PLANET
As the world has become more advanced, it’s left devastating impacts on the environment and our planet. The effects of the pollution we have created could potentially become irreversible if we don’t change the way we consume, live and produce.
A potential way to combat this is by allowing our clothes to live within a circular economy. (A Gwilt, 2020) This Is an ambitious model where pollution is designed out, clothes are utilised at their highest value and finally after use they re-enter the economy in the hopes the never become waste. This could allow the lifespan of our clothes and textile products to be largely increased and prevent the products ending up in landfill.
Sustainability is now one of the biggest words surrounding the entire fashion industry and whilst most people consider this word to mean a brand could simply use regenerated materials or a renewable energy source within its factories it can in fact involve a variety of factors, all coming together, to be truly sustainable. Mitterfellner (2023) discusses the idea of sustainability being built upon 3 pillars: Environmental sustainability, Economic Sustainability and Social Sustainability. Within the fashion industry, to be truly sustainable, a brand should consider all 3 of these pillars when creating a goal or a plan. This means company must think on a wider scale about all aspects of their business such as providing their workers with good quality working conditions, avoiding unethical fabric sources or even stopping using pesticides when growing cotton. This is why fast fashion has such damaging effects (J Hethorn and C Ulasewicz, 2015) as most of the clothes from fast fashion companies come from factories where workers are mistreated, the fabrics are mainly plastic and they get disposed of after a few wears.
The United Nations created a list of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to (UN Department of Economic and social affairs, 2015) create health and prosperity for the people and the planet. Whilst all these goals are incredibly important, I believe that goal 12 ‘responsible consumption and production’ is one of the most relevant within the fashion industry. This is because it encourages brands to not over produce items as well as getting consumers to buy what they need and keep it for a longer period as opposed to buying what is ‘on trend’ and only wearing it once. A brand I believe demonstrates this SDG incredibly effectively is London based luxury brand Odd Muse. They encourage their customers to buy timeless, classic pieces to add to their wardrobe that will last them years and they release limited amounts of clothing at a time to avoid over producing garments.
References:
Gwilt, A (2020) A Practical Guide to Sustainable Fashion – https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/UAL/detail.action?docID=6234061 (Accessed 10/2023)
Mitterfellner O, (2023) Luxury fashion brand management: unifying fashion with sustainability, Chapter 7. – https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ual/reader.action?docID=7260416 (Accessed 10/2023)
J Hethorn and C Ulasewicz (2015) Sustainable Fashion: What’s Next? A Conversation about Issues, Practices and Possibilities, Chapter 1 – https://www-bloomsburyfashioncentral-com.arts.idm.oclc.org/encyclopedia-chapter?docid=b-9781501312250&tocid=b-9781501312250-chapter1&pdfid=9781501312250.ch-001.pdf (Accessed 10/2023)
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Sustainable Development page – https://sdgs.un.org/goals (Accessed 10/2023)