Positive Fashion
The fashion designer and lifelong vegetarian Stella McCartney defined a powerful animal and eco-friendly strategy as the core of her Fashion brand when she launched it in 2001: High-quality, exceptional designer clothes but no leather, no fur, no feathers, eco-fabrics, fair wages with absolutely no compromise on design. She and Vivian Westwood are the visionary ambassadors for more sustainable fashion for many years. Brands that have not yet addressed waste and climate change implications will soon come under considerable consumer pressure.
What can we do?
As a consumer, our shopping behaviour will strongly influence fashion brands’ future strategies. The industry is under the immense pressure of creating sustainability in production processes but also how to deal with overproduction filling our landfills to make space for the next collection and not delude the brand’s value. Recently, young designers started to recycle and up-cycle overproduced designer garments to create new designs. Brands decided on ‘slower fashion’ by reducing their 6 annual collections to 4. It is time to rethink for all of us. Here are some ideas for you as a consumer to contemplate:
- Choose clothes wisely – buy clothes you wear and enjoy longer term.
- Buy fewer clothes and less often.
- Buy better clothes to last longer.
- Re-use, restyle, re-imagine your existing wardrobe – get in touch with us to discuss the potential for saving and re-deploying resources.
- Manage your wardrobe – keep it organised to make the most out of it.
- Choose a timeless look – use accessories to stay with trends and the latest colours.
- Donate unwanted garments to charity, second-hand shops or other re-using, recycling platforms.
- Be aware of buying online and making too many unnecessary returns – deliveries add to the carbon footprint.
NOTE: Design & Alter supports the idea of rethinking fashion by offering a 20% Discount on any relining and restyling of garments. Email us to find out more detail: reception@ designandalter.com
Find out more about our team here!
More information about the topic – The Myth of Sustainable Fashion by Kenneth B. Pucker, Harvard Business Review – read here