The Myth of Sustainability
Sustainability seems to be the buzzword du jour in Fashion (or I guess the buzzword du- however you say “the last couple of years” in French).
Every brand and their mother is launching a “Sustainability Initiative” or a “Sustainable Line.” The fast fashion brand Boohoo famously got into some hot water in late 2022 after appointing Kourtney Kardashian as their “Sustainability Ambassador”-- which, if that’s not a thinly veiled attempt at virtue marketing, I don’t know what is.
The truth is, Production and Sustainability are absolutely mutually exclusive. You simply cannot make brand new things while also hocking a PR narrative that you are somehow “Sustainable”.
It goes against the ethos of Capitalism to be sustainable. We live in a world where profit margins are king. Big business has no room for slowing down production in the name of saving the planet.
Their interest starts and stops with the question: “how can we get the consumer over their guilt long enough to buy our clothes?” The answer, sadly enough, often is: Just slap a “certified sustainable” sticker on your website and you’re good to go! Who knows what that means! They don’t care enough to ask!
It’s compartmentalization. Most consumers know the situation we’re in– very few people these days are genuinely ignorant of the toll mass production takes on our planet. But it’s in our nature to Want– to Covet.
I’m guilty of it too! I am no stranger to spending hours on Pinterest dreaming up my next “era” of outfits. It’s the fun of fashion! So, in order to participate in that fun, it’s much easier morally to separate yourself from the atrocity. Pretend it’s far off, pretend it doesn’t exist, pretend it’s not your problem.
They said they’re sustainable! Why wouldn’t I believe them?
We are about to suffocate under the amount of waste we produce. Emily Chan reported via British Vogue that a staggering “15 and 45 billion [garments per year] are never sold.” In America alone, an estimated 11.3 million tons of discarded clothing are sent to landfills each year. She continues by saying that “The fashion industry is responsible for up to eight per cent of global greenhouse emissions.”
I know figures can be hard to imagine visually. So let me clarify: that’s a fuck ton of clothes. You can see one of these landfills from space.
The obvious solution here has to be reverting to the old ways of production: local tailors that make your clothes custom, buying way less throughout the year. But, at least for me, it’s hard to sever myself from the World of Fashion.
I love runway shows. I love the anticipation before a new collection drops. I love to support the vision of artists from around the world. But this globalization of Fashion is intrinsically linked to commerce. If we get rid of the Big Business of Fashion- I fear that artistry might have to go with it.
Because truthfully, there’s hardly any money in capital F, Fashion. Most stylists, sewists, models and fashion journalists have hardly two pennies to rub together. All the money is in clothes- specifically the mass production of clothes. So, the likelihood that we will be able to make any actionable change regarding the amount of products we produce is slim to none. We have no buying power on our side.
The question then becomes: what compromises can we make? Like, okay, so we can’t halt the never-ending machine that is Fashion production. What CAN we do?
I think there’s really two options: new products using organic materials or a larger focus on reworked vintage.
Area had a very interesting coat in their latest collection. It’s a floor length puffer that has been printed with a trompe l'oeil fur pattern. It’s plastic, but it looks just like fur.
For years, Fur has been the paragon of What Is Bad in Fashion Production (Fur is Murder, don’t you know?). But now, as we’ve become more conscious of the effect plastics have on our lives, we’ve begun to negotiate between the two. Plastics are definitively harmful– they aren’t biodegradable, they poison our water systems, they hurt us. Fur production hurts Animals. So we have to consider: who's more important in the sustainability debate? Us or Them?
I haven’t made a firm decision on Fur. I will say, if we’re going to accept the moral cost of being meat eaters– if we’re going to kill animals for their parts– we need to use all of them. If you live within 100 miles of a cow farm, I better see a lot more leather coats this winter!
Stella McCartney recently patented Mylo garments– which are leather goods made from mushrooms. It’s seemingly cruelty-free, breathable and of a similar quality to cowhide leather. Her brand, Hermès, Lululemon, Adidas and Kering are now all on board with the mushroom trend.
Now, we can’t forget Reworked Vintage! If regular ‘ole Vintage Fashion isn’t scratching the right itch for you, this could be a great solution! Whether you’re craving a fresh style or you find that typical Vintage stock isn’t size inclusive enough, I highly recommend checking out brands like Berriez. It’s tried and true reducing, reusing and recycling– nothing could be better than that!
It looks like this essay is ending in about the same way that a lot of mine do– a call for readers to Just Think a Little Bit about What You’re Buying. No, we don’t have much control over what this capitalistic production machine that rules our lives does next– but we do have control over our own consumption.
Buy Less, Buy Quality, Buy within the industries you’re already participating in, and above all else— Support your Local Tailors.