S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y
I N F A S H I O N
Fast fashion may be more damaging to the environment than air traffic. According to the UN and Quantis, the clothing industry emits more greenhouse gases than all the worlds planes and ships, and 80% of emission stem from producing the clothes. On top of the climate impact, clothes production leads to depletion of water resources and local microfiber pollution. To combat these effects, parts of the fashion industry are re-thinking many of the ways in which they operate, more and more individuals and organisations such as Copenhagen fashion summit are working to promote sustainability in fashion internationally, stressing the importance of change.
One of the most apparent reasons for the current unsustainable condition of the fashion system is related to the temporal aspects of fashion; the continuous stream of new goods onto the market, of what is popularly called "fast fashion". The term signifies cheap, accessible and on-trend clothes, sold through global production chains such as H&M, Zara, and Primark. The 2012 book 'Overdressed: The shockingly high cost of fast fashion' by journalist Elizabeth L. Cline gives a clear introduction to the rise of disposable consumption of fashion and it's impact on the planet, the economy, and the consumer relationships with clothing, however, the "fast" aspect of consumption is primarily a problem to the environment when done on a massive scale, if the fast consumption was reserved to the rich, the global impact would not be reaching public attention or even be seen as a problem.
My prior thoughts before starting any actual shoot work is that i'm incredibly conscious about not becoming part of the problem, with the clothes i'll be using within my work there's a high possibility the clothes won't be used again, so i think it's incredibly important that i don't invest into fast fashion, not only would it be morally wrong but insanely ironic of me to do. Throughout the project i will only be purchasing clothing sourced from local charity shops, i'll be looking online at shopping apps such as Depop; a peer-to-peer social shopping app. I'm quite interested in also using trash throughout my work as McQueen did in his earlier collections, it's quite effective and relatively no-cost, and also environmentally friendly resulting in no mass production. Although it's not an idea i'm solidly sold on i do think it's an interesting one to follow up on and experiment with the whole premise of it, as when done correctly, it's visually striking.
"THE U.S. ALONE SENDS ABOUT 21 BILLION POUNDS OF TEXTILE WASTE TO LANDFILLS EVERY YEAR. SADLY, ONLY 10-15% OF DONATED CLOTHING ACTUALLY ENDS UP IN THE SECOND-HAND MARKET."
One of the most apparent reasons for the current unsustainable condition of the fashion system is related to the temporal aspects of fashion; the continuous stream of new goods onto the market, of what is popularly called "fast fashion". The term signifies cheap, accessible and on-trend clothes, sold through global production chains such as H&M, Zara, and Primark. The 2012 book 'Overdressed: The shockingly high cost of fast fashion' by journalist Elizabeth L. Cline gives a clear introduction to the rise of disposable consumption of fashion and it's impact on the planet, the economy, and the consumer relationships with clothing, however, the "fast" aspect of consumption is primarily a problem to the environment when done on a massive scale, if the fast consumption was reserved to the rich, the global impact would not be reaching public attention or even be seen as a problem.
My prior thoughts before starting any actual shoot work is that i'm incredibly conscious about not becoming part of the problem, with the clothes i'll be using within my work there's a high possibility the clothes won't be used again, so i think it's incredibly important that i don't invest into fast fashion, not only would it be morally wrong but insanely ironic of me to do. Throughout the project i will only be purchasing clothing sourced from local charity shops, i'll be looking online at shopping apps such as Depop; a peer-to-peer social shopping app. I'm quite interested in also using trash throughout my work as McQueen did in his earlier collections, it's quite effective and relatively no-cost, and also environmentally friendly resulting in no mass production. Although it's not an idea i'm solidly sold on i do think it's an interesting one to follow up on and experiment with the whole premise of it, as when done correctly, it's visually striking.
"THE U.S. ALONE SENDS ABOUT 21 BILLION POUNDS OF TEXTILE WASTE TO LANDFILLS EVERY YEAR. SADLY, ONLY 10-15% OF DONATED CLOTHING ACTUALLY ENDS UP IN THE SECOND-HAND MARKET."