Planet
“Pillar” represents an innovative concept encompassing various aspects of sustainable development and responsible business practices. It embodies three key dimensions: People, Planet, and Prosperity. The People dimension primarily focuses on promoting social equity, inclusivity, and fair labor practices. The Earth dimension revolves around environmental sustainability and conservation, and organizations that adopt this dimension typically seek to reduce waste, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and promote responsible sourcing of materials. The Prosperity dimension emphasizes economic sustainability and ethical governance, encouraging businesses to pursue long-term profitability while considering the interests of various stakeholders, including shareholders, customers, and society as a whole.
The circular economy represents an economic system in which products are designed for durability and repairability, with a focus on preserving the value of products and materials for as long as possible. It underscores sustainability in product design, manufacturing, and usage processes, thereby contributing to reduced resource consumption and waste reduction. In the fashion industry, the principles of the circular economy involve designing durable clothing, encouraging repair and reuse, and utilizing sustainable materials. This approach stands in stark contrast to the traditional linear economy, where products are manufactured, used, and then discarded as waste.
The textile and fashion (T&F) industry faces growing global scrutiny of its supply chain operations. While the industry’s environmental impact has been widely publicized, some of the root causes can be attributed to the proliferation of fast fashion, which relies on cost-effective manufacturing, frequent consumption, and short-lived garment usage (Niinimäki et al., 2020). Consequently, much like other sectors, the circular economy is viewed as a viable alternative for the T&F industry to attain elevated levels of sustainability.
Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5) emphasizes the importance of gender equality. Gender equality is an extremely important issue for all businesses, however, the fast fashion industry, which primarily targets the female population, faces significant challenges related to women’s well-being and labor rights, as well as employees’ professional and personal development. (Miotto and Vilajoana-Alejandre, 2019) In the T&F industry, achieving gender equality means ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women in the supply chain, including in the workforce and in management positions. By linking gender equality to the people dimension in the Pillar framework, the T&F industry can better achieve social responsibility, create inclusive supply chains, and contribute to achieving the goals of SDG 5. A special focus on gender equality can help address gender inequality within the industry. This includes ensuring that female workers receive equal opportunities, pay and rights, while providing training and development opportunities so that they gain better status and power within the industry. This will help create a more equal and sustainable fashion industry while reducing its negative impact on the environment.
Reference list
Miotto, G. and Vilajoana-Alejandre, S. (2019). Gender equality: a tool for legitimacy in the fast fashion industry. Harvard Deusto Business Research, 8(2), p.134. doi:https://doi.org/10.3926/hdbr.244.
Niinimäki, K., Peters, G., Dahlbo, H., Perry, P., Rissanen, T. and Gwilt, A. (2020). The Environmental Price of Fast Fashion. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 1(4), pp.189–200. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-020-0039-9.