How fashion brands are approaching sustainability
by Natasha Christou Digital Marketing ConsultantMany
businesses have come under criticism for their approach on environmental
issues, with some consumers even switching their most loyal brands to
competitors as a result. But innovative businesses are now quickly realising
that deploying an eco-conscious tangential change in their material sourcing is
what the consumers of 2019 want.
Sustainability
within retail refers to the sourcing of eco-friendly materials that make up the
fabrics used in clothing. Other factors include the working conditions of the
people producing the materials, the materials total carbon footprint as well as
what happens to it once it’s discarded by its owner. Other means of late come
in the form of upcycling, which refers to the creative re-use of clothing into
newer materials. This could be anywhere from turning old jumpers into cushion
covers or simply turning dresses into crop tops.
Environmental villains
Fast
Fashion is one of the main causes of the huge amount of unnecessary waste in
the clothing industry. It’s a contemporary term used by retailers to express
the rapid process of the mass-production of clothes in order to keep up with
the latest trends at a much lower cost.
Made
quickly and inexpensively, the concept allows fashion enthusiasts to look
similar to their chosen trends at a much more affordable cost, which, on the
face of it, allows for a certain equality no matter the individuals financial
income.
But
it’s the scenes in the background of this fashion movement that have angered
the environmentalists among us and rightly so – with researchers believing that
throwaway disposable clothing such as the types fast fashion churns out, is
contributing more towards climate change than that of air and sea travel. How
can anyone justify paying £3 for a t shirt?
Environmental efforts
The
stubborn, adamant campaigners have once again influenced the stratagem of a
retailing powerhouse. Despite Burberry burning all their unwanted stock a few
years ago, they did announce towards the end of last year that going forward,
not only would they be stopping this practice, they would also be stopping the
use of real fur.
Massive
brands with large consumer followings such as H&M are starting to roll out
their efforts to a more sustainable planet. They announced last year that they aim to use only recycled materials by 2030 and
by 2040 it wants to be 100% climate positive. Of course, it’s one thing making
a bold statement but it’s another to follow up on it by implementing changes
straight away. As the world’s second largest clothing retailer, they currently
source 35% of materials from recycled or sustainably sourced materials,
although their goal is in years to come, they still have a long way to go in
order to achieve it.
Going
‘eco’ shouldn’t mean a change of desirability of the clothing. People buy
clothes because they like the aesthetics of them, and going green shouldn’t
mean beige, “oatmeal-coloured fashion that are oversized or lacking in any sort
of luxury” as Stella McCartney puts it, it’s a nod in the direction of the way
fashion brands are being experimental when it comes to how they continuously
mould their strategies.
What contributes towards a bad footprint?
Although
efforts are being made to reduce the massive carbon footprint caused by the
retail sector, including sustainable cotton initiatives to reduce the amount of
water used, as well as monitoring energy and chemical use, the balance has
actually tilted in the direction of the consumer.
With
growing demands to stay on top of the latest fashion, the unquenchable desire
means people are buying more and more clothes, in fact, since 2012, the amount
of clothes we have purchased has risen 10%. Not only are we buying more, the
rate at which they’re getting discarded is also increasing.
To the future
The younger generation have really taken to
the rehoming of certain brands and rare items of clothing. Although vintage
shops have been around for some time, the collection of certain brands such as
Ralph Lauren and Fred Perry have gained somewhat of a cult following amongst
Generation Z.
The celebration and attraction to such brands
has allowed huge amounts of clothes to find homes instead of being thrown away
by disinterested owners, which begs the question are branded, higher-quality
clothes and uniforms built for longevity and second owners rather than the
fast-fashion clothing of today.
This
article was written and provided by Jermyn Street Design, providers of retail uniforms.
Sources
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44885983
https://www.savethestudent.org/shopping/fashion/how-to-up-cycle-your-old-clothing.html
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Created on Sep 18th 2019 03:50. Viewed 449 times.