sustainability – A little fashion-vashion

Slow and steady wins the race is a phrase we all have heard and we all still do hear. I totally believe in this, that slow is a necessity, especially in today’s fast and forward moving society.

Now you all must be thinking that why am I talking about this phrase esecially in a fashion blog? so, let me get straight to it.

Many of you already might have heard about fast fashion and slow fashion [more about fast then slow I’m sure.]. Those who haven’t , fast fashion is alot like fast food, one is unhealthy for us, the other unhealthy for our environment, hence, directly harmful for us too. It is actually the inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends. It is so fast that where there are 2-4 fashion seasons in a year, H&M [fast fashion brand] practically have 52! But After the release of the documentary ‘The True Cost’ and ‘River Blue’, there was attention drawn to companies that have fast fashion practices. Despite the spread movement, H&M had revenues amount to $25 billion in the fiscal year of 2016. However, as the movement has grown in popularity, H&M’s stock and brand image has taken a hit as consumer awareness has spread of their environmentally unethical practices leading to a drop in sales.

Fashion industry is the 2nd largest polluting industry in the world and the credit totally goes to fast fashion, because nowadays we are disposing off more clothes then we are actually wearing them. So obviously, there’s a tremendous need for us to slow down. We need keep a check on our actions, alot more then we think is necessary!

This is when Slow fashion comes into account. Slow fashion is a concept describing the opposite of fast fashion and part of the slow movement, which adocates for manufacturig in respect to people environment and animals. In the process of manufacturing, slow fashion includes local artisans, eco-friendly material, less to no use of chemicals and also trying in reducing the wastage. It works in a way to satisfy the prducers and consumers with minimum to no effect on our environment. Slow fashion is a way to “identify sustainable fashion solutions, based on the repositioning of strategies of design, production, consumption, use, and reuse, which are emerging alongside the global fashion system, and are posing a potential challenge to it.” In simpler terms Slow fashion is the polar opposite of quick fashion. It refers to a fashion awareness and approach that takes into account the procedures and resources needed to create apparel. It promotes the purchase of higher-quality clothes that will last longer, as well as equitable treatment of people, animals, and the environment.

Alot of fashion brands are slowly moving towards slow fashion, whereas alot more are gradually moving towards fast fashion, leading our envirnment to nothing more then a dumpster.

As consumers and as responisible humans we must demand for mor slow fashion products. this will not only help the local artisans and workers but will also bring a huge cgange in our society.Now the question comes, that how exactly as an individual we can help in this movement?

Well, we can start buying vintage clothes, redesigning old clothes, shopping from smaller producers, making clothes and accessories at home and buying garments that last longer. New ideas and product innovations are constantly redefining slow fashion, so using a static, single definition would ignore the evolving nature of the concept.

Mansi Chauhan, a designer is working with the old t-shirts and making them into these extraordinary dresses and jackets, all hand stitched.

The spread of the movement has resulted in two fast fashion giants, Zara and H&M, switching narratives to become advocates for ethical fashion practices. With collections aimed at sustainable fashions, the two companies have shifted towards more ethical practices.Due to the audience that the movement against unethical fashion practices has accumulated, organizations such as the United States Fashion Industry Association have devoted some of their attention to ‘social compliance and sustainability’.

But What I don’t understand is why this problem is still unknown to so many people?, why is no one actually talking about such a big isssue pevailing in our society?, why are people still unaware about slow fashion?

I guess the answer to all these questions in that people who are already aware of the problem and it’s solutions are not playing their part in spreading the awareness. I did my part , I hope you all will start spreading the message from now on!

Let’s be honest, our environment is getting worse each day. In last few years words like global warming Climate Change, Water Pollution, Air Pollution, etc have become a part of our daily language so much that we have are becoming more conscious about how we can help save the environment and Reduce the usage of plastic, wastage of water and electricity and Reuse, reduce and recycle.

But what about the clothes us wear? Is there a collection between our clothes and environment?
Yes! There is.

You know, a normal sweater we wear might as well take 300 years to fully decompose in the soil? and this is just the tip of the ice berg.
You know it takes 2,700 liters of water to make cotton t-shirt and roughly this is the amount of water a person drinks in 2.5 years. And every year almost 2 Billion cotton t-shirt are sold worldwide. Rest you can do the math(coz I can’t! )Also almost 100 Billion garments are purchased every year, around the world and the chances are that a piece of clothing will be worn just 7 times before being tossed out and almost 93% of used clothes end up in landfills and because our clothes are mostly made of synthetic fibers, they are non-biodegradable.

Synthetic material is not the only problem. Where are the companies sourcing the raw materials from and how clothes are being manufactured contribute a lot to the pollution levels.

So, it’s not surprising that the fashion and textile industry is the 2nd polluting industry in the world.
The UN says that the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global greenhouse emission annually.

It’s not like we are going to stop wearing clothes. Which is why sustainable fashion is the answer!!

Sustainable fashion (also known as eco-fashion) is a movement and process of fostering change to fashion products and the fashion system towards greater ecological integrity and social justice. Those clothes which are not made of synthetic fibers like nylon and polyester, but are made from ecofriendly environment, which can
either entirely be from natural resources like wood pulp, jute, coconut, banana and pineapple as well or can be a mixture of both natural and synthetic fibers which put less strain on the environment and can decompose in a shorter span of time are more helpful.
In fact, many major brands are moving towards sustainable fashion. And this change took place because we are becoming more conscious towards our environment.

Sustainable fashion concerns more than just addressing fashion textiles or products. It addresses the entire manner in which clothing is produced, who produces it, and how long the life span of a product is before it reaches the landfill. This sustainable movement combats the large carbon footprint that the fashion industry and fast fashion have created by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Among many makers of sustainable fibers an Austrian company produces a fiber variety which is called Ecovero , and is made out of wood pulp. This fiber can actually put less strain on the environment and can decompose fully in a few months. I know most of the clothes which many brands have right now are not made out of sustainable fibers but then how our economy works right? It’s about demand and supply, they also have to maintain their financial vitality. And while many brands are also slowly moving towards sustainable fashion, maybe we as consumers can demand more ecofriendly clothing? And who knows, if we all ask collectively for sustainable clothing, may be in near future all brands might just succumb to our demand or they might just be motivated to look at sustainable fibers as the norm rather than an exception.

Won’t that be nice?

Tag Archives: sustainability

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