Research: Can the fashion industry ever be sustainable?

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I wanted to look at whether it is actually possible for fashion to become sustainable. I was particularly interested in finding out whether consumers are willing to shop more sustainably and whether businesses would adapt to more environmentally friendly practices.

I listened The Guardian's 'Today in Focus: Can the fashion industry ever be sustainable?' and made notes:
  • London Fashion Week - recycled materials. Dress made from plastic bottles
  • Zero waste pattern cutting - design process where pattern is cut in a way that every scrap of fabric is used
  • Fashion is more than the clothes - also things in the supply chain
  • Buttons made of plastic (oil)
  • Fast Fashion developed because UK is big textile country, massive exporter of clothing. Fast Fashion has been developing since the industrial revolution. Cotton yarn became faster to make due to machinery. 'Fast Fashion was always going to happen'.
  • Holes in self worth are filled by fast fashion
  • Sustainable fashion - used to mean decarbonisation and less water consumption etc (environmental)
  • Ethical fashion - people and planet
  • Not enough progress - brands think they're part of the solution but not part of the problem. NO clear progression
  • 2008 - 80 billion new garments a year, 2050 - fashion could be 1/4 of global carbon production. Clothing production hasn't yet peaked - projected to rise by another 63% (equivalent of 500 billion tshirts)
  • Cotton - a large amount of water needed by crop grown in water scarce areas
  • Polyester - from oil so impact on climate change
  • Both cotton and polyester are virgin resources - brand new resources as they can't be efficiently recycled. 
  • Organic cotton - carbon footprint is less. Not as good when only a small part of material used by large brands when they are still producing mass amounts of clothes
  • Conscious/sustainable ranges - shouldn't let the fact its a sustainable range encourage you to buy things you don't need - still consider other factors. See whether it's a better fibre
  • 30 wears rule - will you want to wear it 30 times (decide before buying)
  • There is a positive change
  • London Fashion Week as a problem - hadn't shown willingness to support sustainable fashion. Not behaving like we're in a climate crisis. Promotes new things that are often produced in the same way as the rest of fast fashion
  • Sustainable Angle - expo for new fibres and innovation.
  • Linen and Flax take in carbon as they grow
  • Fibre shed movement - local fibres for local production - biodegradable shirt that you can regrow
  • We can't just make fast fashion out of organic cotton because the business model is the same and the idea is the same - sustainability can't just be about profit and then saying that it will be recycled in the end
  • How to buy less - delete shopping apps off your phone, if you buy something make sure you will wear it for a long time and there is a gap in what you already own for it, try to buy second hand (51% of people haven't bought second hand in the last year)
  • Depop - second hand 
  • Sustainable fashion is about buying less, renting, sharing, repairing clothes.
This podcast was extremely useful for my project as it shows that what brands do and claim is sustainable actually often isn't. 

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