Sustainable and Slow Fashion

Author: Samrina Jafrin

We've all heard of fashion weeks in Paris, Milan, New York, and London. These are the biggest fashion showcasing events standing for contemporary designs of high fashion. But how often do you hear about slow and sustainable fashion?

On that note on sustainable and slow fashion, let us introduce you to this year´s fashion revolution week´s theme “Money, Fashion, Power”.

More than 1100 employees perished and approximately 2500 were wounded in the collapse of Rana Plaza, a textile factory in Bangladesh, in 2013. In order to avoid such occurrences in the future, Fashion Revolution Week has been established. This event's goal is to raise awareness about the fashion business and to promote the message that no one should die for fashion. The readers of this essay will learn about the dark sides of the fashion business and how they may take conscious action as global citizens to contribute to sustainable fashion.

Fashion consists of both tangible and intangible elements. We buy clothes and accessories depending on how they feel and what materials they are made of, and we incorporate them into our daily lives. The intangible aspect of fashion is a language of expression through which we express our individuality, culture, and existence to the world. It used to be a feature of high society, but today stylish clothing and accessories have made their way from the runway to our living rooms.

However, this ease of access to everyday fashion often comes at a cost. Before it reaches us, it is often produced by exploiting individuals, subjecting them to hazardous and unjust working conditions, causing toxic waste, and often, after we have finished flaunting the season's best, it ends up in landfills, generating massive trash.

We discard about 13 million tons of textile trash per year, and if this trend continues, by the end of 2030, we will have discarded more than 134 million tons of textile waste every year. Also, because people want to buy and wear new clothes, fashion manufacturers overproduce by 30-40% each season, resulting in 10% worldwide carbon emissions and the world's second-worst offender in terms of water and plastic pollution. Not only are 60 percent of these fabrics non-recyclable, resulting in massive pollution, but 85 percent of our garments wind up in landfills or are burnt.

Material production may also be inferior to others. Leather tannery employees have a 20% to 50% higher risk of cancer than the general population. Furthermore, the waste created by leather items pollutes the soil, water, and fossil fuel sources, resulting in an increase in sickness in those areas. This is a major issue for the environment.

Nevertheless, the fashion industry is so broad that it employed more than 80 million people globally. But there are fashion brands that exploits the workers by paying less. At the same time, because so many people work in this business, workers are often duped by the fashion industry.

Here is what you can do as an individual to make it better!

Be more aware of industry practices: First, and foremost we have to be aware of our actions and increase our knowledge regarding the fashion industry. For example- if you have interested about vintage clothing then Broqué (a Bangladeshi clothing brand) that make such clothing considers mitigating the environmental impact. 

Focus on 3-Rs: If you want to save our planet, you need to emphasize the 3Rs- Reduce, Recycle and reuse.

Reduce: Buy the pieces you love and need! Invest in quality pieces that you could mix and match and wear for years to come. 

Reuse: In every 3-6 months check and sort the clothes that you no longer need. Exchange your clothes and make friends!!! Also, Post in the Facebook marketplace or different giveaway groups to donate your unwanted or unused clothes Your unwanted clothes can be someone else’s happiness. Moreover, there are organizations that collect unwanted clothes and donate them to the unprivileged ones or sell them at a reduced price. For example- Oxfarm second-hand shops, Palette shops, etc.

Recycling: If you are a manufacturer or producer then make sure to use recyclable materials to produce clothes. One choice can be trying to use vegetable leather instead of animal leather to reduce the pollution. Do not throw clothing waste into the river rather try to figure out the way that can recycle the waste into a productive one. Example – “Doodlage” which is a fashion studio based in Delhi India makes clothes using waste materials.  

If you can follow these, you can save our planet and our next generation. Already some, of the brands are working on sustainable and slow fashion movements yet there are many more to join. We will wait for that day when all our fashion industry will be known for its good side rather the bad ones.  

To know more about the brands that are working on slow and sustainable fashion read our next article on “Emerging social businesses in fashion”.

Happy Reading......