Why sustainability is the key to fashion 2025

I am not a classic eco warrior and should confess that Im even a little tired of
words such as eco, green and ethical. Its more that I dream of a world where
everything is ecological, green and ethical so that actually we dont have to define
them anymore. Livia Firth. Fashion defines people to an extent, which is what
makes it so important in the 21st century. Progressively new methods and innovations
are being sought out to increase, production of creative, efficient and quickly ready
garments. A very good example is fast fashion which according to Macmillan
dictionary means a term used to describe cheap and affordable clothes which are
the result of catwalk designs moving into stores in the fastest possible way in order to
respond to the latest trends(Macmillandictionary.com, 2010). This culture is hugely
accepted and appreciated. Even though fast fashion is trendy and liked by many
people, consumer and suppliers should regulate the use of unsustainable materials
used to make fast fashion possible because, it depletes valuable resources, it leads
to terrible working conditions, and it leads to global warming.

UK Fashion Industry By The Numbers

The UK fashion industry retails mostly as Grocery retailers, shops, flagship stores
and retail parks and has been significantly growing over the years. In 2013 according
to Mintel the UK fashion industry valued 47.64 billion with a 6% increase in the
consumer spending. womenswear accounts for 49% of the whole fashion sector,
with M&S leading due to it market share followed by Next, Primark, New look and
Debenhams in that order within the UK (Marketsizes.mintel.com.arts.idm.oclc.org,
2014). They also serve as competitors to each other. These top 5 brands target
slightly older age groups of 25-34 year olds who come under the more affluent
demographic than the average. Furthermore Mintel estimates that value retailers
took approximately 28% of total clothing spend in 2013.(Academic.mintel.com, 2014)
hence 28% of the fashion industry includes value retailers that aim at the mass
market.

Student name: Vedika Fomra Udhavdas

Student ID: UDH13407684
Group: B

Why sustainability is the key to fashion 2025

How Fast-Fashion Generates Environmental Problems

The majority of brands within the fashion industry believes and follows fast fashion
culture, and the company that does this the best is Zara due to its supply chain
following the vertical integration system. As a result of fast fashion there are a few
key factors that are affected; consumption increases unsustainably, working
conditions degrade to make pricing competitive, unsustainable man-made fibres
production increases as they are quicker to achieve however they take longer to
degrade, therefore it is increasing waste in the landfills, next intense cotton
production that increases usage of energy, water and pesticides, which is depleting
valuable resources like water and oil, a study by Cambridge University found that the
fashion industry uses approximately 70 million tons of water (University of
Cambridge, 2014). We're talking about water that could have otherwise been used for
more essential things such as drinking, bathing and growing crops. One more thing to
note is that most of the factories are in LED countries to benefit from the cheap
labour and production cost. These LEDS countries have little to no emission
regulations, which have led to a sharp increase in air pollution.

The Best Way To Implement Eco-Friendly Fashion

Evidently all of these have a major impact on the environment adding to the already
major on-going problem of global warming. Despite these criticisms, the popularity of
Fast fashion remains largely undiminished. Hence, improving the sustainability of
fast fashion should be more focused on rather than criticizing fast fashion. Even
though there are many ways this can be achieved the following two methods seem
most appropriate. Primarily decreasing the consumption, by empowering the
consumers. The reason that being people in the current generations keep selfesteem and social standing at a very high stake, which indirectly connects with their
fashion consumption, as It is impossible to wear clothes without transmitting social
signals. Every costume tells a story, often a very subtle one, about its
wearer.(Morris, 1977) The consumers need to be encouraged that even though it is
true to an extent that Choice in clothing can communicate responsibility, status,
power, and the ability to be successful(Turner-Bowker, 2001), it is not the only way.
Moreover using less is not bad in the sense that the same outfit can be reused in a
Student name: Vedika Fomra Udhavdas
Student ID: UDH13407684
Group: B

Why sustainability is the key to fashion 2025

number of ways, one just has to be creative enough to figure out how. This could be
either by using the same outfit in different number of styles or it could be by upcycling which is a process (used goods or waste material) so as to produce
something that is often better than the original: (Dictionary.com,2014). So one could
upcycle the garment itself to convert it to something else for example old jeans can
be ripped with a blade to create the ripped jeans trend, also an old dress could be
converted to a shirt or a babywear garment. This way not only does the consumption
decrease which leads to decrease in production but the consumers spending
decreases, keeping their disposable income in a safe box.
Keeping in mind the discussion in the previous paragraph the next suitable approach
is decreasing the production of unsustainable man-made fibers as these take very
long to degrade, and while being left in landfills they let out poisonous gases like
methane in the environment that intensify global warming. The solutions to the issues
examined previously can be attained majorly by following three significant practices.
First of all increase the use of renewable materials like organic cotton, hemp,
bamboo, linen, organic wool, recycled polyester and try to forbid the use of
unsustainable man-made fibers. Then brands should ensure that their supply chains
are transparent so that they and their consumers can trace the origins of the stock.
As stated in a blog Supply chain transparency is critical for managing rising levels of
risk in an environment where corporate supply chain practices are attracting
increasing legal, regulatory, and consumer scrutiny.(Linich, 2014) Achieving the
transparency is a huge process but the way to keep up with it is through managing
and monitoring closely with the origins of their companies products. The final key
method is by providing training and support for the buyers and suppliers along the
supply chain that should be focused on sustainability. This way they are both well
informed about how to improve sustainability in their respected departments. Which
will undoubtedly increase the efficiency on buying or supplying sustainable products
therefore shrinking the use of unsustainable man-made fibers.
There are also other methods that help resolving the unsustainability issue, for
instance slow fashion, described by Macmillan dictionary as a term which describes
clothing which lasts a long time and is often made from locally-sourced or fair-trade
material(Macmillandictionary.com, 2010), then reduce, reuse, recycle and compost
which are common mantras that go side-by-side with sustainability, among which
Student name: Vedika Fomra Udhavdas
Student ID: UDH13407684
Group: B

Why sustainability is the key to fashion 2025

reuse seems most appropriate as they target the problem at its roots. Likewise other
options like garage sales or flea markets, charity shops such as Goodwill Industries
and Salvation Army, second-hand clothing/shopping, Ebay fashion, thrift stores,
clothes swap (Gwilt and Rissanen, 2011) help with the problem of unsustainability.

Indeed, Even though fast fashion is trendy and liked by many people, consumers and
suppliers should regulate the use of unsustainable materials, because 80% of the
population wouldnt make it to the end of the century if things continue as they are
James Lovelock. The environment rather than the people it is used by is paying the
true cost of cheap fashion, which is due to the appreciated culture of fast fashion.
Keeping in mind that the value of the UK fashion industry was 47.64 billion GDP in
2013 and is projected to be 56.56 billion (Marketsizes.mintel.com.arts.idm.oclc.org, 2014),
which is indeed a high value and gives people an inside to how big the problem will
be in the future if this issue is not resolved. Whether it is because of the toxic gases,
depleted resources, poor working conditions or the green house effect, the problem
that the fashion industry is trying hard to hide should be noticed responded by the
consumers. Unsustainability is becoming an endless problem that needs interruption
majorly from its consumers because, they come across as in the initial stage in the
garment cycle, so if consumption itself reduces, there were be less energy required
to recycle or compost, and in the end there will be no need to define ecofriendly/sustainable fashion.

Word Count: 1387

Student name: Vedika Fomra Udhavdas

Student ID: UDH13407684
Group: B

Why sustainability is the key to fashion 2025

Bibliography
1. Academic.mintel.com,

(2014).

fashion

retailing.

[online]

Available

http://academic.mintel.com/display/718624/ [Accessed 26 Nov. 2014].

2. Dictionary.com, (2014). the definition of upcycling. [online] Available

at:
at:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/upcycling [Accessed 3 Dec. 2014].

3. Do Something, (2014). 5 Effects of Fast Fashion. [online] Available at:
https://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/5-effects-fast-fashion [Accessed 2 Dec.
2014].
4. Green

Choices,

(n.d.).

Reuse,

reclaim,

recycle.

[online]

Available

at:

http://www.greenchoices.org/green-living/clothes/reuse-reclaim-recycle [Accessed 2
Dec. 2014].
5. Gwilt, A. and Rissanen, T. (2011). Shaping sustainable fashion. London: Earthscan,
p.148.
6. Linich, D. (2014). The path to supply chain transparency. [Blog] dupress. Available at:
http://dupress.com/articles/supply-chain-transparency/ [Accessed 2 Dec. 2014].
7. Macmillandictionary.com, (2010). fast fashion - definition of fast fashion by Macmillan
Dictionary.

[online]

Available

at:

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/open-

dictionary/entries/fast-fashion.htm [Accessed 2 Dec. 2014].

8. Macmillandictionary.com, (2010). slow fashion - definition of slow fashion by
Macmillan Dictionary. [online] Available at: http://www.macmillandictionary.com/opendictionary/entries/slow-fashion.htm [Accessed 2 Dec. 2014].
9. Marketsizes.mintel.com.arts.idm.oclc.org, (2014). University of the Arts London
WebLogin.

[online]

Available

at:

http://marketsizes.mintel.com.arts.idm.oclc.org/snapshots/GBR/271/performance/sing
le [Accessed 26 Nov. 2014].
10. Morris, D. (1977). Manwatching. New York: H.N. Abrams, p.213.
11. Sustainability
Quotes.
(2014).
[Blog]
myfashionsus.

Available

at:

http://myfashionsus.wordpress.com/sustainability-quotes/ [Accessed 3 Dec. 2014].

12. Turner-Bowker, D. (2001). How Can You Pull Yourself up by Your Bootstraps, if You
Don't Have Boots? Work-Appropriate Clothing for Poor Women. Journal of Social
Issues, 57(2), pp.311-322.
13. University of Cambridge,

(2014).

Well

dressed?.

[online]

Available

at:

http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/well-dressed [Accessed 2 Dec. 2014].

Student name: Vedika Fomra Udhavdas

Student ID: UDH13407684
Group: B