PLANET
Our planet is a staple in our lives, an essential part of our existence that we have never questioned. Similarly to the relationship of fashion and humans, we’ve been using textiles since the late Stone age, but now the production of textiles and the fashion industry have become the number 2 pollutant to earth, the place we call our home. We strive for sustainability, but we cannot call ourselves truly sustainable as we are collectively destroying our planet. Something as simple as buying a t-shirt causes significant damage, 2700L of water being used to a make a single shirt, which is enough for a person to drink for 900 days (Taylor Mogavero, 2020). The fashion industry is responsible for up to 10% of all carbon emissions, surpassing all international flights and maritime shipping combined (UNEP, 2018). It brings us to question topics such as morality and how we can improve our destructive processes that we are so accustomed to.
The UN has dominated the subject of sustainability with the introduction of the 17 SDGs, made to tackle world problems such as climate change and world hunger. One SDG that has had an impact on the fashion industry would be responsible consumption and production. Rising concerns for practices of the fashion industry are leading companies to operate in more sustainable ways and using less harmful production practices. An example of a brand that is more sustainable would be Levis, as their materials are ethically sourced, their water usage reduced and no use of child labour. Brands like Levis are considered ‘slow fashion’ as they put more thought into sustainable practices and using ethical materials and means of production. Major luxury brand Burberry is also putting sustainable practices into effect as they ‘refinanced its £300m revolving credit facility with Lloyds Bank, linking its terms to the achievement of key environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets. These include reducing emissions by 46% by 2030 and becoming net zero by 2040.’ (Drapers, 2022).
A concept that promotes sustainability within fashion named the circular economy’ is becoming a topic of discussion for future plans to preserve our planet with 3 main goals in mind. These are the elimination of waste and pollution, circulation of materials, and regenerating nature. This concept also has impacted companies to implement ‘circular design’ framework, for example Zalando has applied this to their 5,800 brand partners as they recognise the tremendous environmental impacts in manufacturing fashion (Drapers, 2022). By slowly implementing sustainable ways, we can lessen the burden on our planet and live more comfortably.
References:
Taylor Mogavero ‘Clothed in Conservation: Fashion & Water’ (2020)
https://sustainablecampus.fsu.edu/blog/clothed-conservation-fashion-water
Moran, G. (2022) Drapers, Collaborating for Change: Sustainability Report 2022
https://www.drapersonline.com/guides/collaborating-for-change-sustainability-report-2022