The textile industry contributes to a large sector of the consumer goods market, catering to fashion, furniture, towels, sheets, carpets, and even industrial-grade fire hoses. Everyone owns some form of textile, and basic products, including clothing, rely on this industry, which keeps demand high all year round.
But when a single industry is necessary to keep many others afloat, its inability to uphold sustainable practices––from a social, corporate, and environmental level––becomes problematic across the entire retail sector. In particular, fashion is in the watch zone for sustainability implications as approximately 80 billion garments are consumed each year.
That’s why, for the past few years, textile and fashion companies have been making attempts to mend the sustainability issue with baby steps in hopes of paving a path to a more ecologically and ethically conscious future.
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Shedding Light Into The Behemoth Problems of a Behemoth Industry
The textile and fashion industries both take up a huge chunk of the retail sector, making up an over $400 billion market worldwide. But whether it’s a fashion house as renowned as Louis Vuitton to a fast fashion enterprise like Zara, all facets of the industry are guilty of forgetting sustainability standards in their overarching business model.
Environmental Concern
The issue is so large that fashion alone could make up a fourth of the world’s carbon emissions by 2050. It’s not just the air in danger, though, as textile production requires massive amounts of water and chemicals, often spilling into large bodies of water, so much so that textile dyes are the second-largest contributor to water pollution. After production, physical products endure a short lifespan before ending up in landfills, which houses over 17 million tonnes of textile waste per year.
Ethical Concern
Beyond the environmental impact of textile and fashion production, there’s also the prevalence of harsh working conditions in mass-production sweatshops, workers in Bangladesh work day and night to meet supply quotas for very little pay, no benefits, and no protection from outdated infrastructure. The sweatshop working conditions trickle into luxury production halfway across the world. In 2019, an officer in Italy discovered a sweatshop in Naples producing for brands like Armani and Fendi––all for the coveted “made in Italy” tag.
Supply Chain Concern
The fashion and textile industries suffer from a very outdated supply chain, but the pre-production process takes the cake for being extremely inefficient. After the designer creates the final sketch, the materials are sourced, sampled, and shipped to the brand, which will then decide on the final material composition. The details are sent to one of the manufacturers, who will create the product and ship it back to the brand.
At this point, revisions may have to be made, and the cycle repeats until the brand is satisfied. Afterwhich, a physical showroom will have to be opened for corporate buyers to pick what they want before final manufacturing commences. This resource-intensive pre-production cycle needs to change in favor of a faster and more sustainable process.
What Brands Have Been Doing to Solve Sustainability Concerns
From big brands to small, the fashion and textile industry has been taking small steps toward big changes. While widespread, tangible changes will require more participation among all brands globally, frontrunners are setting a wonderful example to save the future of fashion and the environment.
Hugo Boss’s 3D Samples
Suit giant Hugo Boss has acknowledged waste produced by suit samples, which are often thrown away after use. They have vowed to stop producing physical samples and have transitioned to 3D models, essentially addressing the manual and resource-intensive pre-production process.
Burberry’s Approach to Excess Stocks
Burberry came under fire after it was revealed that the fashion house burned excess stocks––costing them over $37 million. More importantly, burning perfectly fine goods is a slap in the face to the environment, which has to deal with the impact of fumes and leftover materials that end up in landfills. The brand has since repented by promising to reuse, recycle, donate, or repair excess stocks.
H&M’s Recycling & Upcycling Program
H&M has implemented its recycling and upcycling program in stores across the globe. Anyone can leave bags of clothing in exchange for a discount coupon, effectively extending the life cycle of each garment. The company is also one of many fast fashion brands that have released a conscious line, where over 50% of materials used come from sustainable, natural materials.
Stella McCartney’s Early Efforts
Stella McCartney is one of the frontrunners in the conversations over sustainable fashion. As a member of the Make Fashion Circular movement, it has taken big steps toward making its overall production process a lot more sustainable. Some efforts include utilizing the eco-friendly Colorfix Dyeing System for product dyeing and partnering with TheRealReal, which grants anyone a $100 gift card for consigning an item on the site.
A Vision For Tomorrow’s Textile & Fashion Scene
There are still many improvements brands can make to solve the sustainability puzzle, which will be crucial in shaping the fashion and textile scene in the years to come. Some newer concepts they can introduce into production include the following:
- Air dyeing consumes 85% less energy than traditional dyeing methods.
- Digital printing saves 95% of water and 75% of energy––helping the environment while reducing production costs.
- Clean denim brand Everlane uses a unique Saitex system, which recycles 98% of the water used in production.
Moreover, NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, provide immutable digital asset ownership, elevating 3D fashion efforts––such as Hugo Boss’s––by making them ownable in the virtual sphere. They can be sold and purchased in the digital fashion marketplace DIGITALAX and then produced tangibly or used in a virtual context. Luxury brands can look into this platform for releasing limited-edition drops instead of creating tangible products that are often subject to waste.
As the new generation of consumers becomes more conscious of the companies they purchase from, it’s more important than ever for brands to increase efforts to appease the demand for sustainable fashion and business practices. And as interest shifts toward asset ownership in the metaverse (which reduces tangible waste), creating a digital identity will also be necessary for brands to sustain their impact on the virtual front.
