"Why the Sustainable Fashion Conversation Needs Nuance"

Article on The Sustainable Fashion Forum

The fashion industry has so many issues including social, environmental and economic which make it unsustainable. This makes it clear that the solution will never be simple and the conversation in and around the industry needs to realise this and alter its approach.

Currently the efforts to improve sustainability in fashion must also combat the rise of greenwashing. Companies (most commonly, fast fashion companies) have jumped on the sustainability bandwagon. These brands have identified that this is a conversation and issue that is becoming increasingly popular and they are using this to sell more. A huge oxymoron. In his book Alec Leach refers to this as "Sustainability TM" (Leach, 2021) where companies use sustainability for marketing purposes without making meaningful changes to their practice.

This article is sub titled "The answer to fashion’s most pressing problems at the intersection of fashion and sustainability lies in the gray areas." (Sierra, 2023) and that perhaps summarises the complexity of the fashion industry's sustainability issues. There is no simple of quick fix for the industry. Each person involved in the fashion system (including post production) may require a different solution which, only when added up together improves the industry.

"To address the fashion industry's contribution to the climate crisis, a multifaceted approach is needed that is willing to embrace the complexities and gray areas of the issue." (Sierra, 2023)

What could some of these solutions be for the industry?

Could legislative change could have the biggest impact on the industry as it currently stands? Enforcing things like transparency, conscious material sourcing & use and human rights within labour and production could help to reduce some of the impacts on a large scale.

However this could also raise some of its own issues. Fashion is a global industry with differing practices, policies, laws and security throughout so again the success of something like this would rely on a nuanced and individual approach as highlighted by Sierra. Perhaps this wouldn't have an impact after all, in fact, it could encourage more of the destructive practices of the industry such as shipping production to countries which have cheaper labour (often due to a lack of basic rights for the workers).

Read the article here:

https://www.thesustainablefashionforum.com/pages/the-nuanced-layers-of-sustainable-fashion

References:

Leach, A. (2021) The World Is On Fire and We’re Still Buying Shoes. Published by Alec Leach with Casimir Books

Sierra, B. (2023). Why the Sustainable Fashion Conversation Needs Nuance [online] The sustainable fashion forum. Available at: https://www.thesustainablefashionforum.com/pages/the-nuanced-layers-of-sustainable-fashion