PLANET
The four pillars of a successful and sustainable fashion business are planet, people, profit and purpose. Using natural resources provided by the planet without a limit could lead to their extinction, which is why it is imperative that consumers and producers alike help create a better world for the generations to come through various sustainable practices.
Reusing, recycling, repairing, and thrifting are some of the ways through which consumers and producers can rethink and make more mindful adaptations in their consumption and/or production habits. The aforementioned terms can aid in turning the economy into a circular economy as opposed to the usual linear economy. The circular economy involves a method of production and consumption through which resources are utilised to their maximum capacity. Hence, in the fashion industry’s context, products, such as clothing, that are in rotation for usage for an extended period ‘create value repeatedly’ (Lee, 2021), which results in minimum pollution and wastage.
As businesses slowly shift into a sustainable model, it is essential to understand what it means. Sustainability is an aim set by companies and humans alike in order to make the world a more resourceful place for the next generations. This can be achieved by preventing the depletion of scarce resources while being environmentally conscious, making it the ‘most crucial transformation’ (Nieto-Rodriguez, 2022) in any business model. And while this remains the literal meaning of sustainability – in the fashion industry’s context, sustainability plays a significant role in producers’ and consumers’ production and consumption patterns. With more awareness, fashion consumers are switching from buying rapidly produced and consumed fast fashion clothes to slow fashion. Slow fashion puts an emphasis on durability via design concepts that strive to be classic and seasonless. The traditional method of production results in minimum pollution, and ethical manufacturing of the garments help create a socially-conscious environment for the workers.
17 Sustainable Development Goals were set in place by the United Nations in 2015 in order to ‘promote economic prosperity and good health while protecting (the) environment’ (Costa, 2019). While multiple SGDs such as responsible consumption and production, reduced inequalities, clean water and sanitation will help reduce pollution by the fashion industry – SDG number 13, Climate Action, plays an integral role in fighting the climate crisis, which could directly impact all the other aforementioned SGDs. Since harmful greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide and methane) are released into the atmosphere via the burning of fossil fuels in factories, it is imperative that the fashion industry takes action. They could do so by ‘liaising with a multitude of stakeholders’ and ‘working under different laws and legislation’ as compared to factories in other industries (Gwilt, 2020).
References:
Lee, L. (2021) Business of Fashion [online]
Available at:
(Accessed: 10 October 2022)
De Costa, J. (2019) Forbes [online]
Available at:
(Accessed: 10 October 2022)
Nieto-Rodriguez, A. (2022) Harvard Business Review [online]
Available at:
https://hbr.org/2022/10/project-leaders-will-make-or-break-your-sustainability-goals
(Accessed: 10 October 2022)
Gwilt, A. (2020) A Practical Guide to Sustainable Fashion. London: Bloomsbury.
Gueye, S. (2021) Ellen Macarthur Foundation
Available at:
(Accessed: 10 October 2022)