Sustainable fashion: How to respect the environment by dressing well
Sustainable fashion is one of the latest positive trends for our planet. If fashion is your passion, find out in this article how to do good for the environment by choosing the right clothes.
Lately we are increasingly talking about sustainability, a term that for better or for worse is on everyone’s lips in various areas. If we think of sustainability as a practice to be carried out in everyday life, the question that could arise is: how can I make my daily actions sustainable?
The word sustainability has actually become part of everyday conversations. Many sectors are getting informed to try to make their productions as sustainable as possible to meet the livelihood of the planet.
There are many sectors converted to this new trend, which are trying to give their best for a definitive green-themed change. The fashion sector is one of these and has been joining the trend for some time now, let’s see how it is carrying out the change.
In this regard, in the video below you will find simple tricks to avoid cheating in the sales period.
Sustainable fashion is awareness
Being aware is the first step towards being sustainable. With this concept we intend to inquire about, for example, the garments we wear because sustainable fashion begins above all with labels. Numerous apps have been created that assign a value score to sustainable fashion brands based on working conditions, the use of animals and the environmental impact. Fortunately, this good practice has somehow forced companies to review the entire production cycle , modifying in part or in whole the program followed up to that moment.
Thanks to this rating system, some small brands very attentive to sustainable fashion have emerged “from the dark” quickly becoming popular precisely because of their actions in the field of sustainability.
The fashion industry becomes ethical and sustainable
After the denunciation of episodes of exploitation within the production processes, the great fashion machine set in motion towards a radical change.
The drop that made the vase overflow is certainly the massacre of the Rana Plaza , the collapse of a factory in Bangladesh where 1136 workers were forced to sew clothes for 12 hours a day with a salary of less than $50 per month.
The garments produced in this factory served to supply some of the most famous fast fashion chains in the world. A few examples? Mango, Primark and Benetton. From that moment it is as if a huge vase had been uncovered revealing all the horrible secrets inside.
Nobody can pretend anything anymore and on the contrary, now every fashion house has rolled up its sleeves to be the winner in what has become the race for sustainability. What have fashion brands actually done or are they doing?
Ethics is the password for companies, that is:
- Committed to the well-being of their workers
- Certified against exploitation
- In favor of fair pay
- Careful to ensure good conditions in the workplace
If we weren’t before, now we are much more aware of what a jacket, skirt, dress or trousers we really wear is worth. At least we know what’s behind it. And who among us would no longer be happy to wear a piece of clothing that was created without harming the environment and workers?
From Slow fashion to Recycled fashion: The vocabulary of sustainable fashion
With the radical change, we talked about in the previous paragraphs, new terms have been defined as regards sustainable fashion and which are opposed to those used previously. The striking example is the brand new Slow Fashion that opposes and distances itself from Fast fashion. This means that we have gone from producing low quality and low price clothes, which only and exclusively follow fashions and seasonality, to a more refined attention to quality and detail, without being guided by consumer impulses. Who produced this dress and how did it do it? It is the right question to ask.
It may seem – and it really is – already a huge achievement, but green fashion didn’t stop there. Let’s see what are the other terms coined in the field of Sustainable fashion.
Circular fashion
Circular fashion concerns the life cycle of a product, from creation, use and up to the final stage, which must be recycling and not disposal. It is a fashion that focuses and studies ways to reuse materials by minimizing their impact on the environment.
Recycled and Upcycled fashion
Closely related to circular fashion, these two terms refer to the industrial process of breaking down the garment into all its materials, which are then used for something new. But not only that, imagining new uses of the same object is also a prerogative of sustainable fashion.
Eco-friendly fashion
In this case, the focus is on the material of which the garment is made. Organic cotton, hemp, flax and dyes made with vegetables, for example, will be preferable to synthetic fabrics and chemicals.
Cruelty-free & Vegan Fashion
A brand that defines itself as cruelty-free stands clearly against the testing of ingredients and products on animals. This means that in the production process no animal is injured or killed to get to the final product. For brands that don’t use animals at all, the correct term is Vegan.
Organic & biodegradable fashion
Organic fashion is a fashion that can be defined as it uses only materials deriving from cultivations without the use of pesticides, fertilizers, GMOs or other. For example, if it is free from synthetic blends, wool is biodegradable (it can degrade in the environment without releasing harmful chemicals), but this does not mean that the sheep from which it comes have been treated well.
Greenwashing
It literally means “green wash” and is a term that indicates the phenomenon according to which some brands give a false impression of their sustainable efforts. An example? More and more brands create sustainable “capsule collections” to demonstrate the principles that underpin the brand. It doesn’t have to be all that glitters is gold.
Cost per wear
Indicates the value of a garment based on how many times it is worn. This word brings us to an important reflection: it is much better to spend more on a durable garment that we will wear many times, rather than spending little on clothing that will soon be disposed of, resulting in an impact on the environment.
Carbon neutral
A company that proves to be carbon neutral means that it is committed to and avoids carbon emissions throughout the production process. Gucci is one of the big names that is trying to take this path, promising to compensate (in case of failure) with donations to entities that fight deforestation.
How can you contribute?
If you are passionate about the topic and want to contribute significantly, read below a brief recap of everything you can do to continue to dress well, with an eye to the planet.
- Always read the labels
- Inquire about the production of a brand that interests you
- Invest in high-quality clothing that will last longer
- Choose garments made with biodegradable and natural fibers
- Recycle all the clothes you no longer use
- Give new life to disused accessories
Thinking about it is not difficult, we follow all these simple steps … and the planet will thank us!
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