What is Sustainable Fashion?

If you’re anything like me, you’re spending more and more time learning about the effects of our choices as consumers. Sustainable fashion has become a hot topic in recent years overtaking concerns of ethical fashion. Well, overtaking is unfair, superseding is a better term as ethics is integral to sustainability in fashion. Everyone seems to be getting involved from international brands to local suppliers. To be fair, it’s about time too as the average person buys 60% more items of clothing and keeps them about half as long compared to 15 years ago.

Before we dive headfirst in sustainable fashion, I want to quickly mention the simple mantra of sustainability in all areas of life – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Remembering these 3 words when discussing sustainable clothing helps cut through the jargon and keep you on track.

I’ve certainly used (and reused) the phrase regularly on my journey towards a more sustainable lifestyle.

What is Sustainable Fashion? 

Sustainable fashion is about the whole system and industry from the raw materials through to the product life cycle.

Sustainability in fashion covers both ecological integrity plus social responsibility. The latter of which is often forgotten when discussing environmentally friendly products.

It’s hard to cut through the noise and see beyond the industry buzzwords like organic and circular.

For the large part, big fashion brands hijack these buzzwords, using them to ‘greenwash’ products.

Let’s make things simple and strip it all back to the word sustainable. The literal definition of sustainable is ‘something able to continue over a period of time’.

“The thing you realize is that if you put the meaning back into the word sustainable, it is something that lasts in time, so it is exactly the opposite of what fashion is today which is disposable. It’s as simple as that.” explains environmental campaigner Livia Firth on the Deliciously Ella podcast. 

If we take this simplified definition when identifying sustainable fashion you can quickly identify the important factors to consider.

• Can the environment withstand the demand? 
• Is it socially and ethically viable?
• Will it the final product last?

Sustainability of Materials in Fashion

This is the most broadly talked about subject in sustainable fashion and is perhaps the easiest to identify as a consumer.

It’s a point that you probably use to defend clothing and purchasing choices. I think most people can see the basic principles of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ materials for the environment.

Plastic usually takes most of the limelight along with other synthetic oil-based products. 

Polyester, nylon and acrylic fabrics are all examples of things firmly sitting in the bad for the environment column.

And for good reason, they’re crude oil by-products, shed microplastics into the environment, and are not biodegradable. All this puts a heavy environmental price on the production of these materials, plus they’re almost indestructible so hard to dispose of.

Is organic sustainable?

Have you ever bought clothing made from organic cotton? Brands love to shout about this one as if they deserve a Nobel prize for environmentalism. Unfortunately, organic doesn’t always mean eco-friendly or sustainable.

In fact, cotton is a natural fibre but is actually incredibly intensive to create. It can take up to 20,000 gallons of water to make one pair of jeans. 

That’s 500 bathtubs of water. Or 6,666 flushes of a toilet. Doesn’t sound particularly sustainable to me.

If you’re looking for ways to be more sustainable with your wardrobe then here some materials you can look out for:

Recycled fabrics

Recycled fabrics are one of the keys in sustainable fashion, remember the mantra reduce, reuse and recycle? 

Recycling materials helps to hit these 3 values by reducing the use of new raw materials, plus reusing and recycling breathes new life into fabrics.

Environmental activists Extinction Rebellion champion recycled fabrics as we explaining ‘use and repurpose what we already have’.

Recycling materials allows us to greatly increase the sustainability of clothing with less strain on the environment. Less raw materials are extracted from the earth while fewer items end up in landfill and the life of fabrics is extended.

Hemp

When I say hemp you probably think hippie. Well, that’s because they are on to something.

There are numerous benefits to hemp-based fabrics including:

• It grows all around the world
• Requires little water to grow
• Doesn’t need pesticides
• Fertilizes the soil around it
• Considered an eco-friendly crop

Hemp has amazing properties as a fabric too as it is lightweight and absorbent. It’s also 3 times the strength of cotton which is big news for sustainability. Compared to cotton, it is far easier and less intensive to farm. Then you end up with clothing that lasts way longer. 

Bamboo

Bamboo is another plant that is considered ideal in producing sustainable fabrics. This is because it is easy and fast to grow, requiring minimal resources and pesticides.

Although some argue that it leads to the destruction of habitat, it is still a far less intensive and destructive process than crude oil or cotton. Plus if you’ve ever worn bamboo socks you’ll know they’re warm, soft and last a long time.

Manufacturing and Social Sustainability

This subject is a dark side behind far too many brands and products claiming to be sustainable, which is why we must not forget the ethical side to fashion. A point far too often glossed over when assessing a product’s sustainability.

Along with the environment, humans have taken the burden of fast fashion in its race to the bottom in price and quality. Your clothes might be made from sustainable materials but what are the other costs?

Social concerns in fashion have been in and out of the news with companies like Nike and H&M vilified for their manufacturing and supply chains.

Exploitative work conditions and low wages might sustain profits but little else. Working practices bordering on slavery has consequences for individuals, not least their health. 

A 2016 report into modern slavery found that of 71 leading UK retailers it is believed that for 77% there was a likely hood of modern slavery in the supply chain.   

Factories churning out products have destructive repercussions to local communities and environments. Little information is available on these impacts but it is important to understand that water and land pollution is rife.

When it comes to social sustainability you can’t ignore the way in which workers are living and pollution from toxic chemicals and dyes.

Sustainable Fashion Requires Quality

The final product is clearly the most important aspect on the consumer’s end. There is little point in creating a ‘sustainable’ product if it is low quality means it doesn’t last. In fact, that would make it categorically not sustainable.

If we’re talking about reducing how much we use and buy, what we do buy needs to last a long time.

It’s a cliche but true ‘You buy cheap, you buy twice’.

In my journey to a more sustainable life, I’ve learned to start loving what I’ve got. If I need new clothing I ensure its something that will last. If it is recycled materials and socially responsible then it’s a real winner.

Deliciously Ella podcast goes on to discuss easier ways to decide on the need for and quality of a product. Start by disregarding the tags, materials and brands, just start ‘buying less’.

“The key when you’re buying something is will you wear it 30 times? And so A, do you think that the material is strong enough to last 30 times. And B, is that item something that would be a big part of your wardrobe.” explains host Ella Mills.

Deciding whether an item will last both physically and stylistically is a quick way to decide if it is sustainable to you personally.

Price point is a second area where you can quickly get a feel for a product’s background and manufacturing.

Livia Firth adds to this saying “If the price tag is too low, someone else is paying the price. So you know that there is always slave labour.

Something that is really cheap, you know it is being produced by someone who is not being paid. That is a fact”

Sustainable Fashion, The Bottom Line

By now you should have a much better insight into the question what is sustainable fashion?

When we remove all the noise it is simply a piece of clothing that will last a long time.

We should also add in the factors that go into creating a product too. The materials, are they created from sustainable sources like recycled fabrics, hemp or bamboo.

Plus the process in which clothing is made is just as important.

The damage to humans and local communities is as important in sustainability and the environment.

If you can just remember one thing going forward its reduce, reuse and recycle.