Everyone Is Talking About Sustainability in Fashion but What Does It Actually Mean?
Sustainability when it comes to fashion is a subject which is gaining much attention and is forcing many fashion brands to address their environmental and ethical footprint, especially high street retailers that deal in mass-market, low-cost goods in a fast fashion environment. For many, however, the term is confusing and it is used under false pretences.
In a global market, being a truly sustainable fashion brand is hard. To be truly sustainable the brand needs to have a supply chain that doesn’t pollute the environment (or a plan to offset any detrimental impact). They also need to consider how to safely extract or source raw materials in an environmentally and ethically positive way, whether that is using materials which are a natural by-product of other industries or recycling waste products to produce new materials. Then they have to transport them to the factories in a way that doesn’t pollute (or has minimal pollutive effects) and then produce the products using non-toxic materials, avoiding harmful chemicals and in consideration of the workers, before onward transport from factory to retailer or customer….