Read Me In i-D: Why The Future Of Fashion Will Be Green
On September 21st the biggest march for climate change the world has ever seen rolled out in 166 different countries, peaking with over 300,000 people taking to the streets of New York, where delegates for the UN Climate Summit will gather this week. From indigenous North American tribes to Hurricane Sandy survivors and Pacific Islanders, a clear message was delivered: people want action on our fossil fuel addiction, climate justice for developing countries and global carbon emissions to be capped by the looming 2020 deadline.
The ramifications of this for the entire fashion and garments industry are monumental. Apparel and textile production cause 10% of the worlds CO2 emissions and is one of the planet’s biggest water polluters, while the state of New York alone discards 193,000 tonnes of garments and textiles a year. From California to Bangladesh ‘climate change’ and ‘global warming’ are no longer abstract concepts, and as we’re partly responsible for this it’s time for our entire industry to commit to this conversation too.
Commit, not just because we should or we must, but because this also presents an exciting opportunity for our creativity, influence and cutting-edge innovation to take the lead in what will be the biggest revolution in history. Who doesn’t want to be a part of that?
The climate march kick-starts a year of negotiations that will culminate at a key UN climate summit in Paris next year. That the summit to decide our future will be held in the home of fashion’s most powerful and influential players is a coincidence that shouldn’t be lost on any of us. From the CEOs and designers to the bloggers and consumers, we should all recognise that this is our time to shine and work out how can our industry evolve from fossil fuel dinosaur to clean-tech innovator and responsible creator?
How can we produce beautiful bags and covetable denim without turning rivers in Mexico and China bright pink and blue? Of course this is something that the fashion industry does think about and many companies are finally trying to address the foggy quagmire of supply chains and global outsourcing where all the polluting happens. Industry giants such as Kering and LVMH are making efforts to improve sustainability, transparency and environmental accountability. But when Greenpeace tested 27 items of children’s clothing made by different luxury brands earlier this year, over half were found to contain hazardous chemicals that have been banned by EU regulation. This throws up two possibilities; either laws are being broken in the EU or the ‘Made In…’ labels have a tenuous relationship with the truth, which means those harmful chemicals are flowing into water systems, probably in Asia.
That said, instead of wondering who the biggest baddie on the block is, isn’t it more interesting to wonder if François-Henri Pinault is going to be the world’s first green fashion mogul? His company Kering, who own Gucci, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen and Christopher Kane is moving in this direction, with information and news of their progress freely provided on their website. Sure, it’s a slow and complicated transition but it’s happening.
On the high street H&M, and its imprint label H&M Conscious, are moving in a positive direction by aiming to use 100% sustainable cotton by 2020. Puma have committed to recyclable soles too and G-star are turning 10 tonnes of plastic ocean waste into eco-thread. But the luxury sector mustn’t play the game of passing the buck onto fast-fashion, because the influence from the runways trickles all the way down to the worst offenders.
I also invite fledgling designers and budding stars at all the international fashion schools to consider the example of Bangladesh, a country of 157 million people living a very real climate Catch 22. Not only is it set to lose 17% of its land to rising seas, displacing 20 million people in the process, but climate migrants escaping increasingly violent cyclones in southern Bangladesh flock to Dhaka where the main employment is in the thousands of textile factories. Many such migrants were amongst the dead and injured in the Rana Plaza tragedy. As cause and effect continue to be increasingly linked, the fashion industry’s fingerprints are sadly all over this case of moral injustice. Ignorance or naivety are no longer acceptable excuses.
It’s inspiring however to meet young voices in fashion who are impassioned about climate change. Prompted by her prime minister’s astonishing carbon tax repeal, 23-year-old Australian model Ollie Henderson began painting slogans on t-shirts that she gave to models and celebrities during fashion week and organised protests outside Sydney’s Parliament House.
Of course fashion has always had one visible superhero flying the green flag of evolution, Dame Vivienne Westwood. But why is it only Viv? When she closes this runway season with a party in London to raise awareness about fracking, it should be the entire industry joining in.
December 2015 will be a milestone for climate change and the implications of a fossil fuel free future will touch our industry on every single level, from the microscopic oils used to coat fibres to the trillion tonnes of emissions chugged out into the atmosphere by factories in Asia. But fashion by its very nature puts itself ahead of the innovation curve, so why not in this too? Why not use our creative skills and influence to sway legislation and popular culture?
“Zero emissions is an ambitious but achievable goal,” says UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon. It’s time for all of us in the fashion industry to start putting our house in order. And, while we’re at it, stick a solar panel on it too love!
Read more about Greenpeace’s Detox Our Future campaign to make the fashion industry environmentally sustainable.
This article was publishing on i-D.co on Sep 23, 2014
note: I changed the title of this article from ‘must’ to ‘will’ change on my own site because as legislation changes all over the world, notably water pollution laws in China, the fashion industry will change.
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