Planet Pillar
Planet
The fashion industry has been a place for change for generations, a place for political statements. It’s designed on 4 pillars, Planet, People, Profit and Purpose and has been at the forefront of change and innovation, but there is one element Planet, where they have been falling behind for years. Their environmental impact has been growing at rapid rates, from the classic two collections a year to the now expected fifty, growing consumer demands as well as normalisation of overconsumption, “53 % of 1,000 people living in Hong Kong revealed that they owned clothes that were still tagged” (Castro, 2021) spearheaded by the fast fashion movement. The fashion industry has created an unethical and unsustainable environment.
The trend for overproduction, with 30% of clothes produced never being sold (Rauthurier, 2022), its meant that it has fallen to brands to commit to their own corporate social responsibility. Brands like Good Squish and Patrick McDower are working on a made-to-order platform. The aim is to try and limit waste in both raw materials and and then overproduction. Brands are taking it upon themselves to run their business with a circular economy at the forefront, the advancements in both information and solutions are making it more accessible than ever before for brands to try and combat their unsustainable practices. A circular economy is designed to try and tackle the idea of overconsumption of finite resources by redesigning, moving over to life cycle thinking (Gwilt, 2020), creating a product that can have multiple lives, that was created to be repaired or recycled rather than the use once and discard mentality that society had turned too.
Another way that brands are trying to be sustainable is by committing to the UN’s sustainable development goals, these are a universal call to action to try and slow the destruction of development before we reach the point of no return. There are 17 of these SDGs all of which play a part in the wider issues of sustainability but goal 6, clean water and sanitation is one that has major importance on the fashion industry, their water consumption has grown exponentially. It takes Levi’s 3,800L of water to make a pair of their iconic 501 jeans, so Levi’s has created their Water<Less process to reduce the amount of water needed in the finishing process by 96% (Levi’s, 2019). The fashion industry is an unethical industry at its core, it thrives on overconsumption and the growing demand for more so it has fallen to the brands willing to make a difference, and the consumers who want to make changes to educate and think more circularly about where they are shopping and what they are spending their money on.
Castro, Orsola de. (2021) – Loved clothes last: how the joy of rewearing and repairing your clothes can be a revolutionary act (Book)(Accessed 07/10/2023)
Gwilt, Alison (2020) – A practical guide to sustainable fashion, Chapter 2 The Life Cycle of a Garment (Ebook) https://www-bloomsburyfashioncentral-com.arts.idm.oclc.org/encyclopedia-chapter?docid=b-9781350067059&tocid=b-9781350067059-chapter2&pdfid=9781350067059.ch-002.pdf (Accessed 07/10/2023)
Rauturier, Solene (2022) – Everything you need to know about waste in the fashion industry (Online) https://goodonyou.eco/waste-luxury-fashion/ (Accessed 07/10/2023)
Unzipped Staff, Levi’s (2019) – How is Levi’s saving water? (Online) https://www.levistrauss.com/2019/03/25/world-water-day-2019-saving-h2o/#:~:text=Our%20Water%3CLess%E2%84%A2%20process,of%20a%20pair%20of%20 jeans. (Accessed 07/10/2023)