Fashion and Sustainability

Is it possible to be Fashion and Eco-friendly at the same time?

The Trouble

While most consumer goods suffer from similar issues, what makes the fashion industry particularly problematic is the frenetic pace of change it not only undergoes, but encourages. With each passing season or “micro-season”, consumers are pushed into buying the latest items to stay on trend.

It’s hard to visualize all of the inputs that go into producing garments, but let’s take denim as an example. The UN estimates that a single pair of jeans requires a kilogram of cotton. And because cotton tends to be grown in dry environments, producing this kilo requires about 7,500–10,000 liters of water. That’s about 10 years’ worth of drinking water for one person.

One of the most apparent reasons for the current unsustainable condition of the fashion system is related to the temporal aspects of fashion; the continuous stream of new goods onto the market, or what is popularly called “fast fashion“. The term has come to signify cheap, accessible and on-trend clothes, sourced through global production chains and sold through chains

The textiles and fashion industries are amongst the leading industries that affect the environment negatively. One of the industries that greatly jeopardizes environmental sustainability is the textiles and fashion industry, which thus also bears great responsibilities. Globalization has made it possible to produce clothing at increasingly lower prices, prices so low, and collections shifting so fast, that many consumers consider fashion to be disposable

Putting the environmental perspective at the center, rather than the logic of the industry, is thus an urgent concern if fashion is to become more sustainable. The Earth Logic fashion research action plan argues for “putting the health and survival of our planet earth and consequently the future security and health of all species including humans, before industry, business and economic growth

Furthermore, the Earth Logic fashion research action plan sets out a range of possible areas for work in sustainable fashion that scientific and research evidence suggests are the most likely to deliver change of the scale and pace needed to respond to challenges like climate change. Earth Logic’s point of departure is that the planet, and its people, must be put first, before profit. It replaces the logic of economic growth, which is arguably the single largest factor limiting change towards sustainable fashion, with the logic that puts earth at its center

The clothing industry has one of the highest impacts on the planet. High water usage, pollution from chemical treatments used in dyeing and preparation and the disposal of large amounts of unsold clothing through incineration or landfill deposits are hazardous to the environment. There is a growing water scarcity, the current usage level of fashion materials (79 billion cubic meters annually) is very concerning, because textile production mostly takes place in areas of fresh water stress. Only around 20% of clothing is recycled or reused, huge amounts of fashion product end up as waste in landfills or is incinerated. It has been estimated that in the UK alone around 350,000 tons of clothing ends up as landfill every year. According to Earth Pledge, a non-profit organization committed to promoting and supporting sustainable development, “At least 8,000 chemicals are used to turn raw materials into textiles and 25% of the world’s pesticides are used to grow non-organic cotton. This causes irreversible damage to people and the environment, and still two thirds of a garment’s carbon footprint will occur after it is purchased.” The average North-American throws away nearly 70 pounds of clothing per year. There is an increasing concern as microfibers from synthetic fabrics are polluting the earths waters through the process of laundering. Microfibers are tiny threads that are shed from fabric. These microfibers are too small to be captured in waste water treatment plants filtration systems and they end up entering our natural water systems and as a result contaminating our food chain. One study found that 34.8% of micro-plastics found in oceans come from the textile and clothing industry and majority of them were made of polyester, polyethylene, acrylic, and elastane. A study off the coast of the UK and US by the Plymouth Marine Laboratory in May 2020 suggested there are at least double the number of particles as previously though. Eliminating synthetic materials used in clothing products can prevent harmful synthetics and microfibers from ending up in the natural environment. Around 70 million barrels of oil a year are used to make polyester fibers in our clothes. From waterproof jackets to delicate scarves, it’s extremely hard to get away from the stuff. Part of this stems from the convenience – polyester is easy to clean and durable. It is also lightweight and inexpensive. A shirt made from polyester has double the carbon footprint compared to one made from cotton. A polyester shirt produces the equivalent of 5.5kg of carbon dioxide compared to 2.1kg from a cotton shirt.

One of the main social issues related to fashion concerns labor. Since the Triangle shirtwaist factory fire in 1911, labor rights in the fashion industry has been at the center of this issue. The 2013 Savar building collapse at Rana Plaza, where 1138 people died, put the spotlight once again on the lack of transparency, poor working conditions and hazards in fashion production. Attention is increasingly being placed on labor rights violations in other parts of the whole fashion product life-cycle from textile production and processing, retail and distribution and modelling to the recycling of textiles. Whilst the majority of fashion and textiles are produced in Asia, Central America, Turkey, North Africa, the Caribbean and Mexico, there is still production across Europe where exploitative working conditions are also found such as in Leicester in the UK Midlands and Central and Eastern Europe.

The fashion industry benefits from racial, class and gender inequalities. These inequalities and pressure from brands and retailers in the form of low prices and short lead times contribute to exploitative working conditions and low wages.

The number of workers employed in textiles, clothing and footwear is unknown due to the differences in statistical measures. It is generally accepted that at least 25 million people, the majority women, work in garment manufacture and up to 300 million in cotton alone. Nevertheless, it is really difficult to estimate exactly how many people work in the production sector, because small-scale manufacturing and contracting firms that operate illegally continue to exist within the industry.

The environmental impact of fashion also affects communities located close to production sites. There is little easily accessible information about these impacts, but it is known that water and land pollution from toxic chemicals used to produce and dye fabrics and have serious negative consequences for the people living near factories.  At the global level, fashion is contributing to climate change and threatens biodiversity, which have social consequences for everyone.

The impact of fashion across the planet is unevenly distributed. Whereas much of the benefits of cheap and accessible clothes targets and benefits the socially mobile classes in metropolitan areas in the Global North, developing countries take a much proportion of the negative impact from the fashion system in terms of waste, pollution, and ecological injustices.

The current focus on solutions related to “reduce, reuse, recycle,” which are primarily promoted through brand initiatives, fails to address the global impact of the fashion system. Not only does it push responsibility for systemic issues onto the individual, but it also primarily positions fashion in a Western consumerism context, and puts Euro-centric models of status, individualism, and consumerism as universal models for social life and aspirations.  At the heart of the controversy concerning “fast fashion” lies the acknowledgement that the “problem” of unsustainable fashion is that cheap, accessible and on-trend clothes have become available to people of poorer means. This means more people across the world have adopted the consumption habits that in the mid-twentieth century were still reserved for the rich. To put it differently, the economic concern of fashion is that poor people now have access to updating their wardrobes as often as the rich. That is, “fast” fashion is only a problem when poor people engage in it. In alignment with this, blame is often put on poor consumers; they don’t buy quality goods, buy too much and too cheap, etc.

The economic concerns of fashion also means many of the sustainable “solutions” to fashion, such as buying high-quality goods to last longer, are not accessible to people with less means. From an economic perspective, sustainability thus remains a moralizing issue of educated classes teaching the less educated “responsible consumption,” and a debate that mainly concerns promoting frugality and austerity to those with less means. It is seen as an opportunity by businesses that allow resale of luxury goods.

The distribution of value within the fashion industry is another economic concern, with garment workers and textile farmers and workers receiving low wages and prices.

It is worth noticing that while social “inclusivity” has become almost a norm amongst brands marketing ethical and sustainable fashion, the norm for what is considered a “beautiful” and “healthy” body keeps narrowing down under what researchers have called the current “wellness syndrome.” With the positive thinking of inclusivity, the assumption is that you can be whatever you want to be, and thus if you are not living up to the ideals it is your own fault. This optimism hides the diktat of aesthetic wellness, which turns inclusion into an obligation to look good and be dressed in fashionable clothes, a “democratic” demand for aesthetic as well as ethical perfection, as argued by philosopher Heather Widdows

In addition, fashion companies are criticized for the lack of size, age, physical ability, gender and racial diversity of models used in photo shoots and catwalks. A more radical and systemic critique of social inequality in fashion concerns the exclusion and aesthetic supremacy inherent and accentuated through fashion that still remains unquestioned under the current environmentally focused discourse on sustainable fashion.

The Alternative:

Sustainable clothing refers to fabrics derived from Eco-friendly resources, such as sustainably grown fiber crops or recycled materials. It also refers to how these fabrics are made. Historically, being environmentally conscious towards clothing meant buying clothes from thrift stores or any shops that sell second-hand clothing, or donating used clothes to shops previously mentioned, for reuse or resale. In modern times, with a prominent trend towards sustainability and being ‘green’, sustainable clothing has expanded towards  reducing the amount of clothing discarded to landfills, and decreasing the environmental impact of Aggro-chemicals in producing conventional fiber crops (e.g. cotton).

Some manufacturers are also working on ways to reduce the environmental impact from the production of their products.

Slow fashion can be seen as an alternative approach against fast fashion, based on principles of the slow food movement. Characteristics of sustainable fashion match the philosophies of “slow fashion” in that emotional, ecological and ethical qualities are favored over uniform and bland convenience with minimal friction. It requires a changed infrastructure and a reduced through-put of goods. Categorically, slow fashion is neither business-as-usual nor just involving design classics. Nor is it production-as-usual but with long lead times. Slow fashion is a vision of the fashion sector built from a different starting point. Slow fashion is a fashion concept that reflects a perspective, which respects human living conditions, biological, cultural diversity and scarce global resources and creates unique, personalized products.

Slow fashion challenges growth fashion’s obsession with mass-production and globalized style and becomes a guardian of diversity. It changes the power relations between fashion creators and consumers and forges new relationships and trust that are only possible at smaller scales. It fosters a heightened state of awareness of the design process and its impacts on resource flows, workers, communities, and ecosystems.

Slow fashion often consists of durable products, traditional production techniques or design concepts that strive to be season-less or last aesthetically and materially for longer periods of time. The impact of slowness aims to affect many points of the production chain. For workers in the textile industry in developing countries, slow fashion means higher wages. For end-users, slow fashion means that the goods are designed and manufactured with greater care and high-quality products. From an environmental point of view, it means that there is less clothing and industrial waste that are removed from use following transient trends. Emphasis is put on durability; emotionally, materially, aesthetically and/or through services that prolong the use-life of garments. New ideas and product innovations are constantly redefining slow fashion, so using a static, single definition would ignore the evolving nature of the concept.

The sustainable fashion movement believe that the fashion industry has a clear opportunity to act differently, pursuing profit and growth while also creating new value and deeper wealth for society and therefore for the world economy. They believe that clothing companies ought to place environmental, social, and ethical improvements on management’s agenda. The goal of sustainable fashion is to create flourishing ecosystems and communities through its activity. This may include: increasing the value of local production and products; prolonging the life-cycle of materials; increasing the value of timeless garments; reducing the amount of waste; and to reducing the harm to the environment created as a result of production and consumption. Another of its aims can sometimes be seen to educate people to practice environmentally friendly consumption by promoting the “green consumer”

Sustainable fashion is a movement and process of fostering change to fashion products and the fashion system towards greater ecological integrity and social justice. Sustainable fashion concerns more than just addressing fashion textiles or products. It comprises addressing the whole system of fashion. This means dealing with interdependent social, cultural, ecological and financial systems. Sustainable fashion also deals with considering fashion from the perspective of many stakeholders – users and producers, all living species, contemporary and future dwellers on earth. Sustainable fashion therefore belongs to, and is the responsibility of, citizens, public sector and private sector. A key example of the need for systems thinking in fashion is that the benefits of product-level initiatives, such as replacing one fiber type for a less environmentally harmful option, is eaten up by increasing volumes of fashion products.

The carbon footprint of our clothing can also be reduced in other ways, too. The way we shop has a big impact. Some research has suggested that online shopping can have a lower carbon footprint than traveling to traditional shops to buy products, particularly if consumers live far away. A simple way to reduce the footprint from online shopping then is to only order what we really want and intend to keep

It is clear that investing in higher-quality clothing, wearing them more often and holding onto them for longer, is the not-so-secret weapon for combating the carbon footprint from your garments

How you dispose of the clothes at the end of their useful life is also important. Throwing them away so they end up in landfill or being incinerated simply leads to more emissions. Perhaps the best approach is to pass them on to friends or take them to charity shops if they are still good enough to be worn

Many of the changes needed to make clothing more sustainable have to be implemented by the manufacturers and big companies that control the fashion industry. But as consumers the changes we all make in our behavior not only add up, but can drive change in the industry, too.