A Commentary on Sustainability

Let’s talk Green.

Photo by Charles Etoroma on Unsplash

In the past five to ten years, sustainability in fashion has become an increasingly larger conversation among consumers, fashion brands, and the media. As concerns over climate change and global warming have come up in the past fifteen years, so have the way we talk about the different industries that perpetuate or contribute to climate change, and what we can do to help break the cycle. This article is an overview of what issues we’re facing, and what brands and individuals such as you can do to help.

What is sustainability?

Sustainability, from this Merriam Webster definition, is both the usage of resources so that it does not run out or is permanently damaged and having a lifestyle practicing sustainable methods. It’s the practice of being able to meet the needs of our present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In the fashion industry, sustainability is a trending topic that we need to talk about and practice more, from the supply chain to brands to individuals.

What are the current issues in the fashion industry?

While there are many issues that need to be tackled to make the industry sustainable, one of the biggest issues that the fashion industry needs to address is excessive consumption. 

Over consumption is the idea that we are taking our increasing consumption of products and pushing them to the max. In the fashion industry, the rise of fast fashion brands and other tactics that encourage over consumption contribute greatly to this. Zara, the original brand that popularized the idea of the fast fashion store, has new styles that come in twice a week. Other fast fashion brands quickly took to this concept because it makes them an absurd amount of money. 

Photo by Jess @ Harper Sunday on Unsplash

Rather than just the fall/winter, spring/summer trend season, we now have approximately fifty-two micro-trends every year. The idea is to make you, the customer, feel that your clothes are already out of date compared to what’s trending so that you’ll rush to buy new clothes and forget all about your current ones. It’s not just the lower-end brands such as Shein or H&M,  many trendy pricey clothing stores use this model as well- think Aritzia and Urban Outfitters. Not to mention that clothes from fast fashion stores are often lower quality, wear out faster, and are intentionally ill-fitting causing you to have to continuously buy new clothes even if you don’t want to. Our media, especially social media, often perpetuates needing to be on trend, which contributes to this issue. YouTube clothing hauls, for example, tend to encourage viewers to buy more of the same products, or have the same purchasing habits (nevermind that YouTubers are able to write off the clothing purchases on their taxes as they were purchased for business). 

Another huge sustainability issue is the textiles used in our clothes. Much of the fabric used for clothing are synthetic blends, such as polyester, nylon, and lycra. These synthetic blends are man-made fabrics, and often use a huge amount of plastic. They’re cheaper to use and purchase, which is why even higher-end brands will use them. When washed in laundry machines, they can also release microplastics into our sewer systems and oceans. Vegan leather, which has been a come up in the past few years, is entirely made out of plastic. The greenhouse gases emitted from textile production is absolutely immense, and the toxic chemicals used often impact low-wage workers.

On the other hand, natural fabrics, such as cotton, use absurd amounts of water to be produced, and the dyes used to colour different fabrics often contain toxic chemicals that pollute our waters. And of course, on top of all of this, there is the problem of textile waste, whether it comes from the fabric that is cut away from clothing designs, or fabric that is simply never used. 

The last issue I want to touch on in this overview is the opposite of fast-fashion practices: fashion exclusivity and scarcity. A few years ago, Burberry made headlines for burning goods that were un-purchased in order to maintain their designer brand of exclusivity. Clothing brands (not that this is limited to the fashion industry) will manufacture a set amount of goods based on their predictions, and if it isn’t sold out, dump or destroy it to protect their brand. 

What does sustainability in the fashion industry look like right now? 

New brands are being created as a way for consumers to be able to choose companies that participate in slow-fashion, use recycled materials, and make sure that the entire process from designing to manufacturing to selling clothing is sustainable. Larger brands, such as H&M, are coming out with lines that are made of recycled fabrics. More and more people are thrifting and donating to thrift shops, which allows for the re-usage of clothes that already exist, especially as fashion often cycles through different decade trends. 

Unfortunately, there are many gaps to the current state of sustainability in fashion. The biggest culprit as of this moment is the fact that larger brands know that we’re becoming increasingly eco-conscious. As a result, many brands have resorted to greenwashing, a process in which brands use PR and marketing to convince consumers what they’re buying is environmentally friendly. H&M, which in addition to their recycled fabric line, have also had a recycle program in which it encouraged customers to drop off old clothing in exchange for a coupon. The advertising for this campaign suggested that these clothes would be recycled into new fabrics, whereas in reality less than one percent of material collected was recycled.

Photo by Cherie Birkner on Unsplash

The truth is that these brands, especially the fast fashion ones do not care at all about sustainability. If they did, they would pour the millions of dollars they spend on greenwashing advertising campaigns into changing how they produce clothing, or simply shutting down since it’s impossible to be a sustainable fast fashion brand. What they do care about is losing out on potential sales and customers. This article from The Fashion Law is a fascinating look at the buzzwords marketers use to sell us sustainability.

Other gaps include the fact that sustainable fashion is often hard to achieve for the average consumer. For example, brands such as Girlfriend, which sell active-wear from recycled plastic bottles, are often expensive and out of reach for the average consumer. Inclusive sizing is a problem both within sustainable brands and in thrifting. For many plus-sized people, it’s impossible to participate in the sustainable alternatives recommended because they were never designed for them in the first place. When it comes to thrifting in general for many people, spending hours digging through thrift stores to look for wearable items in good condition is a luxury that they don’t have. Much of the clothes donated to thrift stores that are evaluated as unsellable are also often sent to countries in the global south, choking out their own fashion industries and filling up landfills.

Infographic by Minh Truong

What do you think about the current state of the fashion industry? Are there other ways of practicing sustainability that we missed? Comment your ideas and opinions below!