Sustainable Fashion
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I have always wanted to talk about this but haven’t done partly through fear of tripping up on my own hypocrisy. I also don’t want to be another one of those people. You know the ones. I am already harping on about toffee yoghurt in schools - that is quite enough. But… whilst googling facts about the fashion industry, I found some things that made me realise I am out of touch (scroll down for the list).
My last “proper” job in London involved working with big brands who were desperate to do something about their sustainability credentials. Ralph Lauren had launched their Earth Polo (a plastic t-shirt marketed as being “made from recycled plastic bottles”). I could not believe these other brands were falling for it, firstly who wants to wear a plastic t-shirt and secondly, do people really believe the plastic bottles are turned into t-shirts? What can you do with a plastic bottle t-shirt after you’ve finished with it? Turn it into plastic bottles again? I don’t think so… More disgusting t-shirts? It won’t degrade, you cannot recycle it. Plastic bottles are really easy to recycle back into plastic bottles. Once they are made into a strange fabric “blend” they are useless to everyone but the marketeer.
Another thing that shocked me at the time is that all the young people working there (who appeared to be outraged by climate change and plastic in the ocean) were coming in to work carrying these reusable coffee cups which were apparently made from recycled coffee cups 🫠. So they were a mix of plastic and paper - a nasty composite of material with no end of life solution. I felt like such a boring old lady telling them to go and buy a stainless steel thermos or stick to a paper cup (which can be recycled along with paper and card).
So the marketing is clever, or we just don’t question things enough.
The list of facts below come from a range of sources (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Fashion Checker) and many are well known. The thing that really took me by surprise was this issue of young people feeling pressure not to wear the same outfit twice. I don’t blame them. Being a teenager is excruciating. Even an adult - we are constantly buying clothing to try and make us look and feel better.
I have put a bit more thought into my own clothes and would really like to try and buy clothes made in the UK if I can. But, I don’t want to be high and mighty about it. I do think that most of the hype around sustainable fashion or style is often yet more marketing/trends. The trick really is to:
Know what suits you (shape and colour) and try to stick to it.
Dress for your lifestyle (no point in me owning nice shoes they will only get muddy).
Avoid trends (tracksuit bottoms are for the gym or your sofa - there I said it).
Buy clothing that is strong and well made and will last (hint hint a nice wool jumper).
Some stats about fashion and clothing (the first two are the shockers for me).
41-% of 18-25 year olds have reported pressure to wear a different outfit each time they go out
The average customer buys 60% more clothing than they did 15 years ago.
Textile production contributes more to climate change than aviation and shipping combined.
93% of brands surveyed by Fashion Checker aren’t paying garment workers a living wage.
Only 12% fashion companies disclose quantity of products produced annually
Videos tagged with ‘haul’ on tik tok have been viewed more than 48bn times.
16/21 items from 10 fashion brands donated through their take back scheme were destroyed or left in warehouses or exported to Africa where half of used clothing is shredded or dumped.
As much as 20-35% of all primary source microplastics in the marine environment are from synthetic textiles.
Garments are second highest at risk product for modern slavery.
Less than 1% of textiles and clothes are genuinely recycled into new textiles and clothes.
Production of polyester - the most widely used fibre in clothing emits 3 x more carbon dioxide than cotton.