Sustainable Fashion: Making green clothes a reality
- Emily C. Burger
- Jul 13, 2020
- 5 min read
It’s no secret that the fashion industry is the second largest producer of CO₂ emissions after the oil industry. This is largely due to a culture of fast fashion, in which consumers buy new wardrobes every season and throw tons of clothes away each year. Sustainable fashion initiatives aim to change this culture, by producing quality garments that last a lifetime and are produced with materials and dyes that do not harm the environment. Over the past decade, sustainable fashion has been growing, largely due to pioneers including the designers and CEO’s celebrated on Fairforce’s List of Top Female Sustainable Fashion Innovators in Europe. However, there is still a way to go before sustainable fashion is the norm, which is why learning from these professionals can provide a great example for how modern businesses can implement green fashion on a larger scale.
Sustainable Fabrics
Using organic and natural fibres that do not require chemicals and industrial processes to be produced is the first step towards creating sustainable fashion. This means avoiding synthetic and semi-synthetic fibres like polyester, viscose, and nylon. There are a range of natural fibres to choose from, with varying pros and cons.
Valerie Goode, founder of Kitty Ferreira, prefers using peace silks, which are produced in a way that do not kill the silk worms after extracting the silk. The fabric is light, comfortable and chic, yet has little impact on the environment. Peace silk produces almost zero waste and has a low water footprint, making it an all-round eco-friendly material to use. Another benefit of silk in general is that it can easily be coloured with low-impact dyes. Silk is also strong and durable, reducing the need for the fast fashion culture. The disadvantage is that peace silk is about twice as expensive as regular silk, making it difficult for lower-income consumers to purchase. However, for those who can afford it, peace silk’s durability and quality make the extra money worth it in the long-run.
Tasmin and Seraphina Davis, co-founders of Nancy Dee, use fabrics made from renewable materials like organic cotton, bamboo and soy. It’s important to source these fibres carefully, since they can contribute to major deforestation, hence the emphasis on organic.
Bamboo fabrics are similar in softness to silk and do not irritate the skin as fabrics like hemp sometimes can. Bamboo fabrics are also great at absorbing moisture, keeping you cool and fresh throughout the day. However, they tend to shrink more than cotton fabrics and wrinkle more easily, so special cleaning processes are recommended.
Soy fabric is advantageous for its breathable, anti-bacterial and UV-resistant properties, making it a great material for sports clothing. It’s also highly absorbent, meaning natural dyes are retained well by it, as with organic cotton. The best part about Soy fabric is that it's machine-washable, light, comfortable, and wrinkle-resistant, making it a very practical material for everyday clothing. The downside is that Soy fabric is not as strong as cotton or hemp, but it’s extremely biodegradable and so will not contribute to harmful waste dumps.
Hannah Beaumont-Laurencia of Beaumont Organic, enjoys using lyocell flannel among other fabrics. Lyocell fabric, also known as Tencel, is breathable with a similar texture to cotton, yet stronger than cotton and can handle all weathers. Lyocell fabric is cheaper than silk yet provides the same durability and comfort. It’s primarily composed from wood like oak or birch, so is biodegradable. However, it’s contribution to deforestation has raised debate over how environmentally friendly it is overall, meaning that sourcing is once again critical for producing genuinely sustainable clothing.
Using materials which would have otherwise been dumped to produce new fabrics is a technique used by many designers. Lizzie Harrison, the Creative Director of Antiform, uses reclaimed materials, which are left-overs from the excess manufacturing of major fashion labels, to craft her pieces. Shalize Nicholas of Madia & Matilda, does this as well as using recycled fabrics. Fishing nets are turned into recycled nylon fabrics that are perfect for Patricia Caballero’s allSisters swimwear lines.
These examples show that sustainable fabric does not need to mean discomfort, lack of style or excessive prices. It’s simply a matter of choosing the fibres that work best for you, as well as the planet.
Natural Dyes
The industrial dying process of clothes involves producing enormous CO₂ emissions, as well as toxins which remain in the clothes and often end up in the oceans. Thus, changing the dying process and switching to natural dyes can greatly reduce the fashion carbon footprint, the quality of the clothes for our skin, and reduce harmful waste products that pollute nature.
Pomegranate and onion skins are Valerie Goode’s choice of natural dyes, which produce rich yellows and oranges but also indigo's and greens when mixed with other natural dyes. Soy, too, is a great natural dye, and is used frequently by Tasmin and Seraphina Davis in their clothes lines. Hannah Beaumont-Laurencia uses natural dyes but points out that the key to sustainable dying is to dye minimally. This is partially why the majority of Patricia Caballero’s designs can only be found in black and white. However, there is an array of things that can be used to produce colour naturally, including carrots, nuts, woods, berries, flowers, herbs and spices.
Factory to Closet - all the inbetweens
Besides the garments themselves, there are many elements to consider when producing sustainable fashion. This includes sourcing materials locally to reduce transportation emissions, which all of the above mentioned designers do, as well as considering the delivery of ordered items and choice of packaging materials. Some of these women only sell their clothes to customers within their region, or have set up branching stores in other countries which source and produce locally. Knowing exactly where and how fabrics are produced is important to them, and is included in the labels of their clothes for full transparency. In addition, the use of plastic is completely removed from their packaging, and their pop-up stores are organised to be as eco-friendly as possible.
Additionally, the designs themselves play a role, as simpler patterns produce less off-cuts. Creatively designing clothes which incorporate off-cuts from previous lines is also one way these women have used design principles to make greener clothes.
I think what we can learn from these women is that sustainable fashion does not need to be bland, homogeneous or uncomfortable. There are a variety of options to choose from, be it the fabrics, the dyes or the inbetweens, meaning that one sustainable brand can look completely different to another. Walking around in identical hemp sacks need not be our future. These women have demonstrated that flair, style and elegance can still be expressed through sustainable designs which are timeless in aesthetics and worthy of a lifetime of use. Fairforce congratulates these women for their inspiring work in revolutionising the fashion industry towards greener business models and a healthier planet.
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