Are you aware that Eco-Friendly or Sustainable Fashion is the need of the hour?
It is fact that for years fashion has been used by people to make style statement with intention to simply express their ideology and identity. However, it’s equally important to be aware that the fashion industry has come under the eye of the storm for the ecology damaging it practices it uses. This problem has arisen mainly because many brands around the globe over the years to keep up with rapidly evolving tastes, and the short attention spans of Gen-Z and millennials have made use of low budget, fast fashion business model. Unfortunately, this has adversely affected planet earth. So, the question is, what is the solution to this issue? Here is then, providing with facts to illustrate why ‘Eco-Friendly’ or ‘Sustainable’ clothing may be the answer to the problems faced by the Fashion industry at the moment.
Increase in usage of Eco-Friendly or Sustainable fabrics in the Fashion Industry:
For years fashion brands choose low quality fabrics for their garments. These fabrics were made in such a way that they are not durable and hence lands up as waste in a landfill. Sadly, this textile waste does not decay and has an extremely adverse effect on the environment.
The good news is that these days many brands in the fashion industry have awakened to the fact that going eco-friendly is the only way forward. In fact, at the moment we are experiencing a whole new movement with designers opting for eco-friendly fabrics and ways to marry sustainability with style.
Companies focus on producing 100% sustainable/eco-friendly fashion:
Currently, around the world there are several fashion companies that are focusing on improving every characteristic of the product’s existence by using sustainable resources responsibly.
At the moment the manufacturing process of clothing and footwear takes up huge amounts of land and water, and presently is responsible for eight per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. When we talk about fabrics, the production of the most used fabric, i.e. cotton, takes 20,000 litres of water for just one kilogram of cotton.
As we fight to stop such wastage of natural resources as well as the hostile effect of climate change, sustainable fashion is certainly becoming the need of the hour.
Premium to Luxury Fashion brand all taking baby steps towards sustainable or eco-friendly fashion:
Luxury brand Burberry, for instance, made an initiative towards sustainability by collaborating with sustainable luxury manufacturer Elvis & Kresse. The creative idea was to reuse leather leftovers and upcycle them into brand new products. This would keep them off the landfills for the coming five years. The high-end fashion brand further surprised the customer by launching a new capsule collection made from Econyl, is a sustainable nylon yarn made from renewed fishing nets, fabric scraps and industrial plastic.
Fashion designers making the switch to sustainable or eco-friendly fashion:
While some may interpret ‘sustainable fashion brands’ as loose, colourful hippy pants and uncomfortable sweaters, designers have moved way past that. Your fashion game could be on-point and could feel totally comfortable in sustainable garments.
The founder of the sustainable luxury programme, Stella McCartney’s namesake brand, has been dedicated to producing ethical fashion since its inception. The vegan-friendly designer claims that we do not need to sacrifice our moral codes to be up-to-the-minute in the contemporary era. The products are made of sustainability-source fabrics such as recycled nylon and polyester, organic cotton, and lines of Skin-Free Skin and Fur-Free apparel. Most recently the programme challenged students to come up with an eco-friendlier, cruelty-free replacement for wool.
As brands are becoming increasingly more conscious about the risk to the environment, their main responsibility is to bring about an alteration in production processes, distribution and marketing practices. The more important role is to create awareness among its customers, so that they understand the need to slow down and adopt sustainable consumption patterns.