“Sustainable fashion” is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot. Whether it be a new sustainable fashion brand finding its way into your inbox, or big names launching eco-initiatives such as Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe, the global sustainability movement has set up camp in the fashion sphere.
But for something that has become such a household name, there is a lot of confusion over what it entails.
And that’s because sustainable fashion encompasses a diverse set of ideas and practices.
You see, sustainable fashion doesn’t only apply to brands or manufacturers but also you— the consumer. You can’t just shop from a sustainable fashion brand and pat yourself on the back. What you do with your clothes after you buy them, how long you wear them, and how you dispose of them are equally important.
But at the core of it, sustainable fashion boils down to a few simple principles. To fully appreciate those principles, however, we must first trace the origins and development of the sustainable fashion movement.
The History and Development of the Sustainable Fashion Movement
The sustainable fashion movement emerged alongside the global environmental movement. The latter was underpinned by a concern for the environmentally-destructive agricultural practices that prevailed in the 20th century.
Since agriculture is the prerequisite for the fashion industry, there is an inherent link between environmentalism and fashion.
1960s-1980s
The 1962 environmental science book Silent Spring was the rallying point for the environmental movement. Its author, biologist Rachel Carson, exposed the toxic agricultural practices vis-a-vis agrichemicals (insecticides, herbicides, fertilizers). The disastrous impacts of agrichemicals remain a focal point of the sustainable and ethical fashion movements today.
Not only that, but Carson’s work inspired other women-led campaigns as well. These include the deep ecology movement, the grassroots environmental movement, and ecofeminism. Hence, the principles of sustainable fashion are deeply rooted in feminist perspectives.
The 1990s onwards
By the 1990s, concerns about the environment, or “green issues,” were making headlines. The 1992 Rio Earth Summit pinned environmental accountability on all industry sectors, including the fashion industry.
The initial plan of action focused on reducing the ecological footprint of producing apparel items. Tools such as the lifecycle assessment and Higg Index emerged for analyzing the impact of fibers and finding sustainable alternatives.
However, it soon became apparent that no matter how much companies alter their production methods to follow a greener model, overconsumption would reverse it all. Just as fashion producers needed to stop overproduction, so must fashion consumers refrain from overconsumption.
Therefore, the purpose of the sustainable fashion movement was to reduce the exploitation of natural resources and reduce textile waste throughout the lifecycle of a fashion item.
Sustainable Fashion in Academia
As the industrial realm of fashion started focusing on sustainability, so too did the academic world undertake a research agenda to supplement the sustainable fashion movement.
Today, sustainable fashion is an entire discipline with politics, dynamics, sub-movements, history, advocate groups, and jargon. Furthermore, the sustainable fashion field pursues research and technical projects to provide a benchmark for producers and consumers.
The Union for Concerned Researchers in Fashion (UCRF) is a prominent association advocating for sustainable fashion. The Union was formed in 2019 by a group of (mostly) female-led researchers to coordinate research for the sustainable fashion movement.
The Principles of Sustainable Fashion
The goal of sustainable fashion is simple: to reduce the environmental and ecological impact of the modern fashion industry from the production and consumption ends. Here are the five principles of sustainable fashion that revolve around this objective:
Supply chain transparency: Producers need to be completely transparent with their customers about their supply chain, beyond just a country-of-origin tag. Customers need to be able to see the sources, extraction, and processing of the fashion items they are purchasing.
Efficient use of natural resources: The fashion industry is one of the most environmentally exploitative industries today. Hence, the sustainable fashion movement aims to reduce this exploitation by reducing the use of natural resources such as water and land. To a lesser degree, this practice extends to consumers as well, who need to adopt more sustainable ways of washing their clothes.
Sustainable materials: The sustainable fashion movement advocates for the use of sustainable fabric materials that aren’t so taxing on the environment. These sustainable fabrics include organic cotton, hemp, bamboo, and natural fiber wool.
Labor rights: In environmentalism, issues regarding the environment inherently include human beings as well. Traditionally, workers are forced to work in hazardous working environments while not even making a minimum wage, let alone a living wage. Sustainable fashion aims to eliminate this labor exploitation.
Recycling, upscaling, donating, or swapping old clothes: Ensuring the longevity of fashion items is a predominant goal of the sustainable fashion movement. For consumers, this means breathing new life into their “old” clothes instead of simply throwing them away.
The Controversies of Sustainable Fashion
As is true for any revolutionary movement, sustainable fashion doesn’t come without its own set of controversies. These include:
Greenwashing and false marketing: Businesses try to appear more “green” than they actually are by using buzzwords and misleading marketing campaigns. In reality, though, they are still practicing unsustainable production methods. Big-name companies like Nike will launch recycling initiatives while still overproducing clothes and working under the same exploitative business models.
Second-hand clothing: There is a huge market for used clothing in third-world countries. Usually, the Global North exports these clothes for extremely low prices. While this may seem like a good reusing initiative, these low-cost second-hand clothes undermine indigenous textile industries.
Sustainable materials: No fabric material is inherently sustainable. Sustainable fabrics, such as hemp and organic cotton, can be equally as damaging to the environment if manufacturers don’t modify their farming and production practices accordingly.
Conclusion
The sustainable fashion movement emerged as a response to the horrors of the modern fashion industry, particularly one that functions under a capitalist mode of overproduction. The latter aims to produce as many clothing items as possible with little concern for the environmental impact.
Sustainable fashion, on the other hand, advocates for a more controlled mode of production. Its objective is to produce and consume only as much as is needed.
As a sustainable fashion consumer, it is your responsibility to know where your clothes come from, who makes them, and what impact it has on the environment. This will be your stepping stone to becoming a more conscious fashion consumer.