I wasn’t always interested in sustainable fashion. I was interested in design first and foremost and I got into fashion because I love beauty and creativity. As a teenager, I remember I would go out of my way to find issues of American Vogue in Hong Kong, and I still recall an editorial spread featuring Kate Hudson that got me obsessed with platform shoes one summer. Eventually I went to Parsons in New York City to study fashion design, ran my own brand Yunotme for a few years, before coming back to Hong Kong and working on the retail side of the industry.
It is only as I started studying and working in the industry that I began to learn about how fashion impacts people and our planet. Not only is the industry identified as one of five key industries involved in modern slavery (second behind electronics), it is also the world’s second largest polluter of freshwater. Approximately 60% of garments on retail shelves have polyester (which is plastic) in them, and plastic from clothing fabrics might end up in our food. The list goes on! I eventually began my journey to learn more about these issues in fashion and how we can go about solving them.
To save you time from doing all the research that I did, here is what I’ve learned! After reading this, feel free to also check out another post I’ve written about 5 easy sustainable fashion tips you can adopt today.
“Sustainable fashion” – an unregulated term
First of all the terminology – “sustainable”. For some people, “sustainable” refers mainly to a brand’s environmental impact, while “ethical” refers to its human impact. But let’s look at the umbrella term of “sustainable fashion” right here. It is a completely unregulated term, unlike “certified organic” or “fair trade”, so technically any fashion brand can call themselves “sustainable”. But just because a brand says it’s selling sustainable fashion doesn’t mean much unless you really get more details. You’ve got to ask: what does that mean?
Ok so what is the best definition of “sustainable”?
I agree with how the app Good on You evaluates “sustainable fashion” and I think we need to look at it from mainly 3 main aspects. It’s an awesome app, by the way, which researches and rates different brands’ sustainability credentials.
1. Labour
Labour refers to how ethical a brand’s supply chain is. In 2013, garment factory Rana Plaza collapsed in bangladesh, killing 1,134 people who are making cheap clothing for western brands. It’s worth asking a brand: Do you know if your garments are made in safe conditions? Does child labour exist in your supply chain? Do you pay your staff a minimum or living wage? How far down your supply chain do you track… meaning you might be paying the staff in your office a living wage, but how about those in your factories, or their subcontractors? Or the people who tap the rubber for your shoe soles? What do you know and not know?
2. Environment
This refers to the environmental impact in a brand’s supply chain.
Do you know that 25% of the worldwide consumption of insecticide is used on cotton production? In 2014, over 16 million tons of textile waste was generated. This is just in America. Okay about polyester… it is in about 60% of today‘s clothing. Polyester is plastic, which comes from the oil industry, and when we wash our polyester clothing, we are also washing thousands of microplastic fibres into the waterways. They end up in fish, and guess where they end up next? Yup, in us. The circle of life.
Evaluating the environmental efforts of a brand means looking at how the company manages its impact on the planet, from what fabrics they use, to how they manage their waste water, to whether their fabric dyes are toxic, to what materials they use for packaging, and much more.
3. Animals
This refers to the impact on non human creatures in the supply chain. Does this brand use fur? Leather? Exotic skins? Down? Are animals hurt while the product is made? I do feel like animal is the category that creates the most debate, for a lot of animal-derived materials are natural and don’t necessarily always hurt them, but some people simply prefer not to use any products derived from animals.
But it’s not so black and white. For example, a company could ban the use of wool, but for coats and sweaters, its substitute is often plastic. Is that better? At the end of the day, plastic could end up polluting the environment and hurting the habitat of the animals we strive to protect. This is a perfect example of how sometimes, doing well in one pillar of sustainability might conflict with doing well in another.
Transparency
Beyond these three categories, we have to look at how transparent a brand is, for it is only by knowing their impact and what they are doing that we can judge whether a company is sustainable or not. The non-profit Fashion Revolution publishes a report each year that ranks 150 of the biggest global apparel brands according to how much information they disclose about their supply chain policies, practices, and social and environmental impact. The organization believes transparency is the first step in transforming the industry. And it starts with one simple question: Who made my clothes?
Is there a truly sustainable fashion brand?
According to Yvon Chinoard, founder of Patagonia: “sustainable” means “not to take more from nature than we can give back.” But we do take more than we give, and we do harm nature more than we help it, even if it is a piece of clothing that creates very little environmental impact. In fact, Chinoard goes on to write: “No human economic activity is yet sustainable.” That’s why he has chosen to call his book The Responsible Company, not The Sustainable Company.
Yet beyond strict definitions, “sustainable” is still a rallying word that brings together consumers, designers, brands and companies who want to do better. As Livia Firth, founder of eco consultancy Ecoage says in an interview with journalist Clare Press, she met with linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky about struggling with the usage of the word “sustainable”. After two hours of discussing various alternatives, he looked at her and said, “You know, if you invent or use a new word, someone is going to misuse it and it’s eventually going to lose its meaning. You might as well stick with the word you have and put the meaning back into it.”
So “sustainable” it is. If we have to put meaning back into it, it has to mean fashion that’s made with conscious consideration to the planet we live on and the people who make our clothes. It means not leaving “do good” initiatives for the environment and garment makers as an afterthought or as a side CSR project. Brands should be doing good as they are doing business. I like how one CEO puts it “Structure your goals so you can’t succeed as a business without succeeding at sustainability.”
While there are many fashion brands that are doing great jobs on incorporating sustainability, a few of my favourite brands include Veja, Allbirds and Girlfriend Collective. I also love shopping second hand clothes.
The goal, the dream, the (potential) reality?
Right now, “sustainable fashion” is the exception. When you really think about it, that’s not quite right. Why are brands who pay their workers fairly and don’t pollute our environment the exception? The goal of the industry is to make “sustainable” the norm and not the exception. But the industry can’t do it alone. It’s with the help of consumers and governments that this goal could become a reality.
Everyone of us has a role to play too. If big leaps are daunting, start from small steps. Check on my post on 5 easy sustainable fashion tips you can adopt today!
Cover picture: Art installation from upcycled clothing by Kaarina Kaikkonen