industry as a whole (Johansson, 2010). The slow fashion process challenges apparel firms to make the effort to include sustainable, environmental, and ethical practices into their designs, to select production methods that emphasize quality, craftsmanship, and experienced labor, and to educate consumers so that they can play an active role in making informed decisions regarding their apparel selections. Many companies are now integrating sustainability into the apparel design process (Gam and Banning, 2011; McAspurn, 2009). Unlike fast fashion which is focused on quickly adapting popular styles, sustainable design incorporates reflection throughout the design process (Niinim¨aki and Hassi, 2011; Leerberg et al., 2010). Designers are now encouraged to design using the cradle to cradle concept as it motivates designers to design a product with all stages of the garment’s lifecycle in mind including what hap-pens to the garment when it is no longer in use or discarded (Gam and Banning, 2011; Gam et al., 2009). Sustainable design does not come without challenges. One of the first challenges for compa-nies has been obtaining more sustainable textiles, such as organic cotton or recycled plastic bottles. Another challenge to sustainable practices is the force of constant change brought on by fast fashion retailers (Gam and Banning, 2011). Slow fashion continues to focus on the quality of a garment and the practices with which it was made. In order to be successful, retailers need to educate the consumer about the processes used in the creation of their apparel. Despite growing technology, consumers still have little access and knowledge concerning the business practice claims of many companies (Gargi and Ha- Brookshire, 2011).

Consumers are looking for transparency today (Dilys et al., 2009). This need for transparency is a key element within the concept of slow fashion. Many professionals within textiles and apparel have begun to realize the importance of addressing problems that exist in our current textile and apparel value chain. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is directly tied to accountability among apparel firms which has led to an increase in the need for transparency in the supply chain (Perry and Towers, 2009). Bad CSR practices can lead to bad pub-licity and loss of brand value (Perry, 2012). With stores such as H&M and Zara, fast fashion is not likely to disappear in the near future (Tran, 2008). As more of these retailers, such as Zara, have faced CSR challenges due to negative publicity regarding poor working conditions in their factories it has become clear that adjustments need to be made to the fast fashion model (Perry, 2012). The slow fashion process encourages rapport building with labor groups, however, which supports better planning and long-term relationships as opposed to the uncertainty derived from a continual empha-sis on reducing labor and production costs (Fletcher, 2007).

Sustainable consumer behavior

Researchers have attempted to predict sustainable consumer behavior from people’s moral or ethical values. However, sustainable consumer behavior varies among product sectors, and consumers’ actual behavior is not always consistent with their values, due to external variables such as price, quality, or convenience

Attaching emotional value to clothing

Clothing disposal and recycling

Clothing redesign

A trend among celebrities, DIYers, fashionistas and eco-activists may prove to be the most eco-friendly way to dress. Redesigners are recycling their wardrobes to stay fashionable without buying new.

Redesigned fashion reaches from the haute couture houses of Paris to online DIY communities: from 15,000 dollar coats made from old gloves to women pledging not to buy any new clothes for half a year. It’s a step beyond buying vintage or secondhand; redesigned fashion is about making old clothes- whether worn out, out of style or simply unloved- new again.

Considering that most of our clothing is being discarded before it is truly worn out, the most eco-friendly fabrics are those which already exist.

Redesigning used clothing may sound a bit anti-fashion, but even haute couture designers like Mar-tin Margiela, who worked for Jean-Paul Gaultier before starting his own Paris-based fashion house, has a line of “garments remodelled by hand”. Margiela’s reworked designs run in the thousands of dollars- a coat made from old gloves in his 2006 collection went for $15,124-, but the redesigned trend hits every price point.

Wardrobe recycling can range from massive surgery to simply paying to have things fixed instead of throwing them away. “new thrifters” are choosing to hold onto their clothes longer with a bit of professional help

The apparel design process

First, we must clarify what steps are necessary in the design process. Knowing the order of the steps will establish agreement between consumers and redesigners for what is expected at each stage and will reduce uncertainty or anxiety in regard to the final outcome. Researchers have studied the apparel design process for more than 30 years, in both classroom settings and professional work environments in the apparel industry. Although there are variations in the delineation of design process steps and sub-steps, in general, the apparel design process can be simplified to three major steps including problem definition, creative exploration, and implementation (LaBat & Sokolowski, 1999).

The basic concepts of the design process are similar across disciplines but the apparel design process differs from other industries because products cycle through stores quickly, due to seasonally-driven demand and fashion trends.

LaBat and Sokolowski (1999) conducted a meta-analysis on design processes in a variety of disciplines, including environmental design, engineering design, industrial/product design, and clothing design. They found many of the same steps were used for all types of design and summarized the design process in three major steps: 1) problem definition and research, 2) creative exploration, and 3) implementation (LaBat &Sokolowski, 1999).

Step 1, problem definition and research, can be broken out into three sub-steps: initial problem definition, research, and working problem definition. First, the client must communicate the design problem in their own words. Next, designers conduct research to understand needs for both the user and the market as a whole. Lastly, the client(s) and designer(s) negotiate and agree upon a working problem definition, establishing criteria that will later be used to evaluate the success of the design (LaBat & Sokolowski, 1999).

Step 2, creative exploration, involves four main sub-steps. First, preliminary ideas should be generated without concern of practical constraints. The goal is to brainstorm as many diverse ideas as possible. Second, user and production constraints are re-introduced in order to winnow out nonfunctional ideas or reformulate ideas into executable design plans. Third, prototypes mesh the design criteria and constraints into something functional. Finally, prototypes are evaluated by the client and de-signer based on the criteria. The best one will move forward into implementation, or if none of the prototypes are acceptable, the process starts over (LaBat & Sokolowski, 1999).

Step 3, implementation, is the stage in which the object is produced. Cost and time to produce are now precisely calculated, methods of production are selected, and sales potential is discussed. As the production process is underway, additional adjustments may be made to optimize efficiency and/or reduce cost. In some cases, the design solution cannot be applied immediately, so a timeline for im-plementation is established.

In the design process described by LaBat and Sokolowski (1999), clients or consumers need not be involved in every stage because often designers are paid for their creative abilities, technical skills, and time needed to solve the problem. The client’s role in this model is limited to communication of needs, critiques, approvals, and implementation.

This study seeks to transform the client from consumer into an active co-designer. How do we make this leap, especially since most consumers are not trained designers and may not feel comfortable or confident in acting as the co-designer?

This answer may be found in co-design literature.

Customer co-design

Before diving deeper into customer co-design, it is important to define the concept.

Adding the term customer to co-design implies the fact that the co-design process is carried out to-gether with the customer who will finally receive and use the result of the co-design process, i.e. the product. Hence the customer actually acts as a co-designer of his own product, even though he or she is not trained as a professional designer. Therefore, taking all these aspects into account, the fol-lowing definition can be finalized:

Customer co-design describes a development process in which the customer and provider collective-ly ideate, elaborate and create a design specification for a product, which is purchased by the customer.

This collaborative redesign process contributes to ecological sustainability in two main ways. First, redesigning used garments avoids disposal, which often is done with little regard to environmental impacts (Raboldt et al., 2010; Ha-Brookshire & Hodges,2009; Birtwistle & Moore, 2007). Second, this co-design process keeps production and distribution local, which avoids high transportation costs and depletion of nonrenewable fossil fuel resources (Fletcher, 2008). A potential third out-come after consumers experience collaborative redesign could be heightened awareness of possibili-ties of redesign and a new view of clothing in general.

The raw material costs for collaborative redesign of used clothing will be minimal because the major-ity of the fabric will come from the post-consumer clothing.

In this study there are no labor costs since all the design and creative work is carried out by either myself or volunteers. However, labor costs would be intensive for the design and creative work, customer service, and sewing. The challenge will then be to deliver these highly involved and per-sonalized services at a retail price that ensures the seamstress and designer are compensated ade-quately for their work and the business earns a reasonable profit, while maintaining affordability for consumers.

4. Methods/Analysis/Process

The purpose of this study was to explore the viability of a of a service or business in redesigning used garments as a sustainable alternative to disposal.

The study aimed to test the process of redesigning clothing with consumers and to develop sugges-tions for best practices for consumer collaborative redesign.

The procedure of this study included two scheduled face-to-face meetings with participants. In the first meeting participants filled out Round 1 individual questionnaires, participated in Round 1 fo-cus group discussions, and collaborated with each other and myself in a creative explora-tion/ideation workshop. Garment redesign and construction was performed by myself and a team of tailor students. The second meeting consisted of returning the garments to all participants, adminis-tering Round 2 individual questionnaires, and discussing the Round 2 focus group questions.

Participant recruitment and characteristics

First off, I conducted a group of 5 fellow tailor students, whom volunteered to help free of charge after a thorough presentation of the study. The feedback was incorporated into the final versions of the questionnaires and interview schedules used with actual participants. Participants were recruited through three main approaches. First, I posted signs around common areas of EUC Syd advertising the study. The signs included a general description of the research, my contact information, and the requirements of eligibility: women and men over the age of 18 will-ing to collaborate in the redesign of one used clothing item from their wardrobes (see Appendix A).

Surprisingly, no one who replied to the signs actually showed up to the focus groups and thus were not counted in the final number of participants or anywhere in the data. Once they understood the time requirement for the study (approximately two to four hours), it is likely that they were not mo-tivated by a special interest in fashion or the environment to invest their time.

Second, I visited four classes at Syddansk Universitet to speak about this research opportunity. I shared stories from my industry experience, information about sustainable fashion, and examples of past garment redesigns. However, this effort yielded only three participants, two of who wanted to understand more about the design process itself for their own professional development.

The third approach, recruiting through word of mouth, was the most effective. There was a local interest in sustainable fashion, recycled, and upcycled clothing, so once I connected with the interested, committed participants volunteered and followed through with focus groups.

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Fashion — Sustainable fashion and ethical issues

Sustainable Fashion and Ethical Issues

• Categories: Fashion Sustainability

About this sample

Words: 469 |

Published: Dec 18, 2018

Words: 469 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, the importance of ethical and sustainable fashion, the environmental impact of fast fashion, the ethical imperative, the sustainable revolution, transparency and accountability, the power of consumer choice, references:.

• Fletcher, K., & Tham, M. (2019). The Handbook of Sustainability and Fashion. Routledge.
• Black, S., & Eckert, C. (2019). Sustainable Fashion in a Circular Economy. Springer.
• Dauvergne, P. (2016). Environmentalism of the Rich. The MIT Press.
• Niinimäki, K. (2020). Sustainable Fashion in a Circular Economy: A Comparative Environmental Impact Analysis of Contemporary Fashion Products. Sustainability, 12(17), 6976.
• Kärkkäinen, H. (2020). Ethical fashion: drivers, barriers, and characteristics of Finnish consumers’ choices. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 24(5), 586-605.

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The Belgian designer, known for his glorious use of color and prints, remained independent for years. Now he’s going out on his own terms.

By Vanessa Friedman and Jessica Testa

In a shock to the fashion world, Dries Van Noten announced that he was stepping down as creative director of the brand that bears his name. His fall 2024 men’s show, scheduled to take place in Paris in June, will be his last.

“My dream was to have a voice in fashion,” Mr. Van Noten, 65, wrote in a letter sent to editors. “That dream came true. Now, I want to shift my focus to all the things I never had time for.”

Mr. Van Noten was an original member of the Antwerp Six, the group of Belgian designers who changed fashion when they arrived in Paris in the early 1980s. In his statement, he wrote that he had been “preparing for this moment for a while, and I feel it’s time to leave room for a new generation of talents to bring their vision to the brand.”

In an industry in which founders often cling to their positions well into their 80s and rarely engage in succession planning, Mr. Van Noten’s move stands out as a rare example of a designer ceding power by his own choice — and at the height of his skills. His last women’s show , held in late February in Paris, was an emotional, generous paean to style over fashion and the creativity of dressing oneself.

But the consideration, originality, grace and attention to detail that marked his clothes, and that inspired a 2014 solo exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and a 2017 documentary about his work, have also marked his approach to his business.

Mr. Van Noten had been taking steps to ensure the future of his brand, which he founded in 1986, since 2018, when he sold a majority stake to the Puig fashion and fragrance business, agreeing to stay on as chief creative officer and chairman of the board. It was a big step for a designer who prided himself on independence. But he had just turned 60, he told The New York Times in 2022 , and he found himself thinking about his health and the future.

“Do we have enough heritage?” he said. “Is there enough reason that the company can continue the moment that I would stop?”

The partnership with Puig allowed the brand to increase its team and expand into new categories, including beauty and fragrance. But even after relinquishing some control of his business, the pace of the industry could still frustrate Mr. Van Noten.

“After a career of all these years, you never can take six months off, or even two months off,” he said, adding that the longest break he’d ever taken was two weeks. “I think it’s the dream of every designer to just, at a certain moment, be able to skip one season.”

In 2020, he cowrote an open letter with other designers about the need to fix the seasonal shopping calendar so that brands could find a more sustainable production rhythm and break the cycle of extreme discounting.

But he also knew that fashion’s impossible pace could be a good thing, mentally, for a designer. If a collection wasn’t received well by critics or shoppers, there was no time to mope. “You have to move on,” he told The Times. “You have to forget. You have to start again. And I think that’s really amazing. That’s quite addictive and I think that’s also what keeps me continuing.”

Mr. Van Noten, who received the international designer of the year award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America, was named an Officier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France and was anointed a baron by the King of Belgium, said in his letter that a new designer would be announced in “due time.” He would remain involved in the brand, though did not specify the role.

He is a passionate gardener — the flowers at his home outside Antwerp inspired many of the gloriously colored textiles and styles that were his signature — and often goes on garden tours with Ann Demeulemeester, another member of the Antwerp Six who stepped back from her own brand.

Whatever avenue he chooses to pursue, however, what is certain is that, just as he and his peers once set a new tone for the industry, Mr. Van Noten is now revolutionizing how departure can look.

Vanessa Friedman has been the fashion director and chief fashion critic for The Times since 2014. More about Vanessa Friedman

Jessica Testa is a Times reporter covering the worlds of style and fashion. More about Jessica Testa

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