Eco-fashion is a sustainable movement enhancing the customer’s awareness of social and environmental concerns on the manufacturing of clothing. Sustainability, by definition, should meet current generation needs without compromising future generations. In recent years, sustainability has become a buzzword. Just as we are taking a closer look at the food we consume and the chemicals we put in our bodies, we are also shifting our purchase decisions to create a cleaner environment through the clothes we wear.
There are many reasons behind the formation of the sustainable fashion movement and one major reason is the “fast fashion” phenomenon. Low cost clothing flies of the shelf faster, so brands have started focusing on cheap garments with short lead time. Recent carbon footprints in the United Kingdom were triggered by excess clothing bought by customers, increasing the rate of carbon dioxide emission into the environment, setting off alarms in those rooting for sustainable fashion.
For the fashion industry green is the new black to practice sustainability. Conscious consumerism has been talks since the twentieth century.
Concerns of the fashion industry
The fashion and textile industry is the most polluting, because each stage of a garment’s life cycle threatens our planet and resources. More than 20,000 liters of water is used to produce a kilogram of cotton. About 8000 types of chemicals are used in conversion of raw materials into garments. Waste cloth and unused garments are dumped in landfills creating more pollution.
Unsustainable Fast Fashion
Companies in the fast fashion category are thriving on fast cycles such as speedy prototyping, small ratio of more varieties, efficient transportation and fast delivery. Even those companies prefer to attach the hangers with price tags at the factory and itself to save time to get the product launched on the floor as early as possible. The cycle keeps repeating itself thereafter resulting in spending money unnecessarily.
A wave of change
Consumers and new brands are fashion forward and aware of the importance of eco-friendly fashion for the bright future of humanity. Professional and conscious consumers are catching on new trends in textiles and technology. They are choosing materials engineered to last longer. Some of the most used materials are natural fibers like cotton, bamboo, hemp, linen cultivated ad futuristic/innovative fashion.. What we don’t realize that it can take almost 200 years for synthetic fibers to decompose therefore using cutting edge technology to create fabric for future, companies are paying closer attention to creating cleaner garments.
Sustainable fashion takes into account the entire supply chain and life cycle of a garment, from where and how it is made to when it ends up in our landfills. It is important for us to think about how their purchase affects the environment making a conscious effort to purchase green (organic) fabric and clothing for a safe future.
