Sustainable fashion... what is it?

There are many definitions for sustainability, and the same goes for sustainable fashion. Still the foundation is UCLA Sustainability Committee’s definition for sustainability, which entails practices that “support ecological, human, and economic health and vitality. Sustainability presumes that resources are finite, and should be used conservatively and wisely with a view to long-term priorities and consequences of the ways in which resources are used.”

When one talks about sustainability in fashion, one must then think about the way in which apparel is designed, produced, sold used and discarded; ideally, conserving and/or restoring “ecosystems whilst respecting and protecting the human rights of people and enabling equitable development of communities” (Fashion Revolution, 2019).

As a way to organize sustainability in fashion, Gwilt and Rissanen (2012) divide sustainability in fashion into four different stages: source, make, use and last. The first, source, deals with the environmental, social and economic impacts associated with the production of fabric and other material, with particular emphasis on the significant affect these processes have on the world’s natural resources. When talking about the make stage, the focus is on the production of garments, particularly on the role and influence fashion companies and designers can have in the adoption of alternative practices during the manufacturing process. The use stage focuses on the consumer and their contribution towards extending the lifecycle of garments; at the same, regarding the way consumers engage with fashion, through the “selection, use, washing, care, repair and disposal” (p. 19) of purchased garments. The appropriately named final stage, last, deals with what happens after garments have been discarded and therefore included alternative systems and approaches that could reduce the amount of clothing contributing to landfill waste.

Source

Sourcing and manufacturing sustainable fashion materials is a complex aspect of the fashion industry. This is industry is constantly striving, as all industries do, to make a profit and to do keep their costs low, they start cutting corners early on. With budgets to stick to and deadlines to meet, producers look for cheap sourcing alternatives and the same logic applies for retailers and users.

The natural resources needed to produce clothes vary depending on the type of fiber and the technology applied in its manufacturing. The environmental consequences of not sourcing sustainably can be quite severe.

Our clothes have gone on a long journey before reaching the shop floor or our computer screens. Our clothes will pass through the hands of farmers, spinners, weavers, dyers, sewers and so many others that work almost invisibly in the supply chains of the fashion industry (Fashion Revolution, 2019).

Make

Once designers have a trusted network of suppliers, it is time to make the clothes. Predominantly clothes have been designed thinking of a cradle-to-grave model. Once sourced, materials are shaped into products, sold and disposed of and such has been the case since the 19th century, so a change is long overdue.

Approximately between 60 and 75 million people work directly in the fashion and textiles industry and around 70 to 80% are women. Many are subject to exploitation and verbal and physical abuse. They often work in unsafe conditions, without basic healthcare and with very little pay (Fashion Revolution, 2019).

Use

Consumers not only have to make a choice when making a purchase. Consumers are now users and when it comes to clothes, that means wearing, washing, drying and taking care of them. A significant portion of fashion’s environmental impact is generated during this phase, with doing laundry too often -often in inefficient washing machines, with very little clothes (small loads) and too warm water and sometimes even using a drying machine (Gwilt & Rissanen, 2012). And that goes for every single person who owns clothes, i.e., everyone.

Also, because now clothes come out quicker and are cheaper, many consumers have changed their relationship to clothes and stopped viewing them as something lasting, worth being taken care of. As such, consumers are less likely to make alterations that could possible extend a garment’s use (Gwilt & Rissanen, 2012).

Last

As it was mentioned, this stage deals with what happens to garments once they are discarded. A large percentage of what is discarded ends up in landfills. As a way to counteract, it has become quite popular to use second-hand products. This has become relevant because the existence of preferred disposal routes and acquisition channels of second-hand products allows the recovery of reusable products in a more efficient manner and can be explored by decision makers to increase the recovery of post-consumer products” (Fortuna & Diyamandoglu, 2017, p.1).

Sources:

Fashion Revolution. (2019). Women. Retrieved July 24, 2019, from https://www.fashionrevolution.org/tag/women/

Fortuna, L. M., & Diyamandoglu, V. (2017). Disposal and acquisition trends in second-hand products. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.11.030

Gwilt, A., & Rissanen, T. (Eds.). (2012). Shaping sustainable fashion: changing the way we make and use clothes. Cultural Communication and Computing research Intitute. Art and Design Research Center.

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