This is how the fashion industry can become sustainable

We are living in a time when flying is shameful, and plastics are a faux pas. It’s easy to spot someone drinking water from a plastic bottle or posting a photo of a wing on Instagram, but what about the behaviors we can’t see?

It is different with fashion. If we disregard the use of fur and leather, the industry has avoided the critical eye of consumers. Most people don’t know their fashion habits wreak havoc on the environment. According to the UN, the fashion industry consumes more energy than the aviation and shipping industry combined.

Yet fashion is not changing fast enough to mitigate its effects on the environment. Clothing production today accounts for 10% of the globe's CO2 emissions. In 2030, that number will rise to 16%, and by 2050, it will reach 26%, if we continue with business as usual. 

Companies, brands, and policymakers can’t wait for consumers to take the initiative. As consumers, we own 60% more pieces of clothing today than we did in 2005, and we use each piece of clothing for half as long. 

This is an invitation to an industry that needs to shift its focus from next season to next decade.

What do consumers want? 

Consumers want brands that make their lives easier and create a positive impact on the world. A report by nonprofit organizations Global Fashion Agenda and Sustainable Apparel Coalition, along with the consulting firm Boston Consulting Group, found that 38% of 3,000 of global consumers say they actively switched from their preferred brand to another brand because it “credibly stands for positive environmental and/or social practices.” Young consumers are even more likely to do so, with nearly 50% of them switching brands based on brand purpose. We predict this number will continue to rise. 

People want to look good. We want acceptance, validation, and recognition. Fashion is what we wear for ourselves and the world. It says something about who we are. Shopping floor decisions are not rational, they’re emotional. Clothes are a creative extension of the self, a form of personal expression, and belonging. Fashion needs to be used to make a different kind of statement - one that shows you give a shit about the environment and people. It needs to be a beautiful statement piece against landfills, waste, plastic, deforestation, and how garment workers are treated and paid.  

Make the right choice, the easy choice

The fashion industry’s impact on the environment and people is complicated. From unfair treatment of garment workers to fashion’s excessive use of toxic chemicals, pesticides, and synthetic fibers, the situation is not easy to navigate or grasp, especially when it comes to making purchasing decisions. 

Making sustainable choices can feel like a minefield of unintended consequences. Eat less meat, but avoid water-sucking avocados and bee-killing almonds. People need better information, products, and services to make the right choice based on their lifestyle, economic background, and where they live in the world. It will be a slim few who can find Pinetex (vegan leather alternative made from discarded pineapple leaves) shoes made in safe working conditions in factories that fairly pay their workers, and be able to afford it. This should be one of many options.

People need to know what’s at stake and then be provided with choices to change their behavior. Brands need to deliver the story and the options in order to combat the harmful effects of fast fashion. A ‘conscious collection’ won’t mitigate the unconscious part of a business. But it is a start. 

Changing our behavior is one of the hardest things to do, so brands need to make this shift as compelling and easy as possible, helping people consume less, repair rather than discard, choose higher quality, long-lasting items, and spur new behaviors enabled by technology.

Choosing a conscious consumption strategy

What’s creativity have to do with it?

Creativity will save us. It can create new habits by digitizing clothing, offering discounts for returned used clothing, using sustainable materials as packaging, creating rental services, and simplifying information into an easy-to-understand and engaging narrative. Brands need to step up and lead the change, and consumers will follow.

Let sustainability be your next campaign. Let your product be your story. Do something - and then talk about it. All experience shows, storytelling is crucial. We are a narrative society, and fortunately the stories we tell can change. It is up to us - brands, consumers and governments - to write our future. Together, we can create positive change in an industry in desperate need of a makeover.