Planet

In the realm of fashion business, the planet, people, profit, and purpose are known as the four key pillars. They are also the four factors that all brands must take into consideration.

With the prevalence of fast fashion in recent years, the fashion industry is having an increasing impact and harming the planet. Even though fashion’s impact on the environment has surpassed that of aviation and shipping, they are causing water sources to dry up. While fashion is growing, the industry is also polluting rivers and streams. This is a situation that the fashion industry has to take seriously at the moment. A piece of clothing generates pollution at every step of the way, from raw materials to production and use. According to statistics, 85% of textiles are thrown into landfill factories every year; even washing clothes is harming the planet. Compared to the emissions of 50 billion plastic bottles, this is a huge number, and if this issue is not taken seriously, the damage done to the planet by the fashion industry is irreversible.

Sustainable Development Goals are a common blueprint provided by all members of the United Nations in 2015 for the peace and prosperity of humanity and the planet now and in the future, totaling 17 SDGs. Let’s talk about the 13th goal, climate action. Take urgent action to address climate change and its impacts. The climate impact of fashion is overlooked by many because people simply don’t think of science and fashion together as two related industries, but according to Fashion Climate, the fashion industry emits around 2.1 billion metric tonnes of greenhouse gases per year, equivalent to 4% of total global emissions.The fashion industry can reduce its carbon footprint by encouraging brands to use easily dissolvable materials to make their clothes.

One of the actions that can be taken to improve the damage that the fashion industry is doing to the planet is to reuse materials as much as possible, to reuse materials and energy as much as possible, and to implement a circular economy system. The circular economy is a mode of production and consumption, an economic system. It is about recycling, maximising the durability of materials, producing as much as possible for recycling, and then recycling energy and materials. A circular economy in the fashion industry means increasing the frequency of use of clothing, which is very helpful and necessary to reduce the negative impact of the fashion industry on the planet. There are many ways in which people can implement a circular economy, as most people do not realise the impact that the fashion industry is having on the planet and do not think about taking action to reduce the harm done to the planet, such as starting to buy clothes less frequently and starting to think about the necessity of purchasing clothes, which is overlooked with the prevalence of promotional campaigns. People should be encouraged to buy less and better clothes. In addition to this, people could be encouraged to start looking at the choice of fabrics used to make clothes, as some materials are difficult to dissolve, but clothes made from materials such as organic cotton would help the circular economy to be practised in the fashion industry, as this material is more easily dissolved.

In short, the current fashion industry is causing harm to the planet that cannot be ignored, and people need to reconsider their needs. Brands need to pay attention to the choice of materials and try to market to consumers in terms of protecting the environment by encouraging them to buy clothing made from relatively environmentally friendly fabrics, rather than chasing trends and blindly buying fast fashion clothing.

Maiti, R. (2023) Fast Fashion: Its Detrimental Effect on the Environment, Earth.Org. Available at: https://earth.org/fast-fashions-detrimental-effect-on-the-environment/ (Accessed: 6 October 2023).

Kumar, A. (2023) ‘Why Sustainable Fashion Matters: Learn the Benefits & Trends’, Emeritus Online Courses, 9 January. Available at: https://emeritus.org/blog/sustainability-sustainable-fashion/ (Accessed: 6 October 2023).

Taking action on fashion and the climate crisis : Fashion Revolution (no date). Available at: https://www.fashionrevolution.org/climatecrisis/ (Accessed: 6 October 2023).

Condé Nast (no date). Available at: https://www.condenast.com/glossary (Accessed: 6 October 2023).

Moran, G. (2022) ‘Collaborating for Change: sustainability report 2022’, Drapers, 28 June. Available at: https://www.drapersonline.com/insight/drapers-bespoke/collaborating-for-change-sustainability-report-2022 (Accessed: 6 October 2023).