Breaking Into Sustainable Fashion Industry: A Complete Guide

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To get started in the sustainable fashion sector, gain knowledge about ethical production and environmentally friendly materials, hone analytical and creative abilities, and connect with business leaders. Concentrate on specialized positions such as brand designer, sustainability manager, or sustainable fashion writer, and realize that innovation is crucial in fields like supply chain transparency, material sourcing, and circular economy models. By adopting sustainable behaviors yourself, including taking the “30 Wears” test, and by following sustainability influencers, you can develop a strong personal brand.

Our only choice is sustainable fashion. Our toxic fashion industry must change to become more sustainable and circular in order to preserve sufficient resources, safeguard human rights, and ensure the future of our planet. To address the necessary adjustments, fashion producers, suppliers, brands, and retailers must all play a role.

High-turnaround, inexpensive, stylish apparel and accessories designed to satisfy demand and increase profit are referred to as “fast, toxic fashion.” These clothes are made with no regard for human labor, waste, or the environment. Although consumers haven’t objected to this long-standing practice, attitudes are changing and they are calling for more ethical products.

What is Sustainable Fashion?

Sustainable fashion promotes the development of an environmentally conscious sector where goods, personnel, and procedures all strive for carbon neutrality. In a word, ethically produced, ecologically friendly clothing is the main focus of sustainable fashion.

The phrase describes how apparel is made as well as how product lines are organized, supplied, and bought. Beyond merely items, sustainable fashion seeks to improve social justice, equality, and animal welfare across the board.

Sustainable fashion necessitates a fundamental change in the way people think about consumption and fashion, going beyond merely creating more ecologically friendly products. Slow fashion is becoming popular among consumers, businesses, and organizations as a reaction to quick fashion. Slow fashion promotes a moral clothing production method that honors people, the environment, and animals.

Companies should slow down, test, and invest in closed-loop business models that reuse textiles and optimize their usable lives instead of focusing on speed and profit, according to the World Resources Institute, one of the leading organizations for environmental research.

Governments must also prioritize sustainable fashion while enforcing stricter laws. Outsourcing operations abroad to reduce production, pollution, and labor laws should not be permitted for toxic fashion corporations. An international body must set universal, fundamental labor and environmental standards that fashion manufacturers must follow or face citation and closure.

Fast fashion has become its own beast, allowing customers to practically buy a garment on their phone moments after seeing it on the runway, social media, or red carpet. Approximately 86 million people are employed globally in the $2.4 trillion fashion sector. Global textile production rose from 5.9 kg to 13 kilogram annually per person between 1975 and 2018.

Furthermore, the amount of clothing consumed worldwide has increased to 62 million tons annually and is predicted to reach 102 million tons by 2030. 82 pounds of textile waste are produced annually by the average American consumer, who now buys one article of apparel every 5.5 days and uses it 36% less throughout the course of its lifecycle. This consumption demand has driven fashion retailers to producing almost twice the amount of clothing than they did in 2000.

Why is Sustainable Fashion Important?

The two materials that emit the most greenhouse gases per unit are textiles and aluminum. An estimated 8–10% of the world’s yearly carbon emissions (4-5 billion tons) are produced by the fashion sector. The energy source used for production is responsible for a significant portion of the large carbon footprint. With 79 trillion liters of water used annually, the fashion business is the second largest water consumer in the industry. As an example, 700 gallons of water are needed to make one cotton shirt, and 2,000 gallons are needed to make one pair of trousers. Additionally, 20% of industrial water contamination comes from the dyeing and handling of textiles.

The workers are also affected by toxic fashion, with women in developing nations suffering the most. Women between the ages of 18 and 24 make about 80% of clothing, mostly in low-income nations where women’s rights are limited. The U.S. Department of Labor discovered evidence of child labor and forced labor in the fashion sector in a number of countries in 2018, including China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Turkey, Argentina, and Brazil. Cheap labor, tax incentives, and lax operating, labor, and pollution rules make developing nations an ideal location for harmful fast fashion manufacturers.

The objective is to establish a framework that allows fashion to be produced with human and environmental considerations, minimizing any adverse effects. Sustainable fashion is significant for a variety of reasons, but these are some of the primary ones:

Reduces Carbon-Footprint

The fashion industry contributes to global warming as it emits a large amount of greenhouse gases. The majority of clothes are made from fossil fuels (such as polyester and nylon), which require much more energy in the production stage.

As Jack Connors, Sustainability Project Manager at Dr. Martens, puts it “The fashion industry at the moment is having a huge impact on the planet and people, so really you need to be inside the brands to make the real change!”.

However, ethical brands use materials that are natural or recycled, which require less chemical treatment and energy to grow to the materials needed. Organic materials such as linen are biodegradable too.

Promotes Fair Wages and Working Conditions

Most fast fashion companies manufacture cheap clothing in unsafe conditions. Workers are often severely underpaid and work long hours in poor conditions. In contrast, sustainable companies prioritise a safe environment and fair pay for their workers.

Doesn’t Support Child Labour

Accusations of child labour have often been made against fast fashion brands. Sustainable companies aim to create a safe workplace, providing transparent information about work processes and conditions.

Promotes Animal Welfare

Clothes that are made from leather or fur kill millions of animals every year. Sustainable brands have begun using cruelty-free alternatives, including materials made from recycled seat belts and even rubbish from the ocean.

Requires Less Water

The fashion industry uses a lot of water when manufacturing fabrics and garments. Cotton is particularly dependent on it, and is usually grown in hot and dry areas where water is already scarce. Sustainable brands use materials such as organic cotton instead, which consumes significantly less water.

Although there are numerous terms used in the field of sustainable fashion, these are some of the most crucial ones:

Slow Fashion

Slow fashion is essentially the polar opposite of fast fashion. The concept is very similar to sustainable fashion, and follows the same general guidelines.

What is Slow Fashion?

Slow fashion takes a long-term view and considers the whole life cycle of the product. It promotes buying long-lasting garments that are of a higher quality, whilst valuing fair treatment of people, animals and the planet.

As Alison Bringé from Forbes noted, a strong example of this is Levi’s, whose “Buy Better, Wear Longer” campaign encourages consumers to shop more intentionally and choose pieces that will last – helping to reduce overconsumption and environmental impact.

Ethical Fashion

Ethical fashion is about taking a moralistic stance to ensure no humans or animals are hurt during the design, production and distribution of garments.

Pangaia is a good example – they focus on creating sustainable materials and caring for animal welfare. One innovation is Vegea, a leather alternative made from grape waste, helping reduce the need for animal leather. Each year, over 1.4 million cows, goats and sheep are killed for leather and meat, so this shift could make a real difference.

Circular Fashion

Circular fashion refers to strategies intended to recover any wasted materials, with the idea of re-purposing them to use in manufacturing. One of the most common examples of circular fashion is recycling plastic-based materials and reusing them.

How to be a Sustainable Fashion Brand

You need to think about every part of the value chain if you want to be a truly sustainable fashion company. In addition to reducing waste and emissions, the brand should support increased environmental preservation and restoration, encourage worldwide gender and pay parity, and make investments in practices and research that will lead to sustainable standards.

The best methods for creating a sustainable fashion brand are listed below:

Planning

Begin with extensive research and planning
Before release, ensure your practices are well thought out, achievable, and maintainable

Environmental Considerations

Build factories in areas free of critical species and restore and develop on damaged land where possible
Hold manufacturing facilities to the highest environmental and social standards:
- Power with renewable energy if geographically and politically available
- Adhere to local environmental regulations, improve if they are not at the highest standard
- Use nontoxic dyes and detergents
- Install catchment systems to prevent microfibers from infiltrating waterways

Resource Considerations

Calculate resource demand including initial extraction
Avoid fabrics that are highly water, land, and energy intensive
Avoid fabrics that are made from fossil fuels
Seek to create quality, lasting goods

Waste Considerations

Hold trainings on ways to reduce mistakes and fabric waste
- Discover ways to repurpose fabric waste
- Create a discounted line of “mistake garments”
Eliminate single use plastics across all steps of supply chain
Use eco-friendly packaging
Close the loop of the garment’s lifecycle
- Take back garments at end of life
- Establish a repair or upcycling program

Social Considerations

Ensure your manufacturing promotes SDG advancement including SDG 1: No Poverty, SDG 5: Gender Equality, and SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Incorporate into company’s mission building up local community, economy, and contributing to greater rights
- Adhere to greatest local work regulations, improve if they are not at that highest standard
- Pay workers livable wages with reasonable working hours
- Provide adequate break times
- Ensure factories have adequate lighting, windows and ventilation
- Ensure fabric is sourced from ethical manufacturers that pay workers proper wages and provide proper working conditions
- Provide opportunities for workers to receive trade-specific training and development and move to positions of management

Examples of Sustainable Fashion Brands

A large number of fashion firms have pledged to be sustainable. With its organic cotton, recycled materials, fair trade, product repair, and secondhand Worn Wear collection, Patagonia was among the first companies to embrace sustainable fashion. Despite the fact that their apparel is so popular, they design it so that buyers will only need one jacket or pullover and advise them not to purchase more than they require. With a lifetime return and repair policy, LLBean has also been a longtime supporter of product accountability.

Petite Lucette: Green Business Benchmark° Member

Founded in 2014 with the goal of developing an organic product line, Petite Lucette is a sustainable fashion firm that has joined Green Business Benchmark° to further their sustainable efforts. Their business concept was already centered on sustainability, and as time went on, they realized that the only way to reduce their water and resource consumption was to go organic. They are working on a collection that will be launched in the summer of 2022 and is entirely composed of recycled yarn as part of their ongoing efforts to grow as a sustainable business.

Lucette also has a close, personal relationship with their family-run Portuguese manufacturer and takes social responsibility very seriously. They make several annual visits to the sites to assess the working environment and employee satisfaction. To further help close the loop of a garment’s lifecycle and lessen the quantity of new clothes being made, they have teamed with Kids O’ Clock, a second-hand children’s apparel marketplace in London.

United By Blue: Wholistic Accountability

Another sustainable firm is United By Blue, which has committed to removing one pound of trash from the ocean with every item purchased and implemented holistic accountability for its operations and products. They have made an effort to obtain all of the materials as responsibly as they can, and product descriptions even mention where each material comes from. Consumers can study details about the factories that made their products in addition to understanding what their products are made of.

They have won numerous accolades and certifications and hold their factories to the greatest social standards. Additionally, they promise to perform repairs should their items malfunction and offer a lifetime guarantee for the specified lifespan of their products. They pledged to use no plastic in 2020, but the pandemic compelled them to reevaluate their plans, and they have since put their task force back on course.

How Can We Shop More Sustainably?

Customers may integrate sustainable fashion into their lifestyle in a variety of ways. These actions can enhance the quality of life and establish a standard that manufacturers must follow, just as other eco-conscious consumer changes like using reusable bags, straws, and containers.

Educate yourself

The most invaluable first step to becoming a more conscious shopper is to do your research to help your decision-making. Knowing where to start – and, more importantly, where to shop – is key. Thankfully, it’s now much easier than it once was; there are so many brands that operate with a sustainably focused ethos. Do your own investigative work to find a handful of brands you love and start from there. After a while, your portfolio of knowledge will have grown – and you’ll have a whole host of labels to choose from.

Doing your homework is crucial, as Amy Powney, creative director of Mother of Pearl, a sustainable company, tells us. “If you’re unsure, I always advise doing some research and asking questions,” says Powney. “Social media is a great tool to communicate with brands in a rapid and direct way. You want to be confident that the brand you are purchasing from shares your values before making such a significant purchase.

When determining whether a brand is sustainable, a typical rule to follow is that if it’s hard to locate its credentials, it’s likely not as environmentally friendly as it claims to be.

Buy Second Hand

Instead of buying new all the time, take a look around charity shops or try platforms like Vinted and Depop and purchase something second-hand instead. You can also sell or donate your own unwanted clothes, rather than just leaving them hanging in the wardrobe, which will help others to be more sustainable too.

Choose Quality Over Quantity

Buy quality pieces from sustainable fashion companies rather than cheaper alternatives from fast fashion brands. Although it’ll likely cost more money to begin with, it will also last longer and be better made, saving you money overall. Buying a few high-quality items that will last for years is much better for the environment (and cheaper in the long-term) than buying tons of cheaper non-eco-friendly clothes that you’ll wear only a couple of times.

Repair Your Current Clothing

Try to avoid throwing clothes away unnecessarily. If something rips, try and repair it yourself, or find a professional to do it. There are apps that can connect users to local tailors who can repair and alter clothing, or you can learn how to do basic repairs yourself! Although giving your clothes away to charity is a great way to be more sustainable, it doesn’t always mean they end up in someone else’s wardrobe, and can sometimes just end up in the landfill.

That’s why some brands are taking things a step further. As Forbes have used as an example of this, Patagonia not only uses sustainable materials in its garments, but also actively supports customers in repairing their clothing rather than replacing it, helping reduce overconsumption.

Adapt your attitude to shopping

We are all aware of the excitement that comes with wearing a new item and how thrilling shopping can be. However, renting out special items for specific occasions or choosing vintage pieces are clever ways to achieve the same impression of newness without having to buy brand-new items. The RealReal, Vestiaire Collective, and 1stDibs are all excellent choices.

Choosing to rent clothing is another environmentally friendly method to keep your wardrobe current. Sharing our wardrobes and supporting the circular economy is undoubtedly a step toward a more sustainable future, especially considering that 300,000 tonnes of old clothing are thrown out each year rather than recycled. Simply put, the circular economy is an economic system that aims to maximize resources and minimize waste; it opposes the fashion industry’s linear production chain, which culminates with clothing being thrown in a landfill. Using rental platforms rather than always purchasing fresh will result in fewer purchases and less damage to the environment.

When buying new, adjust how you spend your money

Modify your purchases. Spend your ‘investment’ money on items you wear every day rather than a wedding dress or shoes you’ll wear solely on special occasions when you save up. Put an end to the belief that a pair of jeans would never cost that much. Instead, decide that you will only purchase one pair of jeans coming forward, and stick with that decision. You will be able to take pride in your superior, eco-friendly outfit after a few seasons.

Below are some other ways consumers can live a sustainable fashion lifestyle:

Buy less clothing
Buy higher quality items built to last
Buy versatile, staple clothing items
Purchase clothing items from sustainable brands
Buy from transparent brands
Wash clothing with cold water to prevent release of microfibers and plastic into waterways
Use biodegradable, nontoxic detergent that will not pollute the waterways
Repair or repurpose clothing when possible
Buy second hand clothing

Finally

Stop believing that clothing sustainably entails compromise, as more and more brands recognize the value of an environmental concern.

The only way to ensure a healthy planet, sufficient resources, and equitable human rights in the future is through sustainable fashion. Customers have demonstrated that they value sustainable fashion, and companies are starting to adapt their operations to satisfy consumer demand. Fashion brands need to incorporate society, waste, resources, and the environment into their operations. Customers have the ability to adopt sustainable fashion into their daily lives and act as sustainable fashion consumers.