What does Sustainable Fashion actually mean?

You don’t have to dig deep into fashion media to realize sustainability is the overarching theme that has governed the industry for the past ten years. New terms, reports, and statistics are conceived on what seems like a weekly basis, hoping to provide context and make the ecosystem more navigable. Despite these efforts, seldom does it provide us with a sure understanding of the landscape. The language we use surrounding ecology — almost like contemporary fashion itself — is in continuous flux, omnipresent, and has lost its substance; language, though essential, provides a paradoxical effect merely by the fact that it can be used without limits. Additionally, language can be twisted, which is best observed simply by the fact that all fast-fashion and luxury conglomerates have seized upon the vernacular of sustainability for their own commercial ends.

This is not to say that a more universal awareness of our global predicament isn’t valuable. The problem is that it remains too difficult to separate the honest actors from the dishonest ones. With the overload of information that exists online, it’s understandable that many have become jaded; what’s the point of all these claims made if production rates and consumption rates don’t show any signs of decreasing?(1) From a pessimistic point of view, the endless green marketing slogans serve merely as a facade of righteous climate action, allowing business as usual to continue behind the scenes. Corporate climate initiatives can easily be regarded as a self-celebratory language game in an effort to keep audiences, including stakeholders themselves, feeling they are somehow contributing positively.(2) In effect, the word “sustainable”, including all its derivatives, is rendered meaningless exactly because everyone has a license to use them, including nefarious actors.

Despite this, considerable strides by governmental bodies such as the EU are being made, which has passed laws forcing companies to disclose the environmental impact of each life-cycle step of their products.(3, 4) There are companies that have already been doing this for years, and have garnered praise and a following because of it. However, it’s important to remain critical of what this actually achieves; to what extent do metrics help before they too mask the more pressing issues, rather than point at them?(5) No matter what laws are passed, the industry can’t escape the hardcoded necessity for growth. A company whose entire business model relies on the throughput of new clothes can’t relinquish a sale, no matter how much their entire communication strategy suggests otherwise.

When consuming fashion, it’s hard to neglect the elephant in the room that is global warming. It’s a specter that haunts all decision-making, whispering in our ears every time we’re in the mood for a new garment. In the face of information saturation, it becomes difficult to identify clear avenues to sensibly act, which has trapped us in a double-bind: a deep desire to self-express through clothing and the awareness of the damage it can produce; we are good-intentioned, but are obstructed from realizing that intent. Neither can our culture realistically let go of fashion and the meaning it can provide. Self-expression through dress is an inevitability.

So where do we go from here? And what does it even mean to pursue a lifestyle that is “sustainable” in the truer sense: to engage in activities that maintain ecological balance(6) and promotes social well-being, while simultaneously satisfying our desire to self-express through clothing? Given the volume of clothes that already exist on the planet, enough to clothe generations to come, it’s difficult to ignore the stars that are aligning towards resale. In fact, it’s an industry that has grown rapidly in the past years, and is forecasted to continue doing so.(7) However, this same growth is mirrored by the fast fashion industry.(8) There appears to be a rift among current and upcoming generations of fashion consumers, where one side submits to the sheer scale and cheap prices that fast fashion is able to offer,(9) and the other that realizes the potential that the second-hand market holds. From an ecological and financial perspective, it’s tough to outcompete the value proposition that resale offers; at the end of the day, buying an “ecologically dirty” polyester-blend garment second-hand will always be the greener act compared to buying an “ethically-sourced” cotton T-shirt new. While we should acknowledge younger brands that lay bare their entire supply chain and fabric compositions to a granular level, it does not resolve the problems inherent to producing new clothing. Neither can they realistically compete with the volume of quality clothes already up for grabs on the resale market. A vintage Yohji Yamamoto or an Ann Demeulemeester skirt has the potential to last at least a decade. And with that, you get a slice of fashion history, unique fabrics, cuts, and a vibrant world painted by a renowned designer who is obsessive about design.

To continue tinkering with new technologies in the hope of decoupling growth from environmental impact is a fool's errand. It’s more productive to assume that technological magic bullets don’t exist, because it forces everyone to look for more proactive and radical solutions, such as engaging with resale on a more resolute level and maximizing the potential lifetime that a garment has.(10) And it's on the system to find ways for existing clothes to circulate with as little friction as possible. Millions of well-made and culturally significant designer garments hang unworn in people’s wardrobes eager to find a new home, which is among the core tenets of KURB: it shouldn’t be a chore to find your dream garment, neither for your wallet nor for the planet.

1. https://www.statista.com/outlook/emo/fashion/worldwide#revenue

2. https://circulareconomy.europa.eu/platform/en/knowledge/greenwashing-fashion-industry-0

3. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_1692

4. https://earth.org/5-takeaways-from-the-new-eu-circular-fashion-strategy/

5. https://www.voguebusiness.com/story/sustainability/sustainability-certifications-cant-fix-fashions-broken-system-better-cotton

6. https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/planetary-boundaries.html

7. https://www.statista.com/statistics/826162/apparel-resale-market-value-worldwide/

8. https://www.statista.com/outlook/emo/fashion/worldwide#revenue

9. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1283317/shein-group-number-of-app-downloads-worldwide/

10. https://www.fashiondenier.com/conversations/a-conversation-with-kate-fletcher