There are few topics in life where we see a consensus across society, but wearing clothes is one of them. Whether it’s haute couture or a charity shop gem, clothing is a way of expressing yourself. But with an increased focus on sustainability in our society, is it time to question the impact of your favourite shirt?
‘Fast fashion’ lies at the heart of this conversation. It was first developed in the 1980s based on a product-driven manufacturing concept called ‘quick response’. The result is inexpensive clothing produced quickly in response to the latest market trends.
Many brands have moved away from traditional production processes towards this fast fashion model, both on the high street and online. But with over 10% of global carbon emissions coming from the textile industry1 across the whole value chain, should we as society call time on this ‘more is more’ mindset?
Brands can make headlines in the right way by aligning sustainability with creativity. Over a five-year partnership with the Burberry Foundation, Elvis & Kresse, an eco-luxury brand, made use of its leather waste to create fashion products. The company donates 50% of its profits to charity.
In collaboration with Kresse Wesling CBE, the co-founder of Elvis & Kresse, Rothschild & Co hosted a roundtable discussion with industry experts to deliberate this ‘fast fashion faux pas’. This article outlines the key takeaways from our conversations.
The supply chain traceability model
The lack of accountability in fashion supply chains is a long-standing issue. The WWF released an article in 2011 which highlighted that one key detail missing from your t-shirt label is that it takes approximately 20,000 litres of water to produce it.2
With this in mind, a topic consistently trending across the evening was the continued demand for more stringent sustainability standards within companies. The key reasoning is that it would increase a brand’s supply chain traceability, particularly for large multinational fashion companies who source materials and collaborate with organisations from all over the globe. This level of traceability is currently hard to implement in highly commoditised markets such as cotton.
Clothing manufacturers have less strict rules than other industries, such as food production, when it comes to disclosing the origin of their product. However, there is a global movement towards garment tracing, which is intended to improve standards across the supply chain and enable carbon cost transparency. The EU has committed to introducing a ‘digital product passport’ for textiles by 2030, which requires brands to share data on a garment’s product lifecycle.