Fashion Industry Slow to Embrace Eco-Chic
Fashion Finally Sees Business Potential in Envrionmental Movement
Nov 19, 2008
Finally, there are some signs that the fashion industry is reluctantly joining the environmental revolution like a spoilt child sulkily conceding to his parent’s wishes. Though, no doubt, much of it will be tokenism as seen with other morality driven causes in fashion (most notably, the anti-fur lobby.) However, at last, industry trade fairs are starting to focus on sustainable fabrics and manufacturing techniques. It seems it makes good business sense to pay attention to demand for environmentally sensitive fabrics and garments that are made responsibly. Cashed up consumers are demanding an ethical product, but this has some problems for the industry.
Having long relied on Asia to provide competitively low-cost fabrics and production, the high cost has ultimately been to the environment. Earth Pledge claims, "At least 8,000 chemicals are used to turn raw materials into textiles and 25% of the world's are used to grow non-organic cotton. This causes irreversible damage to people and the environment , and still two thirds of a garment's carbon footprint will occur after it is purchased."
It Ain’t Easy Being Green
It isn’t all because of image, though it is only now that the Eco-Chic movement is shedding its dowdy reputation of tatty second-hand goods and crushed, organic hemp cotton. Fashion’s hesitation to embrace a general sustainable design philosophy has essentially related to cost. Factories have charged forward with technologies in the last 100 years that have primarily been geared towards making more products, faster. Now, society is asking a whole industry (and many other industries to boot) to take a ‘backward’ step and reassess these processes for their environmental impact.
And there are other problems. Wool and cotton are often said to be fabrics of choice, as they are renewable, biodegradable resources. But the current farming processes for these raw materials have a hugely damaging impact on the land. Organic farming, with its pesticide-free outlook, puts crop health on the line, and farmers’ livelihoods along with it making it a difficult, if not completely unpopular, choice for them.
Green is the New Black?
While the Parisian colourists play with swatches and whimsy, there is now a moral weight on the couleur du jour. Dyes are major pollutants. The difficulty and cost of disposing these chemical compounds combined with suppliers need to keep costs down in the competitive fashion market often take precedence over more eco-friendly solutions. This can lead to the common practice of unceremoniously dumping dye in waterways impacting the natural environment and people’s health.
Major suppliers are starting to pay attention by investing in technologies and innovation to keep ahead the game. USA company, Ecolor have invested six billion dollars researching and developing a range of commercial vegetable dyes and other companies are set to follow their lead.
Japanese textile company Fujitex has released a new range of cashmere recently, which uses plant extracts such as pomegranate, acacia and cloves to dye the fabric. Other suppliers have jumped onboard offering ‘new generation’ products such as recycled cotton and chemical-free treatments. Miyashin is experimenting with combining bamboo and traditional Japanese paper with silk for delicate, lightweights and knitwear specialist Minami has economically developed organic cotton produced from the soft, inside fur left over from making mink coats. Apparently the anti-fur lobby and anti-forestry groups are secondary concerns in the face of the power of the growing trend of sustainability.
Fast Fashion Slows Down
EBay has been a huge contributor to the turnaround in eco-chic. Pre-loved designer clothes keep getting loved with the online racket, raising the profile of second hand clothing. The media have even renamed it in the last few years, raising its status from hand-me-downs to the glamourous vintage.
Fashion might just have to get its head around a prevailing revelation of modern society, that is faster might be jeopardising the future. The industry might just have to slow down and take the time to smell the organic roses.
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