Fashion & Me.
Fashion is a complicated industry with many challenges but one that completely and utterly fascinates me. It gives people the opportunity to express themselves in a way they may otherwise not have the confidence to do so. Fashion has so many incredible aspects but also comes with a lot of problems. These are some of the areas that are meaningful and interesting to me.
Sustainable Materials.
As a convert to making my own clothes and experimenting with materials, I have become more and more aware of the cost the fashion industry is having on the planet. A massive 57% of discarded clothes end up in landfill each year and can take hundreds of years to bio-degrade and possibly even worse, 35% of materials in a supply chain become landfill waste even before it reaches any consumer. This includes excess in the cutting process, stock damaged in transit and stock rejected by industry (Common Objective, 2018). As well as the waste problems, creating the garments in the first place is causing problems, particularly with water supply and cleanliness (Fashion’s Dirty Secrets, 2018). Figure 1 shows the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan and how much the water levels have decreased due to cotton production (Nasa, 2009).
What interests me is what can be done about to stop things getting worse. Brands are realising that consumers want sustainable fashion and care about the impact and many brands have created eco-collections or developed sustainable materials which have a far less damaging effect on the planet (Cook, 2019). Some of the most interesting developments are the North Face Eco Heritage Collection, seen in figure 2 which is made from 100% recycled polyester and maybe more surprisingly, the Moss Bros Eco suit, seen in figure 3, which has suits made from recycled polyester made from plastic bottles, natural buttons and non-toxic suit bags (Brown, 2019; Cook, 2019; Moss Bros, 2019; The North Face, 2019).
Figure 1: Decreasing water levels of the Aral Sea
Figure 2: The North Face Eco Heritage Collection
Figure 3: Moss Bros Eco Suit Campaign
Human Rights.
Figure 4: Arket Transparent Product Description
Since a voluntary expedition to India in 2012 and meeting survivors of slavery in the fashion industry, I have been so passionate about eradicating this slavery and doing what I can to ensure the industry I love doesn’t contribute to people working in unbearable conditions. Following this trip, I was heartbroken and honestly battled with if I even wanted to work in an industry that has such low value on human life but without people in the industry willing to break boundaries then nothing will change. After the collapse of Rana Plaza in 2013, which killed over 1,100 workers, the world was, understandably, shaken. Since then many companies have taken on the challenge to tackle slavery including Fashion Revolution and Love Behind the Label. Fashion Revolution publishes a Fashion Transparency Index available to consumers, which has helped with some of the problems prior to Rana Plaza (Man, 2018). Despite this, 24.9m people are still slaves in the fashion industry and many brands turn a blind eye or have no idea they are encouraging this.
One very simple solution is for every company to map the supply chain and make this information available to consumers (Wright, 2019). One brand succeeding in this is Arket, they provide the exact material, the country the item is made, the supplier and even the factory for every product listing as shown in figure 4 (Arket, 2019). Fashion Revolution also argue the majority of the problem comes from how little factory workers are paid in comparison to the cost of an item, figure 5 shows the breakdown of the cost of a t-shirt and the person making it actually receives the lowest figure (Fashion Revolution, 2017).
Figure 5: Cost Breakdown of a €29 T-shirt
Technology.
Technology fascinates me and whether we like it or not it is changing the world we live. I do not claim to understand half of what is available to us but I am interested in what is being created to aid and develop the fashion industry and, as a promoter, how this will change the shape of fashion communication.
The most obvious, to us as consumers, is the increase and changes to social media and how this is used to promote fashion. Social media is instant and can reach millions of people in seconds. It is one of the reasons for the rise of fast fashion and online only retailers such as ASOS, Boohoo and Pretty Little Thing. I-D magazine (2019:online) has reported that Instagram has ‘transformed the fashion industry’ and ‘has given a platform to people who would otherwise have been ignored by mainstream media, especially those from minority backgrounds or those who don’t fit the Hollywood mould of modelesque beauty’.
Alongside social media, apps are the latest technology to take the fashion industry by storm. Speedo has trialed an app, shown in figure 6, which ensures consumers get the perfect fitting goggles through the use of a Speed Mirror app (Whelan, 2019).
There are some companies taking things even further and creating robotic clothing and clothes made through 3D printing which will help with the sustainability crisis of the fashion industry.
Figure 6: Speedo AR App
Figures:
Figure 1: Nasa. (2009) Decreasing water levels of the Aral Sea. [Online image] [Accessed on 20th August 2019] https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/fluxGallery/Aral_Sea.html
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Figure 2: The North Face. (2019) The North Face Eco Heritage Collection. [Online image] [Accessed on 2nd September 2019] https://www.rei.com/h/the-north-face-eco-heritage
Figure 3: Moss Bros. (2019) Moss Bros Eco Suit Campaign. [Online image] [Accessed on 24th September 2019] https://www.moss.co.uk/inside-pocket/post/five-ways-to-dress-more-sustainably
Figure 4: Arket. (2019) FLARED Stretch Cropped Jeans. [Online] [Accessed 24th September 2019] https://www.arket.com/en_gbp/women/jeans/product.flared-stretch-cropped-jeans-black.0793467001.html
Figure 5: Fashion Revolution. (2017) ‘Why are wages so low for garment workers?.’ Money Fashion Power, 1, pp. 8-11.
Figure 6: Drapers. (2019) Speedo AR App. [Online image] [Accessed on 10th September 2019] https://www.drapersonline.com/news/latest-news/pentland-brands-trials-ar-app/7037503.article
References:
Ahmed, O. (2019) ‘How Instagram transformed the fashion industry.’ I-D, [Online] Spring(355). [Accessed on 27th August 2019] https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/bj9nkz/how-instagram-transformed-the-fashion-industry
Arket. (2019) FLARED Stretch Cropped Jeans. [Online] [Accessed 24th September 2019] https://www.arket.com/en_gbp/women/jeans/product.flared-stretch-cropped-jeans-black.0793467001.html
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Brown, H. (2019) Up close: the Moss Bros eco-suit. Drapers. [Online] [Accessed on 24th September 2019] https://www.drapersonline.com/news/up-close-the-moss-bros-eco-suit/7037703.article
Common Objective. (2018) Fashion and Waste: An Uneasy Relationship. 8th June. [Online] [Accessed on 29th August 2019] https://www.commonobjective.co/article/fashion-and-waste-an-uneasy-relationship
Cook, S. (2019) Solving the Earth’s problems through design. National Geographic. [Online] [Accessed on 2nd September 2019] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/09/partner-content-solving-earths-problems-through-design/
Domskiene, J. Sederaviciute, F. Simonaityte, J. (2019) ‘Kombucha bacterial cellulose for sustainable fashion.’ International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, 31(5) pp. 644-652. [Online] [Accessed on 10th September 2019] DOI: 10.1108/IJCST-02-2019-0010
‘Fashion’s Dirty Secrets.’ Stacey Dooley Investigates. (2018) [Online] BBC2 England, 21.00 9th October 2018. Available through Box of Broadcasts. [Accessed on 20th August 2019] https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/122D0582?bcast=127648702
Fashion Revolution. (2017) ‘Why are wages so low for garment workers?.’ Money Fashion Power, 1, pp. 8-11.
Lee, H; Xu, Y. (2019) ‘Classification of virtual fitting room technologies in the fashion industry: from the perspective of consumer experience.’ International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, September, pp. 1-10. [Online] [Accessed on 15th September 2019] DOI: 10.1080/17543266.2019.1657505
Man, P. (2018) How far has transparency progressed since Rana Plaza. Drapers. [Online] [Accessed 3rd August 2019] https://www.drapersonline.com/news/how-far-has-transparency-progressed-since-rana-plaza/7030088.article?search=https%3a%2f%2fwww.drapersonline.com%2fsearcharticles%3fparametrics%3d%26keywords%3dhuman+rights%26PageSize%3d10%26cmd%3dGoToPage%26val%3d3%26SortOrder%3d1
Moss Bros. (2019) Moss Bros Eco Suit Campaign. [Online image] [Accessed on 24th September 2019] https://www.moss.co.uk/inside-pocket/post/five-ways-to-dress-more-sustainably
Nasa. (2009) Decreasing water levels of the Aral Sea. [Online image] [Accessed on 20th August 2019] https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/fluxGallery/Aral_Sea.html
Siregar, Y. and Kent, A. (2019), ‘Consumer experience of interactive technology in fashion stores’, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, August. [Online] [Accessed on 15th
September 2019] DOI: 10.1108/IJRDM-09-2018-0189
The North Face. (2019) The North Face Eco Heritage Collection. [Online image] [Accessed on 2nd September 2019] https://www.rei.com/h/the-north-face-eco-heritage
Whelan, G. (2019) Pentland Brands trials AR app. Drapers. [Online] [Accessed on 10th September 2019] https://www.drapersonline.com/news/latest-news/pentland-brands-trials-ar-app/7037503.article
Drapers. (2019) Speedo AR App. [Online image] [Accessed on 10th September 2019] https://www.drapersonline.com/news/latest-news/pentland-brands-trials-ar-app/7037503.article
Wright, B. (2009) Red flags for modern slavery in fashion supply chains. Just-Style. [Online] [Accessed on 26th July 2019] https://www.just-style.com/analysis/red-flags-for-modern-slavery-in-fashion-supply-chains_id136383.aspx