BURN-BERRY
LET’S TALK SUSTAINABLE FASHION
New York has just completed its annual high fashion ritual — Fashion Week: all the Hadids are gone, the rapper feuds are (mostly) settled, and they are taking apart the chubby cloud. So… what happens to all our flashy clothing when we are done with it? Well, a lot of it seems to be going up in smoke.
In its Annual Report in July, Burberry admitted to having burned $37M of merchandise last year alone, with the intention of preserving scarcity and exclusivity, alarming shoppers and leading to boycotts of the high-end retailer’s luxury clothing and accessories. For more downscale brands like Zara and H&M, the issue is not preserving scarcity but rather ‘fast fashion’, churning out cheap clothing that is meant to be worn and then gotten rid of. And it has worked — the average American now buys 68 garments per year, or more than one per week. Developing nations are beginning to push back on our donations to protect domestic industry, which has led to more clothing being sent to Indian shredding operations.
While H&M has developed notoriety in this area, other groups like ASOS and Choosy may be creating an even faster fashion cycle, with on demand clothing and extensive online distribution channels. Much of this increased production over the past several decades has been made possible by advances in polyester and other synthetic materials. While synthetics and blends have led to useful new properties (moisture wicking!), it has created bigger recycling headaches as well as microparticles that contaminates our water. Cotton and other natural fibers also have their own costs, in terms of water inputs and pesticides.
So, what’s the answer? Well in short… slow(er) fashion, with fewer items we wear longer, better recyclability and lower resource intensity (hope you like linen), to halt the tide of synthetics. Eileen Fischer and others are working towards sustainable sourcing while Brands like Aday are doing away with the concept of ‘seasons’ and promoting items you can wear almost like uniforms. Still other groups like Fabscrap are working to figure out textile recycling, or making clothing lines entirely out of reclaimed materials like Zero Waste Daniel.
Kellen Parker, Vice President
In Hong Kong, a city known for its overflowing landfills, a new textile spinning mill will use pioneering recycling technology to use waste fabric as raw material. H&M Foundation’s innovation head believes “these technologies may be the gateway to a fashion industry decoupled from the use of virgin natural resources.”
Read On
San Francisco based company The Real Real offers a luxury consignment site, allowing customers to sell used luxury clothing, from brands like Chanel to Cartier.
Want to learn more about sustainable fashion practices and why the time is now? Conscious Chatter, Wardrobe Crisis and Spirit of 68 are a few of our favorite podcasts.
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