Where the future of fashion is headed?

Is the fashion business ever going to be sustainable? This troubling topic, which is frequently discussed by experts, researchers, customers, and academics, remains unanswered. It is a hazy and broad concept that requires a holistic approach to environmental ethics and moral value. All we know is that, when it comes to fashion sustainability, human rights must be respected and protected, and ecological boundaries must be upheld. Industry should meet the needs of the current generation without endangering the next one.

Sandy Black, Professor of Fashion & Textile Design and Technology based in London, sees an ideal solutions to the main problems of the textile industry.

• Clothes are no longer discarded in landfills. Because of the broad effectiveness of textile-to-textile recycling operations, infrastructure exists everywhere to make it simple to return, swap, and reuse unwanted clothing.
• The approach to cheap clothes needs to be changed. Prices have been deliberately cut for the mass market in the “race to the bottom.” Selling price must rise in order to represent the true costs and value.
• Decrease in wasteful production and consumption. Small-batch and made-to-order manufacturing, promote longer wear, becoming the new standard.
• Support and tax breaks for small and micro-scale fashion companies seeking sustainable innovation.

Is it, however, some kind of the myth of sustainable fashion in future? Let’s look at the hard data.

Sustainability, eco-fashion, and ethical fashion are frequently seen on leading fashion brands’ labels. Many garments are promoted as carbon neutral, organic, or vegan. These generalisations, have all but lost their significance as brands enthusiastically employ them to draw attention to the favourable features of their goods while frequently omitting the drawbacks. Only 20% of fashion companies share details on their sustainability status on their websites, according to Rankabrand, a Dutch sustainability organisation. Over 63% of fashion brands only mention sustainability on their websites. It suggests that they are not engaging in sustainable practises but are instead adopting current branding trends. Deciphering what businesses are actually doing is quite difficult in the absence of standardised language or regulated frameworks. Most of them rely on synthetic materials made from fossil fuels because they are more affordable, adaptive, and accessible than natural materials while still maintaining low price for rapidly changing fashion trends. As a result, polyester has developed into the most popular synthetic fibre and currently accounts for more than half of all fibre production worldwide. It is made from nonrenewable resources, extracts and processes with a lot of energy, and produces a lot of byproducts.

Recycling, resale, rental, reuse, and repair are promoted as environmentally friendly business methods. The sad reality is that all of the fashion industry’s experimenting and “innovation” over the last 25 years has failed to reduce its environmental impact. Shirt and shoe manufacturing has more than doubled in the last quarter century. Globalisation has widened the industry’s boundaries, and its multi-tiered supply chain is getting more complicated.

“There are still very, very few brands who know where their stuff comes from in the supply chain, and even fewer of them have entered into active relationships with those suppliers to reduce their carbon footprint”– environmental scientist Linda Greer.

Recycling has little impact on reducing environmental damage. Fewer than 1% of all clothing is recycled into new outfits due to weak recycling facilities and lower-quality fibres. Innovators are increasingly developing bio-based alternatives to conventional synthetics made from fossil fuels (e.g., polyester) and materials produced from livestock (e.g., leather). Unfortunately, these breakthroughs are challenged by high initial costs, substantial capital requirements, reluctance to change, and a lack of appropriate pricing.

For a quarter of a century, customers get used to the free market. It is difficult for them to give up the multitude of goods to which they have access at a low price. Asking customers to buy more expensive, ecological clothing and to follow certain eco-values is still ineffective.

Source: Canva Pro repository, author: Maica via canva.com

Fashion, like all industries, is part of a larger system. It is a system based on expansion. From a commercial point of view, customer education and a carrot-and-stick approach will be required to persuade corporations to change their operating processes to be more ecologically responsible. The industry’s damaging status quo will continue until it believes that its clients want sustainable fashion and that it can be cost-effective for them. Currently, consumer awareness does not always mirrors purchasing behaviour. Once customers start genuinely rewarding companies for fair pay, the use of organic materials, circular manufacturing lines, and so forth, we could expect benefits in sustainability developing.

Governments must also step in to make companies pay for their harmful influence on the environment. Carbon and water taxes should discourage their usage, enhance innovation, and speed up the deployment of renewable energy. The same thing may happen with fees on the usage of virgin plastic, which would include polyester (A governmental committee in the UK recommendation). There are also plans to implement rules that force producers to pay for the costs of disposal of their products up in advance (in California for several categories) or legislation that forces fashion brands to share and abide by their supply chain commitments, carbon emissions, wage reporting in comparison to payment of a living wage etc (in the state of New York).

Holistic thinking must be a collaborative and open approach that brings together brands, retail chains, and cross-sector initiatives. Bringing together opinions from academics, fashion designers, business owners, customers, and policymakers, these issues were examined, along with potential solutions. The potential of the fashion system as a powerful tool for social and environmental transformation can be remarkable.