Final Paper: Sustainable Fashion
THE ISSUE
Please follow link for an introduction about the Sustainable Movement via a fashion blogger Greta Eagan)
In the modern day the economies that we have created in world place growth at the value center. The central goal of economic activity is to accumulate and grow. This system, which is dependent on production and consumption, is disruptive to the general well being of the environment. As industrial production is increasing around the world, the environment is becoming more polluted. Furthermore, as economic output increases, the costs of deteriorating ecosystems rise. Since natural capital is the most valuable and indispensible form of capital, a smart society would sustain and expand it where needed. Today forward-thinking designers and innovators are using the catalytic potential of design to bring change.
Like other consumer industries, the fashion industry is based on a model of continual economic growth fuelled by ever-increasing consumption of resources. The unsustainability of this model is widely acknowledged. It is vital to create a less damaging, more constructive future for the fashion sector. Companies in the fashion industry place dominance of the image over the object. They extensively work on creating desirable products that could be redefined as images for a society. The fast fashion consumption cycle thrives on constant change of trends and the abundance of new, quickly produced items. Consumption becomes a way of projecting a trendy image that sets one apart from the crowd. Fashion is a “signal to others” that differentiates the consumer from the mass.[1]
Nevertheless, fashion is slowly undergoing a transition of value. The concept of sustainable fashion and personal style is becoming a more relevant topic. People around the world have an interest in quality fashion products that are more durable and have a longer life cycle. Younger generations, in particular, are becoming aware of the environmental impact of fashion and the effects globalization has on society through media and the internet. The challenge of sustainability today is to integrate human well-being and natural integrity together. Therefore, many innovators are focusing on producing an array of more diverse, engaging, and resourceful fashion and textiles that secure employment, give the manufacturing industry the opportunity to develop cutting-edge technologies and approaches that dramatically reduce resource use.[2]
Also in today’s knowledge economy there is a shift toward greater transparency between the producer and consumer. The openness of the Internet gives consumers immediate access to information. Furthermore, the proliferation of brands and choices makes purchase decisions much more involved. Fashion companies are looking to satisfy hunger for information by revealing how they produce, design, and manufacture their products.
In “The Consumer Decision Journey” the author mentions that “consumers are moving outside the purchase funnel” which changes the way they purchase or buy products.[3] Customers are ready to seize control and prefer to “pull” information instead of being pushed marketing. Conversational fashion media like blogs, websites, digital magazines give consumers a way to actively seek information that interests them. This new insight allows innovative brands to empower their consumers and create interactive platforms for them. “Imaginative brands create a two-way dialogue with their customer”, allowing them to participate in creating and evolving a brand.[4]
THE MATERIALS
In the fashion industry, “materials play an emphatic role in our current understanding of what makes fashion and textiles sustainable”.[5] Materials have the power to promote the long-term health, resilience, and effectiveness of the fashion industry. Today diversity of materials is actually hard to find in the fashion industry. Unfortunately, the industry is dominated by ready-made, similar products with limited fibers. “Cotton and polyester together account for over 80 percent of the global market in textiles”.[6] The fact that limited fibers are used to produce large volumes of clothes makes the impact of production more concentrated in specific agricultural or manufacturing sectors which is more risky. A more sustainability-driven strategy encourages us to replace some conventional materials with alternatives such as organic or low-chemical materials like hemp, flax, lyocell. A shift from materials like polyester to renewable and biodegradable fibers would benefit the industry in many ways. In fact, if the industry would rely more on “minority” fibers, it would also mean “more varied and locally sensitive agriculture, more regional fibers, more local jobs, and more healthy and socially robust environments.[7]
Natural fibers such as cotton have caused a range of well-documented environmental impacts including: reduced soil fertility, loss of biodiversity, water pollution, pesticide-related problems, and health problems relating to exposure to toxic pesticides”.[8] The World Health Organization has classified the pesticides used in cotton production, for example, as “moderately hazardous”. The cotton crop also needs to be highly irrigated. “Other inputs in cotton cultivation include between 0.3 and 1kg of oil per kg of cotton fiber” to run the farm machinery.[9] However, there are alternatives, which include organically grown cotton, hand-picked cotton, low-chemical cotton, and rain-fed cotton. An example of a manufactured fiber is polyester. The agents used in the manufacturing of polyester are petrochemicals, whose big impacts stem from the pollution effects of the petrochemical industry.[10] Similar to polyester, nylon fibers are dependent on a petrochemical feedstock. Producing either fiber produced emissions such as nitrous oxide.
Example of “alternative” fibers include lyocell, soya, bamboo, and others. Lyocell is claimed to be “an environmentally responsible fiber utilizing renewable resources as its raw materials”.[11] It is made from wood pulp, which is dissolved in a solvent and then spun into fibers. 99.5 percent of the solvent is recovered in the process and then purified and recycled back into the system. Soya fiber is “seen as a potential replacement for petrochemical based synthetics”.[12]
In summary, “for viscose, acrylic, and polyester there are significant emissions to air; for viscose and wool significant emissions to water; and for cotton very high levels of pesticides use”.[13] Other phases of the lifecycle of the material like manufacturing, use and disposal also consume resources and produce waste. Therefore, any one item from our closet that is made from ordinary materials is much more resource-intensive than we think. It is thus crucial to move the industry as a whole toward alternative fibers so that they have the opportunity to develop cutting-edge technologies and approaches that dramatically reduce resource use. Ethical companies should make thoughtful decisions and sell product thinking about all resources that go into manufacturing and producing it. Ethical clothes should benefit both the users and the planet.
PARTICIPATORY DESIGN
The field of sustainable fashion is very much embedded in the idea of collaboration. Innovators propose using ‘participatory design’, where users are engaged in and aware of the details of the fashion process. When participating in the production of clothes, it is easier to build in concerns of sustainability, because the profit margins no longer become the central goal of this process. By entering an interactive dialogue with designers, it is possible to co-produce items that are individually tailored. The quote below powerfully summarizes the benefits of participatory design:
“When we are actively engaged in, learning about or teaching something, we tend to feel more fulfilled. We are drawn out of a passive state where our focus and goal tends to be ‘having’ a garment and into the more active states of being (engaged and creative), doing (sewing) and interacting (with fashion symbolism). These active states have a requirement for an evolving set of knowledge and skills so that we don’t become bored or frustrated. The aim is to enable us to engage in a process of enrichment that is chiefly concerned with skills, knowledge and experience and one where our focus is switched away from the accumulation of possessions to one where possessions, while still important, are used as tools to help us become better skilled.”[14]
The concept of participatory design is “built on the idea that those who ultimately use a product are entitled to have a voice in determining how it designed”.[15] By including the users in the process of design, the designers no longer have “exclusively control form, function, or use”.[16] User-engagement can help products with a high desirability and demand to be produced. This would get rid of big quantities of products, which are unneeded and therefore wasteful. To make user involvement possible, the design and production process itself “has to be made more transparent”.[17]
In the fashion world, websites like Citizen Fashion, an internet gallery of clothing, show the design creativity and skills of different individuals with an interest in fashion. The website’s “aim is to put fashion in the hands of the people and in the process wrest back some of the power over what we wear from buyers, brands, and retailers”.[18] This is a powerful notion because sites such as these create a platform to share new ideas and collaborate with each other. This helps to democratize fashion and reconnect the potential user with the maker of the garment. Furthermore, if the user plays a role in the design process, then the product is infused with richer meaning. This would make the product more meaningful and the user might wear it for a longer period of time.
Another new website with an eco-friendly model is known as Source4Style. The site is an “online marketplace for sustainable fabric”, which will bring a change to fabric sourcing.[19] Designers or buyers are able to browse through the expanding collection of fabrics from over 25 suppliers and have the ability to make socially and environmentally conscious decisions. Online platforms like this one help to make the design process more efficient and transparent. Designers are able to collaborate and spend less time looking for materials and instead can dedicate it to the creative process. The users can review technical and sustainability specs of the fabrics presented and can calculate lead and ship times, connect with suppliers, and source swatches, yardage and product through a seamless online transaction.
(Follow link below to hear a conversation with co-founder of Source4Style)
Proud Mary, a socially conscious company that produces unique, handcrafted patterned goods and collaborates with artisans in developing countries sells its fabric through Source4Style. “The final products, with access to new markets, provide economic growth for the artist and their families.”[20] This offers an economic and knowledge-based benefit. The company’s website features limited edition home accessories where the fabric is weaved in countries like Guatemala and South Africa. Proud Mary allows these products to enter new markets and provide economic growth for artists in developing countries. Through the online platform Source4Style, they sell a black and gold cotton fabric called “Mamba” that is hand printed “using potatoes by a small woman owned cooperative outside of Cape Town, South Africa.”[21] By establishing close relationships with ethnic textile artisans around the world, Proud Mary is able to turn their business into a sustainable model that promotes social change.
Furthermore, customization and user input is an integral part of the fashion design process. “User-engagement is used as a route to producing more customized and unique products”.[22] One example of participatory fashion design is the “do shirt”, a project developed between do and Droog design. “The collaboration’s aim was to promote a more dissipated approach to production that encourages users to shape their own products”.[23] The do shirt is specifically designed for user interaction. The T-shirt “comes with a booklet of t-shirt sculptures” and can be worn in numerous ways. In fact, it is hard to wear the shirt in the same way twice. These types of projects almost liberate the consumer from the pre-packed, ready-made clothes, allowing them to play a role in the design process.
INFORMATION
Furthermore, information is one of the keys to innovation. Competitive advantage is not based on being the holder of knowledge in this area, it is shared knowledge that becomes powerful and distinctive when creatively applied. There are many tools and software being developed to help companies assess the sustainability of their business models. One such example is the Eco Index, which is “designed to help manufacturers examine the ecological and human-rights impacts of their products, as well as to make smarter, more sustainably sound choices”.[24] Early adopters of the program lean on the outdoorsy end of the spectrum: Adidas, Timberland, Patagonia, REI, Columbia Sportswear, and Brooks Sports are typical of the companies represented.[25]
“The Eco Index software works by asking manufacturers a series of questions about their environmental and labor practices, many of which require answers from their suppliers. From the information provided, the application generates a grade that represents a percentage of a perfect score”.[26] There are many similar tools that measure the carbon footprint of a firm’s products, from harvesting raw materials to end-of-life exposal. With Eco Index software, companies are able to “pose hypothetical scenarios” to determine how to improve their carbon footprint score.[27]
Patagonia, is a great example of a company that uses information to increase awareness about ecological issues. The company’s mission statement claims that Patagonia want to “build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, and use business to inspire solutions for the environmental crisis”.[28] Patagonia seeks to educate its consumers through catalogs, retail stores, and website. It offers numerous environmental essays on the web site such as a “Plague of Plastic” and “Toxic Soup” about different ecological threats to our ecosystem. Patagonia’s recent campaign was called “Ocean as Wildreness”. The brand spent 18 months with marine scientists writers, fishermen and surfers to teach themselves and customers about the connection between human life and the marine environment. This demonstrates Patagonia’s passion for environmental reporting and customer relationships. Furthermore, the brand reveals the impact of manufacturing of some of their products through an interactive mini-site the “Footprint Chronicles”. The customer is able to trace specific Patagonia products from design through delivery and examine the product’ impact on the earth through five categories energy consumption, distance travelled, CO2 emissions, waste generated, and water consumption.[29] Patagonia is one of the few apparel brands that is promoting transparency.
(Follow link to see Footprint Chronicles)
http://www.patagonia.com/us/footprint/index.jsp
STRATEGY
In general, fashion business need to understand that by factoring sustainability concerns into their strategy and by securing the interests of its shareholders, they ensure their long-term profitability. Corporate responsibility and sustainability are strategic obligations, which drive long-term growth and viability of the environment in which the firm exists. Although some argue that a “business cannot be expected to put itself at risk by pursuing environmental goals”, these individuals fail to see that environmental responsibility is not a constraint to profit.[30] Their argument is based on the background assumption that “profits and the environment represent a zero-sum game”.[31]
However, protection of the environment and sustainable business practices do not come at the expense of profitability. For example, energy-smart innovations can easily contribute to corporate goals of business growth. Better stewardship of energy and resources helps to boost revenue through greater productivity. Also businesses can “strategically squeeze out avoidable costs” in the manufacturing process. Wasted energy eats up profits. “Waste is a bad thing, both economically and ecologically”.[32] Waste minimizing practices also have environmental and economic benefits. Also moving to non-pollution sources of energy, redesigning products and striving for resource efficiency are other important practices for businesses to consider.
Sustainable fashion is part of the larger trend of sustainable design, where the final product or service is created and produced with consideration to the environmental and social impact it may have throughout its total life span. Fashion products are considered to have big “carbon footprints”, measure of the amount of greenhouse gases produced by human activities. Each fashion business leaves a carbon footprint at phases like production, distribution, consumption, and disposal. One company known as Future Fashion works in this area and helps companies to transition to sustainable materials and a more carbon neutral business model. By extending sustainable fabric sourcing and setting new standards in ethical trading, it helps other companies move toward better methods and practices. Future Fashion claims that the fashion industry uses more water than any other industry except agriculture. “At least 8,000 chemicals are used to turn raw materials into textiles and 25% of the world’s pesticides 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.”[33] These statistics presented on Future Fashion’s website illustrate that carbon footprints are incurred both by the producer and the consumer. It is important to focus on innovating in both the “birth” stage of the product life cycle and the “use” stage as well.
CONCLUSION
In today’s consumer-oriented world, we become passive ‘followers’ of trends, which are dreamt up by the fashion elite. The main goal of these companies is to capitalize on their competitive advantage and make a profit. Fashion items are, therefore, presented to us as ‘closed’ or ‘final’ products and we are not encouraged to personalize them for our own needs. Instead we are asked to buy into a ‘perfect’ vision of what the designer intended. Over time, the practice of designing and making clothes has become professionalized and industrialized, which reinforce the fashion system’s current power structures, with powerful ‘genius’ designers at the top. However, with the current social environment where global turmoil in the financial markets, rising unemployment, climate change, food insecurity, water bankruptcy and the end of the era of cheap oil have become reality, people are starting to demand change. This change is being embraced by fashion companies, who are using design interventions to change the materialistic behaviors that encapsulate consumerist behavior today.
[1] Kawamura, Yuniya. Fashion-ology An Introduction to Fashion Studies (Dress, Body, Culture). New York: Berg, 2005. Print.
[2] Fletcher, Kate. “Sustainable Fashion & Textiles: Design Journeys”, Gutenberg Press, 2008.
[3] David, Court. “Consumer Decision Journey”, McKinsey Quaterly, 2009 Issue 3.
[4] Rosemary, Feitelberg. “Fashion’s New Order:Transparency”, WWD, January 26, 2010, 16.
[5] Fletcher, Kate. “Sustainable Fashion & Textiles: Design Journeys”, 3.
[6] Fletcher, Kate. “Sustainable Fashion & Textiles: Design Journeys”, 4.
[7] Fletcher, Kate. “Sustainable Fashion & Textiles: Design Journeys”, 5.
[8] Fletcher, Kate. “Sustainable Fashion & Textiles: Design Journeys”, 8.
[9] Fletcher, Kate. “Sustainable Fashion & Textiles: Design Journeys”, 9.
[10] Fletcher, Kate. “Sustainable Fashion & Textiles: Design Journeys”, 12.
[11] Fletcher, Kate. “Sustainable Fashion & Textiles: Design Journeys”, 30.
[12] Fletcher, Kate. “Sustainable Fashion & Textiles: Design Journeys”, 34.
[13] Fletcher, Kate. “Sustainable Fashion & Textiles: Design Journeys”, 16.
[14] Fletcher, Kate. “Sustainable Fashion & Textiles: Design Journeys”.
[15] Fletcher, Kate. “Sustainable Fashion & Textiles: Design Journeys”, 192.
[16] Fletcher, Kate. “Sustainable Fashion & Textiles: Design Journeys”, 192
[17] Fletcher, Kate. “Sustainable Fashion & Textiles: Design Journeys”, 194.
[18] Fletcher, Kate. “Sustainable Fashion & Textiles: Design Journeys”, 194.
[19] Burgas, Kimberly ‘Fashion Projects”, http://www.fashionprojects.org/?cat=13
[20] Lang, David. “Case Study: Proud Mary”, http://blog.profounder.com/2011/01/17/case-study-proud-mary-more-than-just-money/
[21] “Mamba”, http://source4style.com/mamba.html.
[22] Fletcher, Kate. “Sustainable Fashion & Textiles: Design Journeys”, 194.
[23] Fletcher, Kate. “Sustainable Fashion & Textiles: Design Journeys”, 198.
[24] Meinhold, Bridgette. “Industry-Wide Eco Index Will Offer Energy Star-Like Rating for Apparel”, http://www.ecouterre.com/industry-wide-eco-index-will-offer-energy-star-like-rating-for-apparel/.
[25] Meinhold, Bridgette. “Industry-Wide Eco Index Will Offer Energy Star-Like Rating for Apparel”.
[26] Ibid.
[27] Ibid.
[28] Enviromentalism”, http://www.patagonia.com/web/us/patagonia.go?assetid=1809
[29] Enviromentalism”, http://www.patagonia.com/web/us/patagonia.go?assetid=1809
[30] National Association of Manufacturers, “Efficiency and Innovation in U.S Manufacturing Energy Use”, Washington DC, 2005.
[31] Tom L. Beauchan, Norman Bowie, Denis Arnold, Ethical Theory and Business, 8th ed., (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2004), 535-7.
[32] “About Future Fashion”, http://earthpledge.org/ff
