Sustainable fashion is 2020's favourite buzzword. New brands increasingly refer to themselves as sustainable, while incumbents try to "green" up their story. However, fashion impacts climate, water, biodiversity, humans and animals. With such a broad range of facets, is there a clear-cut definition for sustainable fashion?
Well, to start with - of course there is a definition to the term itself. Blogger Solene Rauturier defines sustainable fashion as follows:
"Sustainable fashion refers to a more environmentally-friendly approach to designing, manufacturing and consuming clothes, making sure we cause little to no harm to our planet and don't use up all its natural resources. Sustainable fashion also focuses on extending the life of clothes, using recycled materials and recycling in general."
The definition highlights the areas that are impacted by the fashion industry, namely the environment and our planet - the latter not only including its natural resources, but also everyone who inhabits it. Typically, the areas of impact to consider include climate, water, biodiversity, humans and animals.
Secondly, the definition looks at the lifecycle of garment: design, manufacturing and consumption. This article takes you through the key decisions brands have to make across these three phases, and ends with 4 questions to always ask yourself when shopping fashion.
Sustainable fashion has many faces
In the design phase, one of the key decisions to be made is the raw material(s) used: polyester, cotton, or maybe silk. This material has to be produced, spun into yarns and then woven into fabric. There are many trade-offs to be considered between the different materials, not only in terms of properties, but also in price vs. environmental impact of its production and consumption. The footprint is significant: for example, Global Fashion Agenda's 2020 report Fashion on Climate estimated that raw materials made out over 50% of the total carbon emissions produced by the fashion industry, divided between material production (38%), yarn preparation (8%) and fabric manufacturing (6%).
The fabric is then manufactured into the garment, and 3 decisions have a major impact on our planet: the origin of production, the selection of suppliers and the production quantities. Garment manufacturing requires energy-intensive processes, and therefore the energy mix in the production country typically gives a good indication of the carbon emissions related to production. Unfortunately today, the majority of clothes is produced in China, Vietnam, India and Bangladesh - all with a coal driven energy mix, compared to the increasingly greener energy mix in Europe.
Secondly, brands have to select suppliers. In recent years major fashion brands have been linked to overseas sweatshops and disasters like the Rana Plaza in 2013. Brands have quickly released statements, first to disconnect themselves, then to confirm an on-track trajectory to erase all unfair working conditions from their supply chain. However, greenwashing is prevalent, and even well-intended organisations cannot always ensure a clean overseas supply chain as subcontracting is common in the fashion industry. And the larger the organisation's size, the harder it typically gets.
A final critical decision to the manufacturing phase is the production quantity. Industry-average overproduction is estimated at a staggering 20%, resulting in ca. 40% of garments to be sold at a markdown. Ironically, this wasteful set-up is financially beneficial for large fashion brands, as the large order sizes allow to keep the costs low. At the other end of the spectrum, spurred by social media platforms like Instagram and marketplaces like Etsy, there is a rapidly growing segment of made-to-order fashion brands that produce zero overstock - which does come at a higher cost.
Overproduction in fashion is estimated at a staggering 20%, resulting in ca. 40% of garments to be sold at a markdown
After design and manufacturing, finally we as consumers are responsible for the consumption of our clothes. Two elements play a major role: laundry and disposal. We simply wash our clothes too often: EllenMacArthur estimated that washing and drying of clothing alone account for 120 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent and 20 billion cubic metres of water per year globally. In addition, synthetic fabrics, which make up around 60% of all clothes, release microplastics into waterways during each wash. When it comes to disposal, many challenges await. While EllenMacArthur found that <1% of all fashion textiles are recycled back into textiles and 83% of clothes ends up burned or in landfills, the global second-hand clothing trade is increasingly questioned since evidence that the growing influx of clothes is linked to unfair trade and destabilizes local industries.
4 questions to always ask yourself when shopping fashion
Summarized - is there a clear-cut definition for sustainable fashion? Overall, there will be few brands that are truly sustainable along the way. Brand A can decide to only work with sustainable materials (e.g., recycled, organic) but provide limited transparency on their supply chain. Brand B can highlight they only produce locally with a small and controlled network of producers, but use only cheap and unsustainable materials. Today however, both brands will tell you they are sustainable.
The first steps towards sustainable fashion are not about establishing non-negotiable restrictions for yourself. Rather, it's to create an awareness and an understanding of the choices you have, and to build up an understanding of the trade-offs between each of them
So where do you start? The first step for us as consumers is to become more aware of what's behind the piece of clothing we have in our hands. We summarized for you the four key questions to always ask when shopping fashion - and you only need the fiber content label, the country of origin, and a smartphone with internet!
What material are these clothes made of? The material of a garment presents serious trade-offs in impact on our environment. Find out more in our article on Materials.
In which country was this garment produced? This gives you an indication of the emissions during production - although this is not black and white.
How does the brand address sustainability issues? Very low prices, high product quantities and large-scale mark-downs typically present warning signs beyond the sustainability claims made by the brand. The brand's rating on Good On You is a great first step in your research journey.
Do I have to buy new or can I rent or buy second-hand? Buying second-hand becomes increasingly accessible with mobile rental platforms that mimic the user experience of a Zalando or Asos marketplace.
As a final thought, the first steps towards sustainable fashion are not about establishing non-negotiable restrictions for yourself. Rather, it's to create an awareness and an understanding of the choices you have and to build up an understanding of the trade-offs between each of them, so we can balance out "guilty pleasures" with a more conscious purchase behaviour.
On house athena, we will publish posts that address all these topics in more detail, including summaries of reports, unfolding trends in materials and business models, inspiring brands and organisations and many more. Hope these will inspire you and empower you with the right knowledge and tools to shop fashion sustainably!
This article serves as an introduction to the topic of sustainable fashion, and is the first of a collection of posts that go deeper into each sub-topic.
Sources: Global Fashion Agenda (2020) "Fashion on Climate", Ellen MacArthur (2017), "A new textiles economy: redesigning fashion's future"
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