Introduction
The fashion industry is on a crossroad. It has been two decades of style and sustainability reporting, and I have witnessed an incredible change. What started as a fringe movement and was pushed by the idealistic designers has become a legitimate movement that is changing the way we think about clothing, consumption and the future of our planet.
They are not simply designers creating a line of so-called eco-friendly clothes or products but are revolutionizing the whole system, starting with fiber and ending with a piece of clothing. These are the sustainable fashion designers that are truly coming to alter the game.
Stella McCartney: The High End Mover Who Brought It All.
By making her eponymous label in 2001 with a no-leather and no-fur policy, Stella McCartney was scorned by the industry as naive. Exotic skinless luxury fashion? Impossible, they said.
Twenty-three years on, big houses are scurrying in order to keep pace with her vision.
McCartney is not only avoiding animal products but it is her tenacious innovation quest. Her team has collaborated with biotech firms to innovate mushroom leather and pioneer regenerative farming methods and produce one of the industry’s first regenerative profit and loss statements.
I also talked to one of the former McCartney team members last year who explained how the company processes its decisions: It filters all its material decisions through a sustainability filter first. It is not marketing, it is actually the way decisions are made.
The bag created out of mycelium leather which she recently calls Frayme Mylo is the epitome of this philosophy in practice.
Mara Hoffman: Turning a Brand around.
The most interesting part of the story of Mara Hoffman is that she did not start her sustainable brand, but she reinvented an already existing one. Hoffman has totally transformed her ready-to-wear and swimwear business in 2015 after viewing a documentary on the problem of ocean pollution.
Such a mid-career transition is extremely challenging. Ecotourism materials are usually expensive. There should be rebuilding of production processes. The relationships with the suppliers need to be renegotiated.
Hoffman did it anyway.
Her collections now include recycled nylon, fishing net and fabric scrap nylon, organic cotton and responsible linen. In addition to the materials, she has addressed the consumption patterns and has done so by creating versatile items that are to be used over time and not based on trends.
Her strategy shows that there is something valuable: sustainability is not exclusive to new brands. The established designers are able and ought to develop.
Eileen Fisher: Sustainable Can Scale.
A big number of sustainable brands fail to make it out of niche boutique. Eileen Fisher demonstrates that this drawback is not unavoidable.
Having a revenue of more than 500 million per year, the company of Fisher proves that it is possible to make things ethical on a large scale. Since 2009, her take-back program, Renew, has garnered more than 1.5 million pieces of clothes that are resold, repurposed or recycled.
The thing that I find most impressive about visiting the operations of Fisher is the level to which sustainability is taken in all departments. It is not a marketing program, it is company DNA. Employees get living wages. The choice of fabrics is dominated by organic and recycled materials. Even the dyeing operations reduce the amount of waste of water.
Gabriela Hearst: Luxury Without Compromise.
After Gabriela Hearst presented the first ever carbon-neutral fashion show in history at New York Fashion Week, it was a good omen: sustainability had reached the pinnacle of luxuriousness.
Hearst has a different point of view. She personally experienced the effect and the potential of farming on the environment by being raised on a sheep ranch in Uruguay. Her namesake brand uses wool that is grown on her family regenerative managed ranch, which completes a circle between the land stewardship and fashion production.
This vision is also applied to a major luxury house, her tenure at Chloé where she works as a creative director. Chloé has also sought B Corp under her guidance, which was unheard of at its level of scale and history.
Bode: Worshipping Craftsmanship and Circularity.
Emily Adams Bode does not consider sustainability in the same way as the majority. Instead of introducing major discoveries in terms of new eco-materials, she makes her menswear brand revolve around antique fabrics, vintage quilts, and deadstock fabrics.
Each Bode piece tells a story. A jacket can also use French linen of the 1920s. Victorian needlework could be used in trousers. This is not recycling in the modern meaning of this word, it is rather a preservation of the textiles that have a risk of being forgotten.
Her writing poses great questions to the relationship of fashion to time. Why should being new presuppose value? Bode believes the contrary may be the case.
The strategy is not readily scalable, as Bode is quite candid about it. It has a philosophical alternative to the disposability of fast fashion though.
Collina Strada: Sustainability, but Fun.
The idea that sustainable fashion is a boring beige bases is what Collina strada by Hillary Taymour attempts to dispel.
Her runway collections are characterized by bright prints, non-stereotypical shapes, and pure happiness. There is a deadstock, recycled, and upcycled antique in collections, but with a light-hearted attitude that is less serious about environmentalism among young customers.
Taymour is a new wave of designers who do not want the deceptive decision of sustainability or creativity.
The Challenges Ahead
It would be deceptive on my part to say that sustainable fashion has resolved its inherent tensions. These designers do not have imaginary barriers.
Sustainable materials can be very expensive compared to the traditional ones. Even with the endeavors to improve supply chains, they still remain opaque. The big brands doing greenwashing create confusion and deny the real progress. And the very nature of fashion- business model of promoting continuous buying does not align with the environmental agenda.
Why This Matters Now
Depending on whom you believe, the fashion industry has been estimated to add 2-8% of the total carbon emission globally. Synthetic clothing pollutes the oceans of the world with microplastic. Waste generated by textile fills the world landfills.
These are not the problems that the designers are solving in isolation. However, they are showing that there are other options- that sustainable fashion can be beautiful and be commercially viable and not be like business as usual.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it take to make a fashion designer sustainable?
True sustainability involves the procurement of materials, labor, process of production, and the end-of-life. Find disclosure about supply chains and quantifiable environmental undertakings.
Are green fashion companies costlier?
Yes, usually, as ethical material and decent salaries are more expensive. Nonetheless, cost-per-wear usually prefers sustainable fashion that is of high quality and made to last.
Who has the cheapest sustainable designer?
The Renew program by Eileen Fisher and such brands as Reformation have quite affordable prices in comparison to luxury sustainable brands.
What do I do to ensure that a brand is sustainable?
Check on third-party certifications such as B Corp, GOTS or Fair Trade. Check transparency reports, and particular material information, instead of incoherent promotional wording.
Is sustainable fashion a trend?
There are indications to the contrary. The demand of consumers, pressure of regulating agencies, and the actual need of the environment show that sustainable practices will become the norm in the industry and not an exception.
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