You will be purchasing “Green” in fast fashion brands
Sustainable development is an enduring topic in the fashion industry in recent years. Fast fashion brands are actively taking responsibility. Although they are still far away from the real goal, they are also striving to be responsible for consumers and the environment. “Fast fashion” is different from other fashion retailing, with a large number of product-series, complete variety, window renewal, and efficient operation time and again. A large number of products, a large number of customers; thus, the whole fast fashion industry will also produce a lot of waste. This kind of production mode leads the environmental harm, which makes the fast fashion industry be criticized. With the increasing demand of consumers for product sustainability, the fast fashion industry must take responsibility not only for itself but also for customers and the environment.
H&M is a giant of the fast fashion industry; however, it has made a series of sustainability efforts. On April 21(London time), according to the fashion transparency ranking of the fashion revolution, a non-profit organization, H&M was rated as the “most transparent” brand. The list considers the brand’s critical indicators, including animal welfare, biodiversity, due diligence, etc., and ranks 250 most notable brands in the fashion industry. At the same time, as the world’s largest user of sustainable cotton and human-made fiber materials, H&M group takes the responsibility of fast fashion brand to protect the green environment in the process of sustainable fashion development, and also takes a series of actions, making arduous efforts and long-term adherence. Cecilia Brännsten, H&M group’s sustainable development, and environmental protection business manager said: “with the group’s steadily increasing use of renewable and other durable source materials every year, we not only promote the growth of demand for widely used materials such as cotton without chemical fertilizer and chemical insecticide in the production process but also have an impact on the large-scale application of new sustainable materials. We want to guide other companies in the industry towards a sustainable future. ”
Since the H&M group stepped up to the road of sustainability, the outside world is also questioning whether the so-called sustainability is just a commercial gimmick to expand sales by recycling old clothes. H&M group uses absolute transparency to give answers to consumers, and actively participates in sustainable projects such as second-hand clothing trading and clothing leasing, seeking various ways to alleviate the pressure of old clothing recycling. From sourcing to retail to recycling, the H&M group is combining with a sustainable concept to lead fast fashion to make a new change. After the whole substantial fast fashion industry renovation, it will be of considerable significance to consumers and the entire environment.
Not only that, but many small, fast fashion brands are also striving for sustainable development. Instead of innovating on new materials, they began to use the leftover cloth and clothes as raw materials.
Milosevic, a British brand, has launched the high-end handmade “shades of denim” series sunglasses. Most of the denim pieces they recycled come from the old denim stock of abandoned jeans and clothing stores that are not suitable for resale. The resin is then mixed into the multi-layer wet denim fiber for absorption, and the denim is pressed together until the resin becomes solid, forming “solid denim.” The resin used in this process is entirely safe for the skin and has been tested for many years. Plus the fine hand decoration, so the new fashion cowboy sunglasses were born.
Girlfriend collective, an American sustainable sports fashion brand, recycles old plastic bottles from Taiwan every year, processes raw materials locally, decomposes them, spins them into soft yarns, and then weaves them into knitwear. For example, their sports tights and underwear are made of 79% recycled polyester (or RPET) and 21% spandex. It is understood that about 25 recycled plastic bottles are needed to produce each tights, while 11 plastic bottles are required for sports underwear.
Since 2015, Ecoalf, a Spanish sustainable fashion brand, has been helping to clean up the marine garbage worldwide. This revolutionary project aims to recycle marine garbage and turn it into high-quality yarn to produce clothing.
They hope to provide a second life for recycled garbage from the perspective of a circular economy and raise people’s awareness of the global problems brought by marine waste. Recycled PET plastic bottles will be converted into flakes and particles as raw materials to obtain high-quality 100% polyester regenerated fiber.
In part, the clothing industry is undergoing a revolutionary time because of efforts to update the production environment. The infrastructure and services needed to maximize the use and management of waste clothing have had a significant positive impact on the environment and human beings. By extending the life of materials already produced and using them as raw materials, brands and retailers can now start to operate in a real circular economy.
