FASHION INDUSTRY’S THREAT

Did you know that your way of dressing can have impact on environment?

In fact statistics show that fashion production and consumption are increasingly less eco-sustainable, in terms of water used and wastewater, but also because of industry’s carbon emissions. These are amplified by a frequent turnover of our clothes, as they have a short lifespan, and by a consequent massive production to allow that, in a kind of vicious circle harmful to our planet.

But, in a worrying and consumerist society, our choices can make a difference! We can choose sustainable fashion: it respects an attractive design, an high quality, a long lifespan of usage, a proper socio-economical accessibility, but most of all, it respects environment. What consumers buy is what the industries will produce, in fact our purchases determine the market, for that a well educated consumer, who knows how to use its economical power, gives hope for change.

Actually there is an urgent need to educate and raise people’s awareness about its role of consumer. Every purchase should be more aware: do I really need this? What I’m buying is it made sustainably? Can I repair something similar that I already have? These questions are useful to prefer quality over quantity, to promote recycling, even through donations to charity of what we no longer want or fit.

Sustainable fashion means that every link in the production chain follows an ethical approach: the research of low-quality, synthetic material, or exploitation of workers are not contemplated. Everything is manufactured respecting human rights and in eco-friendly ways, even if they require more time. A slow production generates a slow fashion, so more durable, functional and sustainable clothes. We can benefit from our choices long-term.

People often think some change are utopian, maybe because they would change the world in an instant. To be honest, everyone should start gradually to be the change, first by becoming aware, then trying to improve their behavior, knowing that extremism or fanatism is always danger, but indifference too.

So how can I become a better consumer? Shopping less and less frequently, avoiding fast fashion brands in favor of slow fashion, second-hand or vintage garments, natural materials as linen, silk, hemp, wool and organic cotton. It is preferable to finance local artisans, to choose local brands and to recycle clothes instead of disposing them. Every disposal, in fact, has an impact on environment, and not always it is necessary.

Our choice of purchase will generate a response from companies. They will adapt their offert according to the demand. All the stakeholders go towards a more sustainable market. The fashion industry’s threat can be transform to a good opportunity to wear good, to feel good, to do good.

Giada Domeniconi