Design Challenge:
The Fashion Industry, Waste & Plastic ENEMIE
It is a well known fact now that the fashion industry is the second most polluting after oil. In a fastly-globalising world centred around trends (as micro as you like) and consumerism, this factor seems to be lost in translation somewhere. Does it matter if you’re ‘on trend’ anymore if it’s at the expense of the planet that offers us such a wonderful home? According to the UN Environment Programme, around 60% of material made into clothing is plastic, which includes polyester, acrylic and nylon textiles - and that’s not even including the mountains of packaging our garments come in. We’ve all seen the devastating images on documentaries like Blue Planet, where plastic is clogging up our oceans and damaging our ecosystems but how much more has to be lost before we make a change? New, innovative fabrics are being designed everyday and consumers are shifting away to recycled plastics or sustainable fibres. It turns out recycled plastic really can be fashionable.