Fashion Industry needs a revolution

HOW THIS WHOLE TOPIC STARTED…

In 2013, the collapse of a working building in Rana Plaza, Bangladesh originated 1132 death amongst all the workers. This episode originated a wave of awareness when it comes to labour conditions in the fashion industry. A growing number of people started to pay more attention to the impact of this industry in the planet, as well as to the amount of both people and animals involved in the process of clothes’ production. These two factors, alongside with many others, increased the demand for transparency from the fashion brands to opt for more ethical and sustainable choices regarding raw materials for production, as well as the labour conditions in which clothes are made.

DID YOU KNOW THAT..?

We’ve become accustomed to discarding old styles for the next new thing. Moreover, according to research conducted by sociologist Sophie Woodward at the University of Manchester, on average 12% of the total clothes in women’s wardrobe could be considered “inactive”.

How much clothes do you have that you don’t use for over an year now? 

To be sustainable in the fashion industry, an important key word that we must consider is “transparency”. This word means that industries of the fashion brands communicate to their customers about what’s going on behind the scenes (such as workers’ safety, environment and all the actors involved in this process). It is a way also to do storytelling that helps the brand to create trust with the audience through a win-win approach.

There are three main topics on which fashion industries need to pay attention:

• Planet: so which materials are used, in which proportions, how much waste is produced and how it is treated or reused.
• People involved in the supply chain: who works for the brand, in which conditions, where and which rights they have.
• Animals: if these materials derive from animals and how does the brand take care about those animals.
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• In the other hand, this transparency also correlates with the customer’s need to know where the clothes are coming from. According to a report of McKinsey and Business of Fashion, the 52% of millennials always research background information before buying. In this way, the whole industry is encouraged to always be and do better. Brands have been increasingly publishing their clothes’ sourcing of raw materials, their internal policies and labour’ justice causes they also agree upon. However, people in general need to trust on what they say and believe their labour costs and annual reports on how they are achieving new and more sustainable metrics.

MICROPLASTICS ARE EVERYWHERE!

Did you also know, microplastics are released in the air and in the water while washing your clothes? Research conducted by “Friends of the Earth” concluded that microplastics enter in our ecosystem, which end up being eaten by us and animals. The question is that it shouldn’t have to come to this point of affecting the human life for us, humans, pay attention to this problematic. Another huge problem in this fashion industry is that most of these clothes are made by synthetic textiles derived from oil like acrylic, nylon, and polyester. Fabrics that use these raw materials can lower the production costs, becoming more interesting for big corporations to buy at lower prices, not caring about the pollution levels that it may cost for the planet. For these reasons, we should switch to natural fabrics such as cotton, linen, wool, hemp, viscose, modal that are not made by oil. Also, their supply chain can have a bad impact on the environment, but they are more practical and the best option we currently have. For these reasons, we, as consumers should switch to natural fabrics such as cotton, linen, wool, hemp, viscose, modal that are not made by oil, causing less impact in the environment. Also, their supply chain can have a bad impact on the environment, but they are more practical and the best option we currently have.

Next week we will explore a bit more  how you can become more sustainable when it comes to fashion industry.