Planet
‘Planet’ is one of the Four Pillars of Sustainability which is focused massively in our Fashion Business school. It is vital for people to start recognising the importance of how harmful the fashion industry can be on our planet, and how we would rather benefit from prioritising the health of the planet. This means collectively making changes to the choices we make in our every-day lives in order to be able to prevent further damage from occurring to our planet.
Environmental sustainability aims to improve human lives by preserving the environment and natural capital such as land, water, air and minerals. A business can be deemed ‘environmentally sustainable’ only if they make sure that the needs of the population are met without adversely affecting the long term sustainability of the environment and the needs of future generations (Stringer 2022).
The fashion industry is a huge industry, with the industry’s worth promising to reach $1.7 trillion in 2022 (Mckinsey 2022). The UK’s fashion industry alone is expected to reach $60.1 billion in 2022. Therefore, this gives the industry a title of being one of the major polluting in the world, with its very old fashioned system which is still in practice as of today. Textile production alone contributes to 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 annually, and with 120 billion garments being made every year, there is an immense issue of waste. 68% of all textiles are made from oil synthetics which are known to be one of the most dangerous materials to use for our planet’s wellbeing. This is an issue which can be solved by our generation, an issue that needs to be brought up to the surface to spread awareness of how such a loved industry could really be the epitome of global warming.
The UN report last year confirmed that these changes to the planet were caused by us, and that we were on the path to no return. Hence, we are the last generation which can react and do something about it.
As an increasing number of people take steps towards tackling the climate crisis, fashion should lead the way as one of the major contributors to waste in using its ability to tell compelling stories in order to shape the future ahead of us (Conde Nast).
The fashion industry will not stop producing clothes, but the way in which we go about it can significantly improve the wellbeing of our planet, bettering the lives for many people. The long term vision is trying to get rid of synthetics and microfibres. This is one of the visions for circularity in fashion.
Solutions based on upcycling could be increased also. With upcycling the process also changes, whereby the designer does all their research beforehand for production waste or fabric to be used and then creates their project (D’Alessandro 2022). This in turn overturns the traditional process of creation and implementation of garments that have been engraved in the fashion system for decades.
REFERENCES
Stringer, P., 2022. The 4 Pillars of Sustainability Explained | Skoot.eco [online] Available at: https://skoot.eco/articles/the-4-pillars-of-sustainability-explained
Mckinsey, 2022. The State of Fashion 2022 Report | Mckinsey.com [online]. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/industries/retail/our%20insights/state%20of%20fashion/2022/the-state-of-fashion-2022.pdf
Condenast.com. 2020. Conde Nast Launches The Sustainable Fashion Glossary [online] Available at: https://www.condenast.com/glossary/key-elements-of-fashion-and-sustainability
D’Alessandro, A., 2022. Upcycling, One of the Hottest Trend in Fashion Right Now [online] Available at: https://www.revibe-upcycling.com/blog/news/upcycling-the-hottest-trend-in-fashion