Planet

In relation to the fashion industry, the impact on the planet is an important factor. The fashion industry is one of the most harmful industries on the planet contributing to world pollution and climate change. 

The circular economy aim to tackle climate change and a variety of global challenges such as, biodiversity loss, waste and pollution. They achieve this by decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources. This is beneficial to the planet as reusing and recycling products would slow down the use of natural resources and the reduction in total greenhouse gas emissions, which will lead to the fashion industry having less of an impact on climate change in the future. Sustainability in relation to the fashion industry is the way in which brands create garments in an ethical way, this includes the process in which garments are made and the impact this will have on the environment, also the working conditions of the workers who are producing the clothing. 

(Gwilt, Alison 2016) mentions in the ‘Practical guide to sustainable fashion’ that information about the environmental and social impacts of fashion garments can be revealed by mapping the inputs and outputs in the life cycle of a garment. However, the accuracy of this information depends on whether the suppliers respond to questions truthfully and provide accurate data. 

Currently, the United Nations have 17 Sustainable Development Goals, these goals have been brought in as a universal call to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that everyone enjoys peace and prosperity. I believe that Responsible Consumption and Production is one of the Sustainable Development Goals with the most impact on the fashion industry. This is due to the fact that companies are overproducing garments in order to meet the demand of consumers. As a result of frequent evolving trends, fast fashion is bought and rarely worn due to trends changing at a rapid pace and will often end up in landfills.

One of the main factors of the fashion industry being one of the most wasteful industries on the planet is due to over production. (McKinsey & Company, 2018), state that clothing production has doubled between 2000 and 2014, this continues to rise each year. In New York it is estimated that 40% of all items produced by the sector are sold at markdown price, by tackling this level of overproduction the fashion industry could reduce carbon emissions by 158 million tonnes a year. It is also currently estimated that New Yorkers throw 200,000,000lbs of clothing into waste each year. This is the equivalent to 440 statues of Liberty. These statistics alone highlight how much waste is caused from the fashion industry each year. Furthermore, in Hong Kong 53% of 1000 people polled in Hong Kong revealed that they owned clothes that were still tagged, compared with 51% in mainland China, 46% in Italy, 41% in Germany and 40% in Taiwan. This continues to emphasise how severe over consumption within the fashion industry is as many people are purchasing clothing they do not need and likely end up not wearing. 

Reference List

Francis, T. and Hoefel, F., 2018. True Gen’: Generation Z and its implications for companies. McKinsey & Company, 12.

https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/themes/the-a-to-z-on-gen-z

Gwilt, A. (2020). A Practical Guide to Sustainable Fashion. London: Fairchild Books. 

e-book: https://libsearch.arts.ac.uk/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=1452042&query_desc=