PLANET

What is sustainability?

Planet is one of four pillars – Planet, People, Purpose and Profit – and is embodied by environmental sustainability. Sustainability is defined by the United Nations as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (United Nations, Sustainability 1987). For a consumer, ‘sustainable’ is often just used as a buzzword to encourage people to spend more money and increase profit margins. The fashion industry produces 100 billion garments every year (Maberry, 2021a) and it accounts for 10% of CO2 emissions – more than aviation and maritime shipping combined (World Bank Group, 2019). This is not environmentally sustainable as three out of five garments purchased from the fast fashion industry end up in landfill within a year (Maberry, 2021b).

What are the sustainable development goals?

The United Nations devised 17 sustainable development goals which were envisioned to be a solution to serious issues such as climate change – “A blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all” (Take action for the sustainable development goals – united nations sustainable development).

How does this relate to the fashion industry?

Sustainable Development Goal 12 – responsible consumption and production – creates a shared responsibility between consumers and brands to embed responsible habits into everyday life. In the UK, over 57 million pounds was spent on fast fashion in 2021 (Smith, 2022). Therefore, it is imperative that fashion designers and companies adopt more sustainable design and production processes. Such as (Gwilt et al., 2020a):

• Minimising the consumption of resources
• Choosing low impact processes
• Improving production techniques
• Improving distribution systems
• Reducing the impacts created during use
• Improving garments lifetime

Fashion designer Stella McCartney adopts these sustainable principles into her design process. She incorporates sustainable principles into her business and never uses animal products such as leather, fur or exotic skins in her collections. Additionally, in her fabrics she chooses organic cottons and low impact dyes, as well as always embraces new techniques and materials as they emerge (Gwilt et al., 2020b). McCartney’s AW17 collection was shot on a landfill site to promote sustainability – showing her commitment to sustainable fashion.

What is a circular economy?

“A circular fashion industry is defined as a regenerative system in which garments are circulated for as long as their maximum value is retained, and then returned safely to the biosphere when they are no longer of use.”

(Moving towards a circular fashion economy, 2021)

References

Devaney, S. (2017) Why Stella McCartney asked models to pose on a rotting landfill site in Scotland, HuffPost UK. HuffPost UK. Available at: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/stella-mccartney-sustainability-landfill-site_uk_596f35f5e4b0a03aba8630fa (Accessed: October 9, 2022).

Gwilt, A. (2020) “The life cycle of a garment,” in A practical guide to sustainable fashion. London: Bloomsbury, p. 35.

Maberry, S. (2021) 10 must-know fast fashion statistics & not-so-fun facts, ZEITGEIST. ZEITGEIST. Available at: https://wearzeitgeist.com/fashion-sustainability-ethics/fast-fashion-statistics#:~:text=100%20billion%20items%20of%20clothing%20are%20produced%20each%20year.&text=A%20mind%2Dboggling%20100%20billion,every%20person%20on%20the%20planet. (Accessed: October 9, 2022).

Moving towards a circular fashion economy (2021) MOTIF. Available at: https://motif.org/news/circular-fashion-economy/#:~:text=A%20circular%20fashion%20industry%20is,the%20next%20use%20in%20mind. (Accessed: October 9, 2022).

Smith, P. (2022) Clothing purchase trend in the UK 2021, Statista. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/300842/annual-expenditure-on-clothing-in-the-united-kingdom-uk/ (Accessed: October 9, 2022).

Sustainability (no date) United Nations. United Nations. Available at: https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/sustainability (Accessed: October 9, 2022).

Sustainable development goals (sdgs) and disability enable (no date) United Nations. United Nations. Available at: https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/about-us/sustainable-development-goals-sdgs-and-disability.html (Accessed: October 9, 2022).

Take action for the sustainable development goals – united nations sustainable development (no date) United Nations. United Nations. Available at: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/ (Accessed: October 9, 2022).

World Bank Group (2019) How much do our wardrobes cost to the environment?, World Bank. World Bank Group. Available at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2019/09/23/costo-moda-medio-ambiente (Accessed: October 9, 2022).