Sustainable fashion

Sustainable fashion (also known as eco-fashion) is a term describing products, processes, activities, and actors (policymakers, brands, consumers) aiming to achieve a carbon-neutral fashion industry, built on equality, social justice, animal welfare, and ecological integrity. Sustainable fashion concerns more than addressing fashion textiles or products. It addresses the entire process in which clothing is produced, consumed and disposed; who, what, how, when, where and the expected useful life of the product before entering landfill. The sustainable movement looks to combat the large carbon footprint that fast fashion has created by reducing the environmental impact of fashion such as air pollution, water pollution and overall climate change.

In 2020, it was found that an approach of voluntary self-directed reform of textile manufacturing supply chains to reduce the environmental impact of fashion by large companies had failed. Measures to reform fashion beyond greenwashing needed to involve policies for the creation and enforcement of standardized certificates along with related import controls, subsidies and eco-tariff-like interventions.

Purpose

Adherents of the sustainable fashion movement believe that the fashion industry has a clear opportunity to act differently, pursuing profit and growth while also creating new value and deeper wealth for society and therefore for the world economy. The goal of sustainable fashion is to create flourishing ecosystems and communities through its activity. The movement believes that clothing companies ought to place environmental, social, and ethical improvements on management's agenda. This may include: increasing the value of local production and products; prolonging the lifecycle of materials; increasing the value of timeless garments; reducing the amount of waste; and reducing the harm to the environment as a result of production and consumption. Another goal is to educate people to practice environmentally friendly consumption by promoting the "green consumer", which can allow for the company itself to gain more support and a larger following.Green consumerism is the shift in consumer behavior attitudes advocating for the efficient use of energy, which ultimately helps in saving money, reducing utility bills, lowering emissions of greenhouse gas, and enabling economies to meet the growing energy demands. In recent years there has been an increase in research centered around consumer reactions to the advent of green products within fast fashion. Critics doubt the effectiveness that this has, but companies have already begun slowly transitioning their business models to fit a more eco-friendly and sustainable future. Thus the industry has to change its basic premise for profit, yet this is slow coming as it requires a large shift in business practices, models and tools for assessment.

"Fast fashion"

One of the most apparent reasons for the current unsustainable condition of the fashion system is related to the temporal aspects of fashion; the continuous stream of new goods onto the market, or what is popularly called "fast fashion." The term fast fashion is used to refer to the fast paced production of goods at an unethical level which often has a negative impact on the environment. As a way to conform to the latest fashion styles and keep consumers wanting new garments, current fast fashion trends pre-suppose selling clothing in large quantities. Due to fast fashion being affordable and able to keep up with the trends, there has been an increase in apparel consumption. Consumption has risen to 62 million tonnes annually and is projected to reach 102 million tonnes by 2030.

"Slow" fashion

Slow fashion can be seen as an alternative approach against fast fashion, based on principles of the slow food movement. Characteristics of sustainable fashion match the philosophies of "slow fashion" in that emotional, ecological and ethical qualities are favored over uniform and bland convenience with minimal friction. It requires a changed infrastructure and a reduced through-put of goods. Categorically, slow fashion is neither business-as-usual nor just involving design classics. Nor is it production-as-usual but with long lead times. Slow fashion is a vision of the fashion sector built from a different starting point. Slow fashion is a fashion concept that reflects a perspective, which respects human living conditions, biological, cultural diversity and scarce global resources and creates unique, personalized products.

Garment use and lifespan

The environmental impact of fashion also depends on how much and how long a garment is used. With the fast fashion trend, garments tend to be used half as much as compared to 15 years ago. This is due to the inferior quality of fabrics used but also a result of a significant increase in collections that are being released by the fashion industry. Typically, a garment used daily over years has less impact than a garment used once to then be quickly discarded. Studies have shown that the washing and drying process for pair of classic jeans is responsible for almost two-thirds of the energy consumed through the whole of the jeans' life, and for underwear about 80% of total energy use comes from laundry processes. The dyeing process also contributes close to 15%-20% of wastewater. For this reason, innovative techniques are being introduced to reduce energy and water consumption, such as utilizing CO2 in the dyeing process. Thus, use and wear practices affect the lifecycles of garments and needs to be addressed for larger systemic impact.However, there is a significant difference between making a product last from making a long-lasting product. The quality of the product must reflect the appropriate fit into its lifecycle. Certain garments of quality can be repaired and cultivated with emotional durability. Low-quality products that deteriorate rapidly are not as suitable to be "enchanted" with emotional bonds between user and product. It is important to notice that choosing and promoting "emotional bonds" with consumer objects is an endeavor more easily done under circumstances of excess, as the needy have no other option than to keep and care for their belongings.