Planet
There are 4 pillars existing within the fashion industry: planet, people, profit and purpose. To understand “planet,” you must acknowledge sustainability, and how it relates to fashion. Sustainability is creating items mindfully and producing them in a way that can be maintained and healthy for the environment. Unfortunately, the fashion industry is guilty of being one of the world’s largest polluting industries, producing around 10% of our annual carbon footprint, which is more than international flights and maritime shipping combined (Plasencia, J. 2023). Furthermore, the dyeing of fabric and chemicals used can be highly damaging to the environment, with the process being responsible for 3% of global CO2 emissions, and over 20% of global water pollution (Igini, M. 2023). Additionally, the fashion industry is extremely wasteful. In the modern day, turnover of trends and the pace of fast fashion has excelled immensely, consumers are viewing clothes as disposable, which only feeds into the amount of waste the industry produces. Of the 100 billion garments produced each year, 92 million tonnes end up in landfill (Igini, M. 2023). Many of these items are made from synthetic fabric containing microfibers that do not biodegrade and cannot be absorbed by the ecosystem.
However, there are a handful of designers who are working to combat this and introduce sustainability into mainstream and luxury fashion. An example of this would be Patrick McDowell, Patrick creates his pieces out of unwanted fabric, and his collection Climbing Family, was created from old Burberry materials. Showing consumers that sustainability can be luxurious and attractive, due to the misconception among consumers that sustainability is not necessarily stylish. Another way Patrick is environmentally conscious is that he doesn’t partake in wholesale, he only produces garments when there is a demand for them, therefore minimising the risk of having leftover stock and masses of waste.
A solution to brands becoming more sustainable is for them to consider the circular economy in their making process. The circular economy extends and continues the lifecycle of products, it’s a system where materials are regenerated to keep them in circulation and avoid becoming waste. Mainly focusing on the product being reused, resold, and recycled (MacAurthur foundation, https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-economy-introduction/overview , accessed 07/10/23). Embedding this concept would greatly improve the ecological integrity of the fashion industry, as it would force companies to think about all stages of the lifecycle, encouraging them to use more eco-friendly materials.
This also links to the UN’s 17 SDGs, the one that is most related to fashion is ‘responsible consumption and production’. One of their targets for this is to substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reusing by 2030 (https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal12, accessed 07/10/23). This is why the industry should further promote sustainability, such as thrifting and upcycling, as well as pressuring brands to use more ethical fabrics.
Bibliography
Circular economy introduction (no date) Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Available at: https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-economy-introduction/overview (Accessed: 07 October 2023).
Igini, M. (2023) 10 concerning Fast Fashion Waste Statistics, Earth.Org. Available at: https://earth.org/statistics-about-fast-fashion-waste/ (Accessed: 07 October 2023).
Plasencia, J. (2023) The world’s most polluting industries, ClimateTrade. Available at: https://climatetrade.com/the-worlds-most-polluting-industries/ (Accessed: 07 October 2023).
Goal 12 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs (no date) United Nations. Available at: https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal12 (Accessed: 08 October 2023).