Planet
The fashion industry has taken a toll on the planet from the early 19th century to 2023 but is the world of fashion changing for the good? With the idea of sustainability coming to light with the high-end fashion brands such as Stella McCartney and Veja, but also high street brands like H&M and Zara which are working towards a more conscious and ethical approach to fashion and clothing. Which is reaching to a younger audience and changing the idea of fashion and sustainability for the future ‘Generation Z: shaping the future of shopping’ (https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/themes/the-a-to-z-on-gen-z). Gen Zs are taking a new approach with buying and selling. Not letting the lifecycle of a pair of jeans ending at one generation but passing it or up-cycling and regenerating a piece of clothing.
The technique circular economy is being used by many fashion brands, such as Asos (marketplace), Zara, PLT and COS which have developed sustainable methods for over production/sale of clothes. They have set up a website which allows buys to shop and sell second-hand and old stock from that brand. Circular economy is the idea of continuing the lifecycle of clothing. It’s a model of production and consumption which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products. (European Parliament, May 2023) (https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/economy/20151201STO05603/circular-economy-definition-importance-and-benefits) Circular economy in fashions gives clothing a new lease of life by allowing someone else to wear it, instead of throwing it away and ending up in land fill. Buying second-hand clothes reduces the amount of waste produced by the fashion industry. Refuse, reduce, re-use, repair, re-gift, recover, recycle and update are the key characteristic that individuals should follow when shopping and think considerably about what we are buying as consumers. This can be done by shopping and selling on second-hand platform like Vinted, Depop and eBay, etc. Which allows for more ethical principles to be used when thinking about sustainability, ‘fashion industry, which expects to see second-hand sales almost double’ (WGSN Sustainability Bulletin, August 2023). Sustainability is the ability to maintain or support a process over time (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sustainability.asp#:~:text=Sustainability%20is%20ability%20to%20maintain,environmental%20footprints%20and%20conserving%20resources.) but should it start to be part of our mind set and values in everyday life and part of the fashion industry as a norm. If we as consumers don’t change our mind set on fashion and the planet as one and brands continue to green washing, then we will destroy the industry and the world. ‘New Yorkers throw 200,000,000lbs of clothing into the trash every year. That’s the equivalent of 440 Statues of Liberty.’ (De Castro, O (2021). However, if we educate our self about sustainable clothing, buy less from fast fashion brands, look at quality over quantity and shop more second-hand/local it will have a positive influence on the fashion industry and lead it down a more ethical path. Using circular economy in the fashion industry helps to tackle climate change and other global challenges like biodiversity loss, waste and pollution by decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources. ‘Resale platforms boom as retail gets a circular makeover’ (WGSN Sustainability Bulletin, August 2023).
‘Decent Work & Economic Growth’ is one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) developed by the UN in 20215 for completion by 2030 to save our planet. It’s the idea to promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all (https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal8). Fairtrade is an example of a brands that has taken decent work and economic growth goal and turned it into a brand. Fairtrade work with farming co-operative, businesses and government to make trade fair for people but the planet as well. Vison for the world which is based on fairness so that producers earn secure and sustainable livelihoods.