Introduction
I have been in the fashion industry almost fifteen years and I will admit; when the issue of sustainability started picking up grounds around 2010, I was not a believer. It was like a other marketing buzzword that would be put on a tag by brands to charge more. However, having traversed fabric expos, interviewed designers and seeing the consumer behavior changing over the last ten years, I have seen something truly different come into being.
Green fashion is no longer a niche. It is transforming the way clothes are designed, manufactured, sold and disposed. And even though it still has a lot of greenwashing to contend with, the valid trends that are changing this industry should be given due consideration.
The Slow Fashion Movement is Now Reduced to a Mainstream.
The slow fashion proponents have been the outcasts in years past; the extreme environmentalists who appeared to have no clue in how ordinary consumers make their purchases. That's changed dramatically.
The idea is simple; purchase less, better, and wear clothes longer. I was surprised when I held recent interviews with consumers of various ages and the way in which this philosophy has infiltrated the mainstream thinking without people consciously identifying it as slow fashion.
One of the mothers who were in her forties informed me that she now thinks before she buys anything to her kids. I used to snatch low end stuff as they grow so fast anyway as she tried to explain. Then I have seen a documentary on textile waste, and something came together. I now purchase good secondhand or invest in something that can be inherited.
This attitude change reflects itself in buying information, as well. The recent retail analytics show that the average amount of garments sold to each consumer has decreased in a number of western markets, and the amount of money spent on each item has grown. Consumers are purchasing few and superior items, which is the key message of slow fashion.
Second hand shopping is no longer stigmatized.
Do you remember that thrifting was a secret or only done when you were financially having a hard time? Those were conclusively behind them.
The resale market has now become a multi-billion dollar business that is expanding at a higher rate as compared to the traditional retail. Services such as ThredUp, Poshmark, Depop, and The RealReal have simplified the process of purchasing used apparel to the same ease as shopping in any other store. Luxury consignment has been very profitable and verified designer items fetch unbelievable prices.
The thing that interests me about this trend is that it was mainly propelled by consumers who are younger as they are indeed willing to do second hand shopping as the first choice, not as an option. Gen Z customers in this specific case have adopted thrifting as a way of self-identification and treasure-hunt. Vintage and secondhand are the unique aspects that attract them more than the mass-produced fast fashion.
Thrift stores are also developed physically. Enter any big store in a Goodwill Boutique or a carefully curated vintage store in any major city and you will see well-merchandised Instagram-ready spaces that do not resemble the chaotic charity shops of the olden days.
Last spring I went to a second hand clothes market in Copenhagen where young entrepreneurs were selling edited collections out of their personal wardrobes. It was not a swap meet but rather a fashion event. That's the new normal.
The Rental and Subscription Models Are gaining grounds.
This is one trend that I initially did not take seriously and it has proved me wrong: clothing rental.
This concept has been applied to daily wear and has been pioneered by companies such as Rent the Runway in special occasions. Rotating wardrobes have now become available through subscription services where you make monthly payments, use clothes over a couple of weeks, send them back and get new ones.
The appeal would be practical to some lifestyles. The real benefit of this lies in the fact that pregnant women, professionals who go to various events regularly, or any person who appreciates variety but does not want to overload their storage device can find it truly valuable. On the sustainability front, every garment will have more than one person wearing it rather than lying in the closets and being underutilized.
Nevertheless, I would mention that the model does not receive environmental criticism without fault. Shipment, dry cleaning, and packaging have their own imprint logistics. The sustainability math is found to work out only when the rental substitutes purchases, as opposed to complementing them. The major challenge of carbon-neutral shipping and environmentally friendly cleaning systems is being intended by the brands, which are the most concerned about this space.
Creative Fabrics are redesigning the nature of clothes.
Sustainable fashion becomes truly interesting in the technological sense at this point.
The designers and material scientists are developing fabrics using materials that would have been ridiculous to imagine ten years ago. I have dealt with clothes made of pineapple leaves, mushroom mycelium, apple waste, and even algae. Not as lab specimens, but as real business products which are in use with existing brands.
Piñatex is a leather substitute made out of pineapple leaf so that it can be worn as leather. Luxury brands such as Stella McCartney and Hermes are using Mylo, which is made out of mushroom roots, in their products. Orange Fiber makes silk-like clothes that are made out of citrus juice byproducts. These are no gimmicks, they are patented technologies that are ready on a large scale to be produced in the mainstream.
Recycled materials are also gaining many notches higher. The previous kinds of polyester that were recycled were very cheap and deteriorated with time. Existing recycled synthetics can be made almost the same quality as virgin materials. Other brands are already developing the closed-loop systems, in which they recycle old products that have reached the end of their lives and recycle them into new clothes.
The challenge remains cost. Numerous sustainable materials are innovative and highly priced which restricts their affordability. However, costs are slowly falling as production is increased and technology advances, and in the same lines as that of renewable energy.
Openness is Now Non-Negotiable.
Consumers want to know more about the place of their clothes, their manufacturers, and the circumstances under which they are manufactured. It is no longer sufficient to place the tag "made in [country] on the product.
Social brands now offer specific supply chain data, even to the names of factories, wages paid to workers, and environmental standards. Contracting QR codes on tags can be used to connect with video tours of plants. The blockchain technology is under test to establish irreversible records about the path of a garment since it was made out of a raw material until it was placed on shelves.
This push towards transparency sprang up partly through previous scandals. The Rana Plaza garment factory collapse that occurred in Bangladesh in 2013 claimed more than one thousand garment workers and gave the entire world a reason to reconsider what they buy. Further scandals of environmental pollution, work exploitation, and inadequate workplace safety in the supply chains of fast fashion made brands continue to pressurize them to open up their doors to criticism.
Capsule Wardrobes and Meaningful Dressing.
The minimalist wardrobe idea has developed into a fringe way of life to a very viable one that many individuals are actually attractive to.
The simple principle here is to shop a smaller set of versatile and good quality items which are mix and matchable together and usually around 30-40 items depending on whoever you are asking. This method lowers the decision fatigue, saves money in the long term, and of course restricts overconsumption.
What appeals to me is that the thought of capsule wardrobes has affected individuals who do not necessarily uphold the idea. The guiding beliefs, which are purchasing items with a high level of versatility, investing in quality, and considering how the items fit together, have trickled over into the overall shopping behaviors even among those who still possess loads of clothes.
Content creators and influencers who film their capsule wardrobe tests have aided in making it normal. The thought of spending a whole year viewing a person in creative ways of wearing the same thirty pieces no longer seems limiting but plausible.
Local and Artisanal Production Is Finding Its Market.
Even though global supply chains continue to take up fashion, locally-made, artisanal garments are growing substantially.
Production in small batches, made to order models and regional production are also appealing to customers who appreciate craftsmanship, distinctive design and also supporting local economies. The made locally appeal is not entirely sentimental, since the shortening of supply chains also involves the reduction of transportation emissions and quality control.
I have observed this trend especially thrive in the European markets whereby there is still existence of the traditional textile industries. Brands and consumers are increasingly focusing on origin and craft, which is taking the place of the previous concern of Portuguese, Italian, and Spanish producers in overcoming cheap foreign competition.
Domestic production has turned out to be one of the marketing differentiators of certain brands in the United States even though it would be more expensive. Being able to tour the factory where your clothes are produced, the people who have to sew them, checking the conditions with your own hands, would attract a particular part of consumers who would be ready to spend more money on products.
Online Fashion and Virtual Clothing Sound Crazy -Until it Doesn.
I will confess that this tendency was absurd at the beginning of my acquaintance. So why spend any money on the clothes that are virtual?
However, this is what made me change my thought: we already spend colossal sums of money on digital products - video game skins, application features, virtual experience. The distinction between physical and virtual value is less clear to older consumers than it is to generations brought up in a digital-first world.
Digital fashion has several sustainable functions. Influencers on social media can demonstrate the variety of outfits without having real clothes, and online clothes are applied to the photos. Virtual wardrobes can be used to express oneself in the gaming and metaverse environments. The most practical may be that through digital sampling the designers and brands can experiment with ideas without creating a physical prototype.
Will this supersede real-life clothes? Obviously not. But as a complement that will fulfill some of our variety-seeking drives at the cost of minimizing material production.
Repair, Care and Longevity Culture.
The slogan Buy once, wear forever has come to be more of a lived thing. There exists an actual cultural change towards preservation and mending of clothes instead of throwing them away.
The Worn Wear program by Patagonia was a trendsetter during its launch in that it provided repairs and sold secondhand clothing. Such initiatives are currently proliferating throughout the industry. Big brands are also setting up repair shops, providing spare buttons and patches, and even providing care instructions to enable customers to prolong the life of their garments.
The fashion thinking also has been influenced by the right-to-repair movement, which is mainly electronics-oriented. Repairability, can the buttons be changed, is some of the considerations some consumers now make when buying. Can seams be reinforced? Will the brand support this product even in several years?
Certifications and Standards: Cutting through the Noise.
Claiming sustainability is a ubiquitous state and the credible certification systems have been the key to the consumer belief.
A number of valid standards have arisen. GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) is a certificate regarding the content of organic fibers, and production process. OEKO-TEX bad substance tests. The issue of workers is covered by Fair Trade certification. The B Corp status examines general corporate responsibility.
The Greenwashing Problem is Not Staring into Space.
It would be a disservice to the readers to come up with sustainable fashion as a closed issue. The act of greenwashing misleading environmental claims is still rife.
The fast fashion brands have been able to learn how to talk sustainability, yet they are essentially taking unsustainable business models. To make a conscious collection with a part of recycled materials cannot compensate the creation of billions of garments meant to be thrown away in months.
Regulatory agencies are beginning to resist. European Union has suggested the prohibition of such generic environmental claims as environmentally friendly or green without any proof. The federal trade commission of the United States has heightened attention toward fashion marketing of sustainability. A number of brands have been challenged in courts on false claims.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is sustainable fashion?
Sustainable fashion refers to the garments that are designed, produced, distributed and even worn in a manner that is environmentally and socially responsible. This is through the use of environmentally friendly material, fair phases of labor, waste minimization and designing of products that are durable.
Is eco-friendly fashion more costly?
Generally, yes. Costs involved are higher production levels, good salaries and quality materials. Nevertheless, sustainable approaches can be cheap with second hand shopping, purchasing less, and having a longer shelf life of clothes.
What do I consider as the real sustainability of a brand?
Search particular third-party certifications (GOTS, Fair Trade, B Corp), the more information about the supply chain, and practice disclosures. Do not believe vague statements such as the eco-friendly without proving to be true.
Which are the most sustainable fabrics?
Some of the more sustainable alternatives include organic cotton, linen, hemp, Tencel/lyocell, recycled materials, and innovative alternatives, such as Piñatex or mushroom leather. Context is important - there are also aspects of how methods of production and their lifespan impact on sustainability.
Is second hand shopping sustainable?
Yes, it is one of the most sustainable solutions since it prolongs the lifespan of the garments without making new ones. With every extra wear the footprint of a use is lessened.
Should recycled polyester be the solution to the issue of plastic in fashion?
It is a useful, yet not a full-fledged, solution. Polyester that is recycled continues to release microplastics during washing and poses a problem of disposal. It is more sustainable than the virgin polyester although not as sustainable as natural or really circular.
So what is the difference between slow fashion and sustainable fashion?
Slow fashion specifically focuses on purchasing less and quality and not quantity. Sustainable fashion is wider, and it includes environmental and ethical procedures in the course of production. They overlap to a great extent but they are not the same.
Is fast fashion ever sustainable?
The production of volume sales of cheap, trend clothes is incompatible with sustainability in core of its business model. Certain fast fashion brands are improving, and the fundamental model is still problematic.
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