Have you ever considered how heavy the ecological footprint your style leaves on planet Earth can be? If you haven’t thought about it, it’s time to learn that 53 million tons of clothes are produced every year, of which 87% are landfilled or incinerated!
Of course it is a reality that the market today gives you the opportunity to be as updated as you want at extremely low cost. But it seems that the big chains have in recent years begun to recognise that the real cost to the planet is too high, with raw material supplies shrinking, and tons of waste from clothing production piling up. So they are looking for sustainable production methods.
Groups with luxury brands such as Kering (Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, etc.) have created EP&L (Environmental Profit & Loss) accounts to analyze their negative impact on the planet to identify what they can fix, while they have expanded into the field of research with their own laboratories testing sustainable materials, dyes and production methods in general.
And so, in April 2018, Gucci opened Artlab on the outskirts of Florence, where he experiments by making original products from new materials. H&M, in addition to the Conscious and Concious Exclusive ranges, aims to use 100% organic and recycled materials in its production by 2030, while Marks & Spencer started last year to source the basic raw material of its collections, cotton, exclusively from sustainable sources. In the same direction, the Inditex group (Zara, Pull & Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Massimo Dutti, Uterqüe) has long been developing the use of sustainable materials from organic, controlled cotton crops and Tencel®Lyocell fibres.
Levi’s in 2016 in collaboration with start-up Evrnu made the world’s first jeans with a fibre made from five recycled T-shirts, which requires 98% less water to produce. At the same time, Levi’s Eureka Innovation Lab is finding “cleaner” and smarter ways to make its pants by replacing chemical paint stripping with oxidation. Nike has already launched the Flyprint range of 3D printed shoes – which Kenyan champion marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge runs in. Industry pioneer Stella McCartney uses Econyl yarn made from recycled nylon and alter-nappa instead of leather, and Jaden Smith already wears her Unbound Merino T-shirts, which don’t need to be washed for weeks, saving energy and water.
However, unfortunately, until the time comes when these products are available on a large scale and at affordable prices, we have at least a decade ahead of us, in which we have to find our own ways to put the brakes on fast fashion.
