Sustainable fashion guide

SUSTAINABILITY

Everyone is talking about sustainability, but what does it really mean? The term started to appear in technical reports in the ’70s and ’80s to explain ecological, social and economic advancements that wouldn’t adversely affect conditions for future generations. Use of the term is evolving, but a crucial element that has remained is the importance of striving for a better tomorrow together.

GREENWASHING

Due to growing consumer pressure, some brands market themselves as sustainable while only making superficial changes – like releasing tokenistic organic ranges, or calling cotton ‘planet friendly’ just because it’s a natural fibre. Truly environment-focused brands will take a holistic approach, provide genuine transparency and be committed to changing their business practice.

TRANSPARENCY

A recent industry study has found fashion companies must come to terms with shoppers’ need to know what happens at every single step of creation, from how the materials are made to how the final product gets into their hands. Call-out culture has supported this with Instagram’s Diet Prada finding social-media fame in chastising brands that are guilty of copying and cultural appropriation.

CRUELTY-FREE

This term is used to describe fashion that has been made without harming others. It includes vegan garments that sidestep animal products, such as alter-nappa made from polyester, and faux fur, which is often made with acrylic. Synthetic substitutes raise environmental alarm bells given they are non-biodegradable, but industry leaders are researching healthier alternatives, including Pinatex leather, produced from pineapple fibres, and Koba faux fur, a recyclable innovation made from plant-based materials.

CUSTOM MADE

First the norm then a luxury, custom-made clothing is having a comeback. Offering a perfect fit, it fosters more love and longevity. Brands don’t need to produce and hold inventory, minimising waste. ‘Custom made’ covers several methods: made-to-order garments come from a standard pattern and fabric but are only produced once ordered; made-to- measure alters a standard pattern to your personal specifications; bespoke clothing is patterned to your measurements; and couture is made to your specifications (by hand) from start to finish.

FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

The first Industrial Revolution in the 18th century introduced factory manufacturing for mass-scale production. Now we have reached the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where digital, biological and physical innovations are helping us produce in a smarter, and more sustainable, way. For fashion, a good example of this is the rise in companies investing in no-wash clothes with material- production technologies and treatments that ensure less harmful laundry loads.

NEW ZEALAND MADE 

Increasingly less common due to the high cost of manufacturing and a dwindling pool of local workers, New Zealand-made fashion is not only high-quality and unique, it’s worth investing in for social and economic reasons. Locally manufactured clothing provides jobs. Keeping industry on home soil allows greater transparency, and our stringent labour laws mean workers are more likely to have safe working conditions and fair pay. Locally made clothing also has a smaller carbon footprint, as it requires fewer shipping miles and is less likely to have been produced using energy from fossil fuels. Many brands are still committed to producing clothing here, such as Standard Issue and Staple + Cloth.

COLLECTIVE ACTION

The fashion industry revolves around the economies of scale, which for smaller designers especially can be hard to navigate on an everyday level – let alone when attempting to make their brand more sustainable. Cost presents a hurdle too; research and development are expensive, as are innovative new materials and logistics. For a traditionally competitive and secretive industry, hope for the future lies in collaboration. Local initiative Mindful Fashion, founded by Kate Sylvester and Ruby’s Emily Miller-Sharma, is an industry collective that aims to provide strength in numbers by sharing auditing costs, galvanising local suppliers, securing sustainable fabrics and supporting ethical manufacturing.

LIVING WAGE

Unlike the minimum wage,a living wage is defined as the income necessary to meet a person’s basic needs, and those of their family.

LAB-GROWN MATERIALS

As demand for cruelty-free fabrics grows, biofabrication, using biological materials as building blocks to create new materials, is becoming a growth area. The US company Modern Meadow uses fermentation processes to build collagenprotein and create its animal-free leathers, while other firms arelooking into lab-grown silks to protect silkworms and lab-grown diamonds to rule out health and safety concerns for diamond miners across the world.

CIRCULARITY

A circular economy is based on three principles: designing out waste, keeping materials in use and regenerating ecosystems. Products are developed with future use in mind, raw materials are reusable and biodegradable, unwanted garments are recovered and regenerated by mechanical or chemical systems, and waste and by-products from other industries are harnessed. A circular model also includes upcycling, rental and resale. Achieving circularity requires innovation, government support, logistics investment, commitment to renewable energy, and the onshoring of industry. Circularity is currently being explored by businesses such as Patagonia, Levi’s and Econyl (a regenerated textile used by Prada, Kowtow and others). Look for the Cradle to Cradle certification.

CULTURALLY CONSCIOUS

It’s crucial to engage with other cultures in a respectful, sensitive way. Culturally conscious consumerism can be practised by understanding the origins of a garment, and investing in work by custodians of the craft. This provides opportunities for marginalised groups to gain economic security, while also preserving knowledge, tradition and skills. Seek out artisans or markets rather than tourist shops, pay a fair price and do your research. Locally, visit Trade Aid, which supports ethical production and the living wage, or find independent makers. Avoid cultural appropriation (when members of a dominant or powerful culture borrow elements from an oppressed or marginalised culture) by thoroughly investigating the significance and history of the item. If in doubt, don’t do it.

GENDER EQUALITY

Fashion is driven by women’s money, creativity, skill and work. The majority of garment workers are women and/or people of colour, making exploitation a racial and gendered issue. Women dominate other sectors of the industry too, such as marketing and journalism, but when it comes to power (and money) men still take top billing. According to McKinsey, only 14 percent of major brands have a woman in charge. Fashion itself is judged harshly; as with many female-dominated interests it has long been seen as frivolous and less worthy of respect, and now much of the environmental criticism of fashion centres on women’s actions, responsibility and guilt. To begin combatting gender inequality, demand transparency, investigate ethical certifications and pay parity, and support brands created or led by women, especially those from minority groups.

3D PRINTING

Fashion innovators have high hopes for at-home 3D printing – not only can it cut out production intermediaries and transport but it ensures the person in control of the printer gets exactly what they want. While there is still work to be done before it’s accessible to all, 3D-printed dresses by Zac Posen have already graced the Met Gala red carpet.

SLOW FASHION

Slow fashion is the antithesis of fast fashion, championing local and small-scale fashion producers. Like the slow-food movement that inspired it, slow fashion is always evolving as it urges us to be more aware of our shopping choices and their consequences.

WHAT DOES THAT LABEL MEAN?

WE DECODE SOME OF THE MOST COMMON CERTIFICATIONS

BLUESIGN 

Taking a holistic approach, Bluesign traces each textile’s path through the production process, making improvements at every stage, from factory floor to finished product, ensuring responsible and sustainable manufacturing.

BCI (BETTER COTTON INITIATIVE)

This organisation uses the Better Cotton Standard System to monitor the pillars of sustainability (environmental, social and economic) in cotton production.

CRADLE TO CRADLE 

Products are assessed for environmental and social performance across five sustainability categories; material health, material reuse, renewable energy and carbon management, water stewardship, and social fairness. A product is given an achievement level for each (Basic, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) and the lowest category achievement represents its overall certification level.

ECOCERT

This tracks the product’s life cycle to guarantee the best eco-friendly and socially conscious practices. For fashion, the Ecological & Recycled Textile Standard (ERTS) certifies ecological and recycled textiles.

FAIRTRADE 

The Fairtrade certification ensures producers in the developing world can enjoy secure and sustainable livelihoods by providing fair terms of trade for farmers and workers.

GOTS (GLOBAL ORGANIC TEXTILE STANDARD) 

The leading certification for the organic status of textiles, from the harvesting of the raw materials through to environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing and labelling.

STANDARD 100 BY OEKO-TEX 

Oeko-Tex (full name: International Association for Research and Testing in the Field of Textile and Leather Ecology) certifies that every element of a textile, including threads and buttons, contains no harmful substances. Tests take into account numerous regulated and non-regulated substances that may be harmful to human health. It’s updated yearly to incorporate the latest technological breakthroughs. ■