How to apply holistic thinking in small business?

Education

All of us can make a small but significant personal contribution to the sustainable fashion industry. The first thing you can do is find out more about how fashion affects the climate. Learn more about the human rights records of major brands. Study carefully all the aspects mentioned in this module and find additional information in other sources. This will let you realise the functionality of the entire complex fashion and fabric production system and the mutual relations between its segments.

Marketing

Marketing has also a big influence on how we use and perceive clothing. Track your communication with customers, how it can influence their behaviour, and how can it be changed to create a more conscious consumer attitude. Even when consumers begin to understand the ethical and environmental consequences of their decisions when they buy fast fashion, persuading them to purchase more expensive slow fashion items can be difficult. However, you can broaden their understanding of the impact of the fast fashion industry, and give them the information they need to make an informed choice.

Storytelling

One way to change your clients behaviour is to inform them more about your products. Tell them a story about your garments or crafts, how it all started, why your company made it, and about some of the unique struggles you faced. Let them know who created the item, how it was produced, what components have been used. When they begin to understand a product in this manner, they will be more eager to rethink what they are buy and spend more money. Remember, when you sell clothes this way, you sell not only things but also values.

In a small business, how do you achieve a balance between financial success and ethical, sustainable production? Let’s see what world-famous designers say about it:

“We need different narratives and behaviours—ones that orient fashion towards longevity and the preservation of nature and human experience”.

Aniela Fidler Wieruszewska – London designer and maker.

“Consumers need to decide whether they’re more interested in saving pennies or saving the environment. Products that are quality are going to cost more”.

Debera Johnson: The Brooklyn Fashion and Design Accelerator founder.

“Slow fashion stands in opposition to everything that fast fashion represents – it moves at a slower pace, disregards trends, is concerned with a classic or ‘signature’ look, and stresses the importance of artisanal production and emotions attached to the clothes we own”.

Anna Ruohonen: Finnish Paris-based fashion designer and founder of her own clothing label

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

Good practices

By following the examples of European fashion companies, you can adapt their practices to your business. Good practices are worth promoting and disseminating. Think about your business. What does it offer? How do you communicate with your clients? Does your website or shop informs customers about any values related to sustainable fashion? Do you inform customers about the creation process, the sources from which you have materials? Below you will find a list of practical ideas that you can incorporate to carrying out your company’s mission.

• Consider how easily clothes can be worn together.
• Ensure a good fit and solid construction detailing.
• Include more sustainable natural fibres available in Europe into your collections, such as wool, linen, silk, cashmere, and mohair.
• Make sure your customers understand the significance of garment longevity.
• Consider the knowledge you can share with your customers. What can be free of charge and which elements have to be chargeable?
• Think what services you can offer. In order to keep your collection of clothes in active use.
• Propose a free or low pay repair service for the simplest repairs, such as missing buttons through to darning moth-eaten sweaters.
• Find a way to reuse your waste materials
• Create a web space for suppliers, tools, patterns, products (to share with people).
• Try also to focus on small-scale and local production.
• Remember about quality (materials, garment construction and fit, and customer service). It is also a matter related to emotional bonds with garments.
• Clothing treatment and repair are crucial to extending garments’ life. Try to include instructions regarding how to care for products properly and how to do eco-friendly laundry at home (greenwashing).