WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE FASHION?

    Understanding sustainable fashion can be tricky. Even

industry insiders ask: what are we sustaining and how can we

sustain fashion when it is made to change? And then there is a

vast majority of people that have never heard of sustainable

fashion. So if you are reading this and are confused, that’s ok.

In fact, we made this site so that sustainable fashion can be

accessible to everyone.

    Sustainable fashion is an umbrella term that looks at the

total life cycle of a product from creation to what happens to

the product after it is no longer needed. So that there is little

to no impact on the environment and the employees in the

process have the proper working conditions and fair wages.

    The first concept to discuss is the supply chain. The supply

chain is the system in which clothes (or any other type of

product) are made starting with how the textile is grown or

produced and ending with how the end product is sold.

(Learn more about your textiles by getting our Textile Cheat

Sheet.) However, in sustainable fashion what happens to the

product after it has been used is also important.

    Now let’s be clear, we are not sustaining fashion. Trends are

always going to come and go and that can be part of why

fashion is fun. In sustainable fashion, there is a commitment to

protect and preserve the environment as well as the people

living in it.

    There are different ways to support the environment through

fashion. This is a new market with many companies creating new innovations. Even brands that are called sustainable are still at work to finding solutions. While no brand can be completely sustainable at this point in time, there are several who are fully committed to getting as close as possible. The brands that come close commit to a high level of  transparency in their supply chain and company procedures. The end result of all these innovations is to reduce the carbon footprint as much as possible.

    At this point, you might be asking yourself what is a carbon footprint? Carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere. Many brands are creating processes to offset carbon emissions into the atmosphere which destabilizes our climate. One brand, Amour Vert, plants a tree for every tee you purchase by partnering with American Forest. Over 100K trees have been planted thanks to this endeavor. Another leading sustainable brand, Reformation, also takes part in various carbon-offsetting solutions by building eco-friendly stores and factories as well as planting more trees which provides more oxygen in our environment. Find more brands we recommend here.

    Another factor to consider in carbon offsetting, is the product’s packaging. Think about the last time you made an online order. Was it wrapped in a ton of plastic? Did that plastic end up in the trash? That has a negative impact and leaves a carbon footprint. Now picture that about 1,600,000 times a day which is the estimated number of Amazon packages that go out each day. One solution is to shop brands that are mindful with their packaging. The Package Free Shop in Brooklyn, New York is a solution if you are in the neighborhood. Shopping local also reduces the amount of carbon that could be used flying product around the world.

    Shopping local can mean checking out the thrift store in your nearby towns or buying from local artist and designers. Both are a solution to reduce your personal carbon-footprint. Shopping at a thrift store is an easy solution to saving an item from reaching an overseas landfill. Another common practice for getting rid of unused clothes is to donated them different organizations such as, the Salvation Army. According to the book The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade by Pietra Rivoli. There is a surplus of clothes donated and than sold in underdeveloped countries. These countries now have to compete with the second hand market and may struggle to get there local business’s off the ground. An alternative is to have your clothes recycled learn more here.

    In the year 2014, the United States Environmental Protection Agency determined there are 13.1 million tons of textiles in landfills. This is the end result of a linear economy. In a linear economy a product is made to be used and eventually disposed. Sustainable brands are working on a more circular economy where the product goes back to its initial form or gets reused. It ends up being re-purposed, recovered/fixed or regenerated. We also need to consider how the product is made in order to use it for its maximum value. But, the question remains: where to shop?