How do we define sustainable fashion?

As Anna Brismar writes : 

”Most actors today agree that our modern society has to develop in more sustainable ways. This includes how we produce and consume clothing, shoes, accessories and other textiles. Virtually all major clothing companies in Sweden today have a work in progress in the area of sustainability, particularly in the production phase, but also increasingly at the user level to encourage increased reuse and recycling. At major clothing companies, CSR managers and sustainabilty heads today openly discuss how they work to realign their business models, production processes and store concepts towards improved sustainability.”

Despite the growing interest in sustainability issues within the fashion industry, writes Anna Brismar, currently there is no common definition of what sustainable fashion actually means. Make it last uses Green Strategy’s definition of “ more sustainable fashion” as a starting point:

Three sustainability trends shaping the future of the fashion industry.

Posted by Pauline Op de Beeck 

Fashion plays a major role in the global economy, with annual worldwide revenues of well over £1 trillion, supporting hundreds of millions of jobs around the world. This success comes at a high environmental cost—but there are some exciting consumer trends, new technologies and innovative business models helping to lead the future of fashion down a more sustainable runway.

Fashion is big business. It plays a major role in the global economy, with annual worldwide revenues of well over £1 trillion. The industry supports hundreds of millions of jobs around the world, accounting for over a third of total employment in some of the most important producing countries.

It is also a fast growing industry. Work by industry consortium, Global Fashion Agenda, and Boston Consulting Group predicts a rise of 63% in overall fashion consumption between 2017 and 2030, with increasing demand from developing countries leading us swiftly towards a point where over 100 million tonnes of apparel and footwear will be purchased each year.

Here's why your 'eco-chic' jeans aren't going save the planet

Anika Kozlowski

Recently Marie Claire, a major fashion magazine, published its first sustainability issue. It represents one of the first times mainstream fashion turned a comprehensive and thoughtful eye on itself with regards to environmental and social issues.

Issues such as climate change, sustainability or  accidents in garment factories, like the one in Bangladesh that caused the deaths of 1,110 people, get mass spotlight coverage in mainstream news media and in fashion magazines but only for a short time. During this news cycle, readers are horrified about the human condition but then the issue is quickly forgotten and normalcy ensues.

However, the  August Marie Claire issue devoted itself fully to social and environmental concerns within the fashion industry. Historically, fashion magazines stay away from such issues. Instead, they push new trends, discuss celebrities, plug designers and push major brands — and in doing so, cater to their paid advertisers.Yet, the current state of the fashion industry — within the context of climate change, resource depletion and other ethical concerns — must be questioned. What is the role of media and advertising in creating a necessary shift to a more sustainable fashion industry?

Consumer behaviour, fast fashion, and sustainability

What Difference Can Consumers Really Make to Improve Sustainability in Fashion?

Sustainable fashion: An ethical choice

How Reformation aims to bring sustainable fashion to everyone

 Vivian Hendriksz

Amsterdam - As the majority of the fashion industry continues to struggle making  sustainable fashion sexy     one small label from Los Angeles stands out from the crowd. Reformation has gained somewhat of a cult following since the launch of its first pop-up store back in 2009 when its founder Yael Aflalo first began selling upcycled vintage clothing. Since then Reformation has grown into a global force, which currently counts 8 stores across the US as well as an international website. Perhaps the only fashion brand to successfully combine the fast-fashion business model with sustainability, Reformation aims to offer accessible, sexy and sustainable fashion to all.

The Apparel Industry’s Answer to Global Water Shortages

by Jan Lee  

Smart water usage is at the heart of a 

sustainable fashion industry.

This isn’t a new realization; the fashion industry has always relied upon abundant amounts of water to produce the clothes and shoes we wear. That favorite T-shirt in your closet, the well-worn leather loafers under the bed and those cozy wool sweaters couldn’t have been produced without ample resources of H20.

In fact, both cotton and wool – two favorite natural fibers — are insatiable water hogs. It takes more than 100 gallons to produce one single pound of raw cotton or shorn wool — and that doesn’t include what is needed for rinsing and preparing the product, or washing and dying the fabric once the material is made.

Sustainable fashion: Students tackle Singapore’s textile waste    

By Jing Ling Tan

One garment at a time, fashion students from Raffles College of Higher Education are helping to cut Singapore’s 150,000 tonne textile and leather waste footprint through a collaborative upcycling project.

While Singaporeans rush to buy new clothes to replace old ones in the run up to Chinese New Year, fashion students from the Raffles College of Higher Education in Singapore will instead spend the next few weeks working to upcycle donated clothes.

As part of their school project, tertiary-level students and senior lecturers in fashion design and fashion marketing are collaborating with real estate developer City Developments Limited (CDL) and Eco-Business to collect, process and resell donated items for EcoBank, a charity initiative by the two firms.    

Sustainable fashion: Brands to watch, circular fashion and ethical choices    

Jan 24, 2018

By WGSN Insider

Consumer demand for sustainable, ethically-sourced clothing is growing, and the conversation around sustainability is bigger and louder than ever before.

At WGSN, sustainability is a key area of focus for us in 2018 and, on Insider, you can expect to see content from industry leaders, brands to watch and easy steps to take in order to make your brand more eco-friendly.

We reached out to Rebecca Piersol, a stylist and fashion blogger who writes for The Crystal Press, a fashion and beauty blog and thredUP, an online/offline consignment store to talk the current state of play in sustainable fashion.

How Indian Fashion Designers are stepping towards ‘Green Wardrobe’

POSTED BY RHISHIKA MAZUMDAR · SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

Have you ever wondered where your outfits come from? Are they made in factories or sweatshops? Indian designers are joining the movement offering clothing that is gentle on the skin as well as the environment!

There is an abundance of culture to be discovered from nature as it is a perfect way to recharge one’s soul and ease the mind. The most important part of deriving something from nature or getting nature’s inspiration is not just to view it, but to pay more attention and incorporate the elements into the fabric.

Many of the clothes we wear today are non-biodegradable, which means they don’t break down easily and are very difficult to dispose of. There are distinctions drawn made from ‘organic cotton’ and ‘organic garments’. This means that the cotton used has been produced without harmful chemicals, pesticides or toxic dyes.

Fashion is made of trends that spring and disappear along time and is all about appearance which fashion designers always look for inspiration to kindle their creativity. Attractive colors, shapes, textures, and patterns are all around in nature. Taking inspiration from nature gives a fresh perspective on design and is an artwork in itself.

What Is Eco-Fashion And How To Be Responsibly Fashionable 

Posted under Organic News & Environment by Courtney Sunday on December 15, 2016  

Eco-fashion has become a big, booming business that is no longer limited to niche designers. Sustainable and recyclable materials are now making their way into boardrooms and onto catwalks. Just as eating organic went from niche market to expansive trend, sustainable fashion is becoming more readily available and affordable.

But what exactly is eco-fashion?

What is Eco-Fashion?

Eco is short for ecology, or the study of interactions between organisms and their environment. Eco-fashion is any brand or line that attempts to minimize the impact on the environment, and often the health of the consumers and the working conditions for the people that are making the clothes. Imagine organic cotton, durable, recyclable fabrics, plant-based dyes and a fair wage for the manufacturers and suppliers.

In the best of conditions, ethical fashion sounds awesome.

However, it is not quite as simple as that. Ethical fashion can be branded just by being sustainable, which means the crop used for making the garments can be regrown or replanted once it is harvested. There is also no such thing as a 100% eco-friendly piece of clothing, because all clothing takes water and energy.

Understanding Sustainability Means Talking About Colonialism

By Celine Semaan

Sustain/Ability: Stories about how fashion impacts the environment.

I speak frequently about sustainability in fashion, whether at conferences or in an educational context, and I often hear the same question: “It seems that to have a sustainable ‘lifestyle’ — air quotes around the word lifestyle — one has to be rich. If you can’t afford $600 sweaters, how can you be sustainable?”

Whenever I’m asked this question I am reminded how the mainstream Western perspective on sustainability is focused on one small part of the problem, while ignoring most of the larger important global issues. Yes, clothing production with a priority to limit environmental and human-rights problems is much better than standard fast fashion (and is usually more expensive), but in fact sustainability is a spectrum, and doing less damage is still doing some damage. So you can’t solvesustainability by simply buying things. The game here is about reduction of harm, not binary solutions.

What we know - and need to know - about sustainable fashion    

It is clear that the linear take-make-waste model of the fashion industry is unsustainable, but how do other forms of production and consumption measure up? Here’s what else we need to find out to change our clothing.

We’re in the middle of New York Fashion Week, and it’s a good time to discuss sustainability in the apparel industry. Web searches for “sustainable fashion” spike in the fall and spring fashion seasons, and McKinsey rated it as a top issue for the industry in its 2017 State of Fashion report. However, what makes fashion sustainable isn’t fully understood. Here’s what we know, and what we don’t.

What we know

Consumers are buying more, and tossing more. According to the EPA, Americans threw away 16.22 million tons of clothing in 2014, 71 per cent more than in 2000 and 822 percent more than in 1960. On the positive side, the amount of clothing recycled has increased from 3 per cent in 1960 to 16 per cent in 2014, but the sheer volume outweighs these gains.

SUSTAINABILITY IS THE NEW FRONTIER FOR LUXURY FASHION    

As far as fashion trends go, sustainability is one with undeniable sticking power. Despite continuing political debate about the veracity of climate change, fashion labels, grassroots activist groups and designers themselves are quietly enacting real change over their own domain.

In 2017, mass production is probably the easiest and cheapest it’s ever been, yet more consumers are voting with their buying power, steering away from fast fashion and brands with shady reputations in favour of those taking a stand.

For as long as fashion has captured the hearts and minds of the masses, there have been labels more focused on sustainability than others; Stella McCartney, a staunch vegan and animal advocate, utilises leather substitutes for her clothes and accessories. Kering, the French fashion group Stella McCartney belongs to, has positioned itself as a leader in sustainability in the luxury sector.

Beyond these proponents of luxury goods, ‘ethical clothing’ has traditionally been synonymous with hemp, hessian and Nimbin, inspiring about the same level of sartorial reverence as the good old potato sack.

These days, things are different. Consumers are actually seeking out ethical purchases, and designers are taking heed by producing sustainably-sourced clothing people actually want to wear.

 How Innovation and Collaboration Can Accelerate Sustainability in Fashion

The fashion industry has a clear opportunity to act differently, pursuing profit and growth while creating new value for the world economy. This opportunity comes with an urgent need to place environmental, social, and ethical improvements on management’s agenda.

In the past decade, the global fashion industry has been an engine for global development and has made progress on sustainability. Awareness of the need for continued improvement is growing, and individual companies are optimizing business practices to limit their negative impact. But to maintain its current growth trajectory, the fashion industry as a whole must address its environmental and social footprint. The earth’s natural resources are under pressure, and while the fashion industry is not the most obvious contributor to this stress, it is a considerable one. Moreover, social conditions in the fashion industry are far from those set forth in the United Nations’ goals for sustainable development.

Shop less, mend more: making more sustainable fashion choices    

The fashion industry is one of the world’s most polluting. Our new series Life Swaps looks at how to live more sustainably and buy more ethical clothing.

Every day, most of us dress ourselves in items churned out by what is arguably the world’s second-most polluting industry.

Reportedly topped only by oil, the fashion industry is contributing to major environmental destruction – mainly because consumers insist on buying so many clothes at such cheap prices.

Water is a significant part of the problem. Textile manufacturing uses huge amounts of water, much of which gets flushed into waterways laden with contaminants such as bleaches, acids, inks and dyes. Horrifyingly, farmers in parts of China and India are reportedly predicting fashion’s next biggest hues by the colour of rivers tainted by textile industry runoff. (Look out for the 2016 documentary River Blue.) Fast fashion has terrible impacts on people, too, with workers in developing nations often paid a pittance to labour in unsafe conditions.

3 Reasons Ethical Fashion Is An Even Bigger Trend Than Organic Food    

This post comes from the perspective of Autumn Adeigbo and Dave Darsch.

In my years as an ethical fashion entrepreneur and advocate, I have seen first-hand how the garments we wear can contribute to a more sustainable earth - and a more sustainable business model. Eco-apparel and organic textiles are rapidly growing market that can create opportunities for companies, employees and the environment. So what is ethical fashion, and does it have the potential to be the next organic food craze? 

Ethical impact. 

When talking about sustainable fashion, what usually comes to mind is eco-labeling, production in distant factories with controversy associated but large efforts to get solved and increasingly natural and free of toxic products tissues. Fortunately, that perception is confirmed worldwide thanks to the 

expansion of international firms and young entrepreneurs who are giving a twist to the concept of sustainable fashion.

On the basis of the business model of sustainable fashion are included as fundamental criteria the conservation of natural resources, the low environmental impact of the materials used - to be subject to later join the recycling chain - reducing the carbon footprint and respect for the economic and labor conditions of the workers who participated from raw materials to the selling point.

There are already many renowned designers, models and celebrities claiming in favour of the sustainable fashion. These include Lucy Tammam, Stella McCartney, Frock Los Angeles, Amour Vert, Edun, Stewart+Brown, Shalom Harlow or Summer Rayne Oakes.

When talking about sustainable fashion, what usually comes to mind is eco-labeling, production in distant factories with controversy associated but large efforts to get solved and increasingly natural and free of toxic products tissues. Fortunately, that perception is confirmed worldwide thanks to the 

expansion of international firms and young entrepreneurs who are giving a twist to the concept of sustainable fashion.

On the basis of the business model of sustainable fashion are included as fundamental criteria the conservation of natural resources, the low environmental impact of the materials used - to be subject to later join the recycling chain - reducing the carbon footprint and respect for the economic and labor conditions of the workers who participated from raw materials to the selling point.

There are already many renowned designers, models and celebrities claiming in favour of the sustainable fashion. These include Lucy Tammam, Stella McCartney, Frock Los Angeles, Amour Vert, Edun, Stewart+Brown, Shalom Harlow or Summer Rayne Oakes.

It’s the holy grail for the fashion industry: Can manufacturers seamlessly close the loop on fabric, so an old T-shirt or dress headed for the landfill can be turned into something new? The world now buys more clothing than ever before in history; the average American throws out 68 garments in a single year.

A new €1 million competition asked for new ideas to help the industry become more circular. “Fashionista or not, clothes are a necessity, and one of the biggest challenges facing today’s fashion industry is how to create fashion for a growing world population while protecting our planet,” says Erik Bang, project manager for the Global Change Award, sponsored by H&M Conscious Foundation, the nonprofit created by the Swedish fast fashion giant.