récréation
The more we discover about sustainable fashion, the more it becomes clear that it is no longer a trend, but a fashion movement.
1
Sustainable fashion has already been at the forefront of the start of a new decade, with celebrities and designers using their platforms to make fashion statements. It’s becoming clear that we all need to make changes to our wardrobe and stop shopping with disregard to the environmental and social factors surrounding the fashion industry. The season of the award shows saw many celebrities choose sustainability. The Baftas was one of the award shows that specifically encouraged celebrities to make sustainable clothing choices by urging clothing recycling, whether that is wearing the same dress twice (shocking), using the fabric to create a totally new dress or hiring a dress for the night. Similarly, the Oscars carpet also saw many eco-friendly outfits, with designers such as Louis Vuitton creating new, fully sustainable dresses. A twist on the old saying - a sustainable wardrobe wasn’t built in a day. Of course, sustainable fashion isn’t just about a one night event, but making better informed purchases to gradually create a more sustainable wardrobe.
A SUSTAINABLE WARDROBE WASN’T
BUILT
IN A DAY
T
o ensure that sustainable fashion becomes a fashion movement rather than just a trend, It’s important to know why we should shop sustainably because the facts themselves are enough motivation to encourage the lifestyle change.
these micro-trends possible, rolling out new designs and hundreds of affordable products every week has made it more convenient for us to order something new rather than trying on our existing clothes.
The fashion industry is the second largest polluter in the world. The fashion industry is continuing to grow with many brands emerging, technology advances and same day delivery becoming more and more popular. However, with the growth of the fashion industry comes the growth of impact on the environment. Following just behind the oil industry, it is frightful to realise that our wardrobes are contributing to fashion being the second largest polluter.
A definition of over consumption? For the approximately seven billion on the planet, there is between 80-100 billion
OVERCONSUMPTION Fashion is now so accessible to us that we are now experiencing an overhaul of fashion consumption. Regardless of the traditional Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter fashion seasons we see at fashion week, we live in an age where we consume so much that we have 52 micro-seasons - that is a new fashion season every week, making it impossible for us to stay on top of every trend. Fast fashion is making
We are all familiar with the feeling of having a wardrobe full of clothes but nothing to wear, but have we stopped to consider the impact that the wardrobe full of clothes worn once or twice? There comes a point when we run out of space and either take the bag of clothes to a charity shop or sell them. However only 15% of clothing is recycled or donated - the low quality usually results in them being thrown away. The problem with most of these affordable clothing brands are made from fabric that takes years to break down - resulting in a pile up in landfill. Fashion textiles contribute to 5.2% of landfill sites and are polluting the soil with toxins, meaning that even when the clothes have finally degraded - the impact is now deeper than the surface, literally.
TAKE FROM ENVIRONMENT / LITTLE REGARD WORKERS / LITTLE VALUE, 1-2
FASHION = TAKE / MAKE / WASTE
WATER CONSUMPTION & POLUTION
I
t’s no secret that the fashion industry consumes a ridiculously large amount of water - one pair of jeans requires 7000 litres of water - to put that into perspective, that’s enough water for one person to drink for five years. A single cotton T-shirt similarly uses enough water to provide three years of drinking water. Consuming this amount of water has exploited the earth’s resources, contributing to the shrinking of areas of water such as the Aral sea. With water consumption comes water pollution, a growing problem within the fashion industry with water being used for dyeing and finishing purposes for the garments. Waste water is any water that has been affected by human use - in the fashion industry this is among textile factories, disregarding 90% of water filled
with toxic waste with substances such as lead, arsenic and mercury. These chemicals are a main component of fashion manufacturing, used for dyeing fabric, bleaching and fibre production. While it doesn’t directly affect us as consumers, it does affect the people residing by the rivers who have no choice but to use the water for food, drink and livestock purposes and aquatic life. The contaminated rivers, such as the Citarum river in Indonesia, will eventually spread out into the sea, polluting around the globe. However, water pollution closer to home occurs when we wash our synthetic garments, releasing almost 2000 individual microfibres into our oceans, only for them to be eaten by fish - resulting in plastic being introduced into the food chain.
N O N BIODGRADABLE SYNTHETIC TEXTILES CAN TAKE BETWEEN 20 AND 200 YEARS TO FULLY BIODEGRADE. POLYESTER SPANDEX NYLON RAYON
T H E FASHION INDUSTRY M A K E S UP 10% OF CA R B O N EMISSIONS GLOBALLY
GREENHOUSE GASES
T
he fashion industry makes up 10% of carbon emissions globally. Most of our clothes are made up of synthetic fibres and the production of these fibres comes from fossil fuel - 70 million barrels of oil are produced every year in order to create polyester. Using energy heavily doesn’t stop there, 23kg of greenhouse gases are used for every kilo of the fabric produced. More greenhouse gases are emitted during the production, manufacturing and transportation stages with the fashion industry using more energy resources for these steps. Greenhouse gases need to be drastically minimised as they result in global warming by retaining heat in the earth’s lower atmosphere, it is the main cause of the bush fires and ice melting that we have seen in recent years and while we can’t suddenly stop it from happening, we can start to consume less to reduce the damage caused.
WORKING CONDITIONS Environmental problems are not the only issues within the fashion industry, with many brands producing clothes in countries that have limited to no workers rights - all for the sake of cheaper labour costs. As soon as countries improve working conditions, the companies up and leave to another country where they can continue to save money on these labour costs. Most of these companies are exploiting workers by paying the legal minimum wage of the manufacturing companies. However, the legal minimum wages are less than half of the actual living cost - forcing many workers to work
over time to provide for their families. By adding the extra hours most workers are working seven days a week, with 14 to 16 hours every day - more than double the working hours in the UK, meaning that while many are working to provide for their family, the time they spend with them is limited. The working conditions are a highly talked about matter, but even after various disasters, workers are still being forced to work in very poor conditions - conditions that would never be considered in western countries. Many garment workers are suffering major health risks for the sake of fashion - with unsafe buildings, fires, and toxic substances resulting in death and lifelong illnesses. The Dhaka factory fire in 2012, the same year as the Pakistan factory fire, saw a combined total of over 300 people losing their lives - but in 2020 we are still yet to see advances in safety for many of these garment workers. Physical and verbal abuse is also common at some of these manufacturing factories, particularly when workers are not hitting the extremely high targets many will be denied water and bathroom breaks to ensure that they get more work done. It is wrong that people around the world are being put at risk for our clothes and for the profits of fashion companies. All of these factors are worth considering next time you buy a T-shirt for £5.99, the extra £10 might be contributing towards better working conditions and workers rights.
SUSTAINABLE FASHION MOVEMENT
2 I
t’s easy to find out more about sustainable fashion, and the cost of our clothes, but where should we shop? We can see many high end and high street brands are being more conscious of the sustainability of the clothing they produce - however, it is difficult to see which brands are genuine and which are using sustainability as a marketing ploy. There is no doubting the ease and accessibility of fast fashion, its affordability means that most of us are able to stay on trend - something that can be important if you are passionate about fashion. However, we all need to question our shopping habits, and being reminded of the points above helps us to do so - we might be desperate for that LBD for Friday night, but by Saturday morning we are then done with it. Fast-fashion brands have had no choice but to conform to the upcoming sustainable market. However, it is important that we are aware of how genuine these brands may be.
The rules around sustainable fashion are somewhat vague, making it easy for brands to hide behind that label’. With fashion brands competing by fulfilling the latest trends, many brands are trying to use ‘sustainability’ to appeal to an audience that is becoming more conscious. A popular online, fast-fashion brand launched a recycled collection in 2019, providing wardrobe basics made from fabric off-cuts and plastic bottles. Initially this does appear to be some steps towards sustainability, but it is a major contrast to the rest of the products being produced by the brand daily. The same company upload hundreds of products each day, with a new-in page having over 2000 items it leaves the question of whether or not this is a genuine concern for the business that it is taking small steps to become a more sustainable company, or if this was a PR stunt to convince consumers that it is environmentally aware.
THE BEST BRANDS
W
hile we hope that 2020 will see some stronger criteria for brands claiming to be sustainable, these are the brands that you’re safe to shop at:
EVERLANE
W
hen Everlane launched in 2010 it had the aim of being 100% transparent in a market saturated with brands that are somewhat cloudy. Radical transparency - defined by the brand as partnering with ethical factories - sourcing the best materials and sharing all the details with us - the consumers. The customer is given a full breakdown of the producing cost for a garment - showing the cost of raw materials, production, transportation and exactly how much profit Everlane would make. After growing rapidly over the years, Everlane is now accessible for us in the UK via its website (www. everlane.com), and it has become a bloggers’ fave. Everlane makes it clear that is is not a trend brand - the garments have the purpose of lasting, and can be worn for years - it even suggest decades. It may seem unaffordable to purchase a cashmere jumper for £78, however it won’t bobble after one wear and if it’s looked after it can last for years - much longer than three high-street jumpers lasting for
one season can. It’s important to remember that the extra cost of these garments is going towards more sustainable materials and better working conditions for the factory workers. It’s impressive to see the total transparency when it comes to pricing from a fashion brand, it is easy to access the mark up graphs on it’s about page - showing that they mark their products 2-3x the cost of producing, versus competing fashion brands marking up by 5-6x. Whilst it costs considerably more to shop sustainably, it’s important to see that the brand are keeping costs as low as possible to operate and are not using sustainability as a marketing ploy to increase it’s own profit. Being fully transparent with their ethical approaches, makes it easier for us customers to trust the working conditions and treatment of workers. We can access a world map with all the factories locations and purposes - a parallel of many fashion brands hiding the factories that our clothes are produced in. Everlane vow to keep strong relationships with the owners of the factories, and visit them often to ensure the workplace is of a high quality - working only with factories that score above 90, based on factors such as fair wages, reasonable hours and good working environments.
REFORMATION
R
eformation has been on our Instagram feeds for the past few years, and there’s a good reason why it’s become bloggers favourite for their feminine summer dresses and cute tops. Since it was founded in 2009, the brand is based in Los Angeles and their products embody that - not only are the products TDF, sustainability is at the core of the brand. The brand is the priciest brand mentioned, however if you are looking to splurge on a party, wedding or summer outfit it’s good to know that it has been through a sustainable process. Reformation has a basis standard for all materials used in products, using A & B fibres - that’s the highest quality, A = Renewable natural fibres, B = Almost fully natural or recycled fibres, to make up their garments. Similarly to Everlane, they are fully transparent regarding materials used - listing the details about every fibre on their website. Reformation creates around 15-20% of garments using deadstock and vintage fabric, working towards contributing less waste to landfill sites.
To keep customers in the light of it’s practices, Reformation use their REF SCALE - tracking the environmental footprint of every product. The scale consists of adding the gallons of water used, pounds of carbon dioxide emitted during the process and the waste generated. The outcome is then compared to the impact brought from most clothes bought in the States. Having the Ref Scale allows consumers to make informed decisions before purchasing any product - seeing the exact impact you have on the planet might make you realise that maybe you don’t need that extra T-shirt. Similarly to Everlane, you can access Reformation’s factory information on their website, along with the standard ratings of the vendors in a traffic light system. Whilst 84% of factories fall among the green and yellow categories, they are clearly achieving the aim to produce in factories with good working conditions - hopefully in the future they will produce in factories that all fall among these categories.
NOBODY’S CHILD
N
obody’s Child has the sole purpose of sourcing and making clothes that benefits people and minimise the impact on the environment, producing clothes that can be worn multiple times. A contrast to other fast fashion brands, Nobody’s Child is committed to making only products it believes in, at a limited amount with the aim of a reduced quantity of waste going to landfill. If you are looking for Reformationesque dresses that are more affordable, but still have a minimised effect on the environment and people producing them, it’s worth checking out Nobody’s Child. Based in London, in-house designers create a limited number of designs, dropping small collections regularly rather than huge quantities seasonally. Being majority based in-house, Nobody’s Child is minimising the risk of partnering with overseas factories with low working conditions - the factories it works with are actively striving for the workers rights - providing fair wages and healthy working conditions. A big part of the brand’s image is it’s upcycling promises. Rather than ditch leftover fabric to live on landfill for years, it reuses the fabric - using it for its own upcoming designs or donating it to upcoming fashion colleagues. This is opposing other fast fashion brands dumping fabric waste into landfill daily, and is such a simple step to get
the most out of the fabric produced.
THE H&M GROUP
W
hilst H&M itself is a fast fashion brand, it has been working on their sustainability promise since its conscious line first released in 2012 - using at least 50% sustainable materials, including organic cotton and recycled polyester. H&M Group is attempting to lead the change in the fashion industry, being more transparent in the materials and working conditions that work towards its garments. In 2020, The H&M Group were ranked 3 in The Sustainable Cotton Ranking for their policy, traceability and uptake of sustainable cotton. The H&M group is made up of various brands Arket, & Other Stories, Weekday, Cos, Monki and so on. Understandably, some of these brands are more sustainable than others - rolling out less products, that are made using higher quality materials. This is apparent just from browsing the retailers online, noticing that a cotton T shirt from H&M is £3.99 and a similar, organic one from & Other Stories is £17. This isn’t to say that H&M aren’t offering more sustainable options, their ladies conscious collection alone has over 400 products - but, continuing to provide low cost, trend based fashion is what makes H&M different to most of the brands under the same umbrella.
E T H I C S + AESTHETICS = SUSTAINABLE F A S H I O N
t’s difficult to know how sustainable a product is, and sometimes when you’re out shopping it can be a pain to check the label of every product before purchasing. That’s why it’s good to do your research beforehand GOOD ON YOU (goodonyou.org) rates many different brands to let the consumer know how ethical and sustainable it is, rating them from We Avoid, Not Good Enough, It’s a Start, Good and Great. The site is one to check out to do your own research - also offering many different articles, listing brands to shop at, bloggers to follow and life tips on living more sustainably. Once you are more familiar with which brands are producing sustainably, it makes shopping much easier. The fabrics you should be looking to purchase are: ORGANIC COTTON LINEN LYOCELL MODAL It can also be worth checking the label to see what materials are used and avoiding those with high percentages of synthetic fibres that are non-biodegradable. POLYESTER SPANDEX NYLON RAYON
HOW DO I CHECK HOW SUSTAINABLE A BRAND IS?
I
SUSTAINABLE WARDROBE IN PROCESS
3 I
nstagram has seen a growth in the sustainable community, with many people sharing their tips to living more sustainably through hashtags such as #sustainablefashion #ecofashion #slowfashion #thrifted #upcycled #fairfashion. The growing community has even led to daily challenges, with the aim of people sharing an OOTD (OUTFIT OF THE DAY) with their followers that meets requirements of being reworn, recycled or thrifted. We spoke to two amazing women, dedicating their Instagram platforms to sharing their sustainable wardrobes and inspire us to rewear, rent, thrift and make better fashion choices. Following this community will no doubt inspire you to go through your entire wardrobe and restyle all your clothes - be prepared!
@ALLISONE84
@SUSTAINABLETAY
A
llison and Taylor gave us their advice on creating a sustainable wardrobe, and how to be mindful during the process.
journey. Since then, I’ve been trying to educate myself on brands to limit my consumption of fast fashion.
How did you get started on your sustainable wardrobe? Is it a case of throwing tonnes out or just realising what you have?
We’ve all been to the second hand store and come home with bags full of funky clothes. But how many of us still have those full bags shoved into a corner months later? *raises hand*. It’s difficult to thrift shop and find exactly what you need, and pieces that can be worn over and over. Allison and Taylor
A: I think it’s more about realising what I currently have in my closet. I used to think I needed to go through my closet and get rid of a ton of things in order to make room for new items, and now I realize it’s actually better to find new ways to wear what’s already in your closet. I love to go on Instagram and Pinterest and find new ways to wear old items in my closet that I haven’t worn in a while…it’s very inspiring! T: I started thrift shopping at an early age with my grandma and have liked it to find unique or inexpensive clothing, but I never truly recognized the impact of fast fashion until this past year. In early 2019, an artist I follow turned me onto the 10x10 Challenge. From that challenge hashtag, I found a whole community of sustainable shoppers and it inspired me to join in and document my
gave their tips on how to thrift effectively:
A: I always recommend making a list first of items that you need or have been looking for. For example, a good structured blazer or midi dress that you can wear several ways. Before I invest in buying, I try to think of three different ways that I can wear the item before I commit to buying. T: I have started making a thrift wish list to concentrate more on what I really want rather than finding random things that will sit in my closet forever. If I see a cute style of dress on my feed, I’ll likely write that down for my next shopping trip and think on it for a while. “if you have to question it, you shouldn’t get it.”
10 X 10 CHALLENGE - created by @stylebee, the challenge
is aimed to create a mini capsule wardrobe - it’s a great way to get used to styling a limited amount of clothes, creating new looks that you maybe wouldn’t consider otherwise! It’s easy to forget what you own, so this challenge gives you the chance to rediscover old clothes and style them in new ways. Using the #10x10 challenge tag will give some initiative to complete the full 10 days and will also put you into contact with other participants, where you can share tips and inspire each other!
THE RULES 1 | PICK ANY 10 ITEMS FROM YOUR CURRENT CLOSET 2 |STYLE THOSE ITEMS INTO 10 DIFFERENT LOOKS 3 |USE ANY 10 DAYS TO DO IT
#ECOFASHION # S L O W F A S H I O N # T H R I F T #UPCYCLED
Fave sustainable brands?
A: For Days - for tee’s and shirts, Levi’s / Everlane - for jeans and trousers. I definitely research companies before I buy from them: what sorts of materials do they use, where is everything made, do they have any upcycling programs T: Honestly, I don’t have the budget to afford many of the more expensive slow fashion brands but I check resale sites like Poshmark and ThredUP. Some sustainable brands i like the look of are Tradlands, Back Beat CO, Dazey LA. It can feel hard to stay on trend without spending major £££ at some sustainable brands. Is it possible to stay on trend without breaking the bank?
A: Absolutely!! For more trendy items, I use a monthly rental service (Rent The Runway) where I can borrow items and wear them once or more, then return them; this is a great way to try new
silhouettes, colours and designers to see what you like and mix trendy items with my everyday basics. I will spend a bit more on my basics, but these are items I don’t buy very often so the idea is to spend a bit more and know that I will be able to keep them for a few seasons. T: Sustainable brands can get pretty pricey. You are paying for better treatment of workers, lower environmental impact and usually buying from a smaller collection, which is worth it, but may not be possible for everyone. Trends are cyclical and things from decades ago are back to being in style in 2020. The best way to be a conscious consumer but stay on trend is to explore your area and find vintage and secondhand shops and form your own style. Maybe the wide leg pants that are trending today were sitting in someone’s closet 30 years ago and are at your local vintage store. It’s best to find your true style and resist the urge to buy something trendy…it most likely will leave your closet in a year anyway!
I WANNA LOOK LIKE HER her Fashion is an industry known for having an issue with body inclusivity. High-street fashion has started to become more inclusive with the models it uses to represent their brand and customers. However, the group of women typically used to represent high-fashion brands are a fine contrast between the women we see in our day-to-day lives. There is a strong correlation with how our confidence is affected by the women we see on billboards, magazines and fashion stores and we are at a time where the industry has no choice but to make some changes with all aspects of diversity - and body inclusivity is something we are seeing changes in.
If you’re an avid fashion follower and keep on top of the latest collections released at fashion weeks, it’s not unlikely that you have noticed the similarity between every fashion house’s choice of model. Hands up if you’ve ever watched one of these runway shows and felt your confidence diminish? *raises hand* One of the best things about fashion is the excitement you can feel from envisioning yourself in clothing you’d love to own - but this can be hard when the runway has led us to comparison. Of course, there is nothing new here - we’re used to seeing the 5’9, slender framed models with cheekbones that make anyone feel envious. Obviously, there are reasons as to why brands favour these models to show the full potential of their clothes - designing them for tall and lean models ensures that the fabric is able to flow and hangs of the model perfectly - rather than catching on our curves (totally normal). However, perfectly flowing is not something most of us would achieve should we purchase the designs we see. Most designers have turned their back on the idea of having a more diverse group of models to represent them at fashion week but that’s not to say that ALL designers are the same. Tommy
Hilfiger is one of the brands that you will see promoting body inclusivity on its runway - in 2019 at NYFW, curve model Ashley Graham walked the runway - whilst being 8 months pregnant. Not only was it a step towards body inclusivity for a plus model to walk during fashion week, but it was the first time we have seen a pregnant woman walk the runway, and we are here for it! Ashley later thanked Tommy Hilfiger on Instagram, stating “Thank you for honouring the importance of inclusion by representing so many different women on your runway and showing that beauty comes in all forms.” As of March 2020, for the first time in 10 years, Chanel casted a plus model for their fall show in Paris - the same model Fendi used for their 2020 show, which was the first time a plus model has walked their runway! The Dutch model, Jill Kortleve has previously walked for Alexander McQueen, Valentino and Mugler, whilst her measurements put her around a UK size 12/14 - something far from ‘plus’ size, this is still a big step for the fashion industry in comparison to their size 0-6 models. Now that the big named brands have started to lead this change, we hope that we will only continue to see more and more diverse body types on the runway, billboards and in stores!
Opposing the editorial side, commercial fashion brands have started to be more and more body inclusive - fast-fashion and high-street brands in particular have been embracing body size inclusivity. Many of these retailers are aimed at millennials and Generation Z - better known as the socially aware shopper. The socially aware shopper’s spending habits are attached to their defined values and are more likely to shop with ethical brands that have a socially positive message. Brands such as ASOS, Missguided, River Island and New Look are amongst those being body inclusive - using women of a variety of sizes to represent their brand and their customer, all offering clothing ranges for plus, petite and tall women. The first brands to introduce these ranges led a change in the high-street fashion world, leading competition to follow in order to stay upto-date - there is more pressure than ever now on the brands that are yet to come out with different ranges for body types and embrace diversity within their brand. Models and influencers are also helping to lead the change in the fashion industry
- with many using their socials to show the reality of women’s bodies, discussing taboo topics and showing how your body changes from movement - compared to being in a perfectly poised position in photoshoots. Amongst these influencers is Chessie King - who has 700,000 followers on Instagram where she promotes body confidence by focusing on how amazing our bodies are for all that they carry us through. Chessie’s main focus is that in different lighting, stances and activities, our body will never look the same - some lighting will show cellulite some positions will give us tummy rolls - and some stances will make us look 6ft tall - all of these aspects are things we have seen as being abnormal from advertisements and posts we see daily. Seeing these influencers and being reminded of how normal our bodies are makes us question the high-fashion industry even more - why are the majority of these brands still yet to make this change and become more inclusive?
When we see plus models or models a similar size and build to ourselves, it can suddenly spark our own confidence - and we get the feeling of wanting to wear whatever we want - without worrying of our hips looking wide, because in reality we are the only ones who notice that - most people have too much going on in their own lives to notice our love handles. This feeling of empowerment is great - but not so great when the opposite happens and we feel shitty (swear?) after seeing slender Kendall Jenner in her bikini on our Instagram feed. But why do we feel this way? Science has now backed up our feelings, after a study proved that women of a healthy weight and BMI felt more satisfied with their body when they saw images of other healthy/’overweight’ women rather than when they saw images of underweight models. The 200 participants were aged between 18 and 25, and were asked to rate themselves of being too thin or too fat while (or whilst?)
looking into a mirror using a 0-to-10 scale - the outcome of this was that after looking at healthy models the score they gave themselves dropped by almost 6%. Having more images in the media of women’s of a healthy weight and more relatable size could help the women who are at high risk of developing an eating disorder and those already suffering. While it has taken far too long for some fashion brands to embrace all body types, we can notice that there has been an increase in diversity within brands - and we can only hope that this continues until we never have to hear of the body diversity issue again. There is much more good that can come from having models of all shapes in mainstream media than how the clothes hang - the feelings that women can get from seeing more relatable women is proven to improve confidence, something that all companies should be willing to achieve.