Sustainability and fashion in 2024.
- orlakwlamb
- Jan 7, 2024
- 2 min read
I was going to write a 2024 trend predictions post, but instead here is a much less fun reality check.
We are still so used to fast fashion. If everyone shopped fast fashion ‘every now and then’, the industry would look totally different, but a small bunch of people going cold turkey whilst another bunch of people don’t change their ways at all is not going to make a dent in overall emissions.
But, I hate to break it to you, it’s not just fast fashion that needs the boot.
In order to be fully sustainable, we have to change our clothes philosophy, we need to stop being used to new clothes full stop.
Independent brands are good, but not always as much as you think
Take a look at screen printing. Of course it is much better to help a small business and spend our money away from large corporations, but we still don’t know where the t-shirts that they print their designs come from, or the packaging for that matter.
Just because an item is second hand doesn't make it sustainable
Fast fashion is also about fast turnover. Many thrift purchases are just fast fashion garments worn three times. The problem is that if fast fashion is infiltrating the selling platforms, these clothes will only have a certain length of life due to the fact that they are made terribly, with materials that are not very durable. This means that they will, very quickly, be useless, and unless someone is willing to put in a load of effort to recycle them, which, according to this article https://www.retaildive.com/news/secondhand-clothes-sustainable-environmental-impact-resale/647428/ is not financially viable, they do just go to waste. One second hand purchase of a fast fashion item does not reverse the impact of the garment's creation. Second hand is better, but it is not the solution.
WHAT TO DO?
One great way to tackle this is to focus on trends within our wardrobes. Ie we still have those skinny jeans from 2015(god forbid) so we will bring them out. I know everyone loves a clear out but perhaps not clearing out and regularly looking through the bag under your bed stuffed with old clothes could be a start to more sustainable clothes practices.
The long and short of it is that in order to solve this problem the philosophy of how we think about clothes has to change. This is obviously a huge jump and not something that can be changed overnight, or even in the next year, but it is something to bear in mind when considering your purchases and the longevity of something in your wardrobe.
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