What is sustainable fashion? Sustainable fashion is a movement and process of fostering change to fashion products and the fashion system towards greater ecological integrity and social justice. Sustainable fashion concerns more than just addressing fashion textiles or products. It comprises addressing the whole system of fashion.
Brands & Consumers.
Pros and Cons of second hand, slow & fair fashion, vegan, organic cotton, clothing swaps, minimalism, local production and recycled materials.
CLOTHING SWAP SECOND HAND SLOW FASHION
+ To start off with a great and probably the most sustainable solution because you are not only giving the pieces you get a new life, but also the ones you give away = double the save from landfill.
– Takes time to organize, but check Facebook for groups “clothes swap”/”Kleidertausch” or try out one of the apps on the market: EN/DE
SECOND HAND
+ Another super sustainable solution because the pieces already exist, so you are saving the entire negative impact of production.
– The downside: buying second hand can give unconscious consumers who sell their clothes less incentive to think about their purchases, which fuels more fast fashion consumption.
SLOW FASHION
+ Environmentally friendly by producing fewer new items.
– If you really want to find a con here’s one: slow fashion means sticking with what you have for a long time, so this can get difficult to practice when your tastes change.
FAIR FASHION VEGAN
+ Ensuring fair wages supports education and directly improves worker’s quality of life. If everyone had a living wage* we would see more happiness in the world = less conflict + more love & peace.
– Certifications can be misleading and mean different things than one might expect. Want to know more? Scroll down to the certifications link.
VEGAN
+ Environmentally friendly because it reduces the negative environmental impact caused by animals.
+ You prevent animals from dying or suffering for your clothes.
– Some brands will use plastic or other non biodegradable fibers as a replacement to animal based products. Unfortunately, these materials often end up in landfills after a short amount of time. This directly contributes to eco-pollution.
+ Minimize your carbon footprint! Garment transport puts out a huge amount of C02, which can be reduced by minimizing the distances during production.
– If you want to have a positive impact on working conditions in developing countries, this won’t get you far.
MINIMALISM
+ Having as little as possible = less consumption.
– If you are someone who likes to change styles and experiment around with new outfits you might get bored of this, leading to that yoyo-effect, only with clothes.
ORGANIC COTTON
+ Saves us from pesticides.
+ Is better for the health and land of the farmers, and also protects wildlife.
– Even organic cotton needs huge amounts of water to be produced.
– Can be misleading, to make us think it is good for our skin, but most organic cotton is dyed and treated with toxic
Reference:
Sustainable Fashion Matterz. (2014). Sustainable Fashion Matterz. [online] Available at: https://www.sustainablefashionmatterz.com/what-is-sustainable-fashion.