THE SHIFT TO SUSTAINABILITY

Who doesn’t want to go all out and look spectacular every day? Who doesn’t wish to be fabulously flamboyant on their big day? Well, when you go out shopping, what’s the first thing that you look for? CHIC. CLASSY. CRAZY. CURRENT.

Winter is over and people are falling back to their routine. Inspired by the world around us, we tend to update our wardrobe every single minute. We all love those readily available polyester tees and lowers since they are cheap and give a voguish touch to the closet. This so-called ‘Fast fashion’ is the temporal aspect of fashion, and is highly disruptive.

The fashion and textile industry is one of the leading industries that are jeopardizing environmental sustainability. The whole process of production of one pair of cotton jeans consumes about 2000 gallons of water. Stephen Leahy says “85 % of the daily needs in the water of the entire population of India would be covered by the water used to grow cotton in the country. 100 million people in India do not have access to drinking water”. On top of that, untreated wastewater and chemicals are directly dumped into the river. The contamination reaches the sea and eventually spreads around the globe. Every time we wash a synthetic garment, about 700.000 individual microfibers are released into the water. Synthetic fibers are non-biodegradable, hence can take up to 200 years to decompose. Another issue concerns labor and lack of transparency in this industry. The Dhaka factory collapse in 2013 shows the lack of concern regarding the poor working condition and structural failure. After the Triangle shirtwaist factory fire, labor rights have been a major topic in this industry.

Sustainability is becoming a buzzword. It is not a trend but a necessity.

Wikipedia defines Sustainable Fashion as “a movement and process of fostering change to fashion products and the fashion system towards greater ecological integrity and social justice.”

“There is no beauty in finest cloth, if it makes hunger and happiness”, says Mahatma Gandhi.

Sustainable fashion refers to clothing that is designed, manufactured, distributed, and used in environmentally friendly ways. To trace the origin of this term, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring’ is like an eye-opener. It exposed the serious and widespread pollution associated with the use of agricultural chemicals, a theme that is still important in the debate around the environmental and social impact of fashion today.

We surely can’t time travel and undo the damage that’s been done. But we surely can try to ameliorate. The object of fashion exists between desire and demand. The first and foremost unconventional step we need to take is to switch to eco-friendly brands.

“At its core, fashion will never be perfectly sustainable. But our brands honor their imperfections and are working towards a better, cleaner future.” (public figure.shop)

Hate to break this to you, but fashion can never be completely sustainable. But these brands are working to help make a better future:

1. H&M Conscious

2. Polo Ralph Lauren

3. Levi’s

4. Pact

5. Rothy’s

Pact is GOTS certified. The entire supply chain is organic and transparent. Samara uses vegan ways to create accessories. Wallets are produced using apple skin, fascinating aren’t they? Patagonia not only uses sustainable materials but also helps customers repair their clothing instead of buying a new item. Levi’s new collection uses approx 96% less water in its whole production process.

Websites like ThredUp customizes and gives new life to old apparels.

Even some online thrift stores like Bombay closet cleanse, cooper boom vintage, lulu thrift, lust thrift, shop with love offer a wide range of variety for fashion lovers that are equally environment friendly but people probably think it’s ugly to use the used stuff. But I have come to believe “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”.

This season, our closet should take style notes from mother nature and switch to fresh, comfortable, eco-friendly essentials.

So now when you go shopping, what should be the first thing you should look for?

SUSTAINABLE. SENSITIVE. ECONOMICAL. ETHICAL.

- Kirti Madhu