Sustainability can’t do without design. This is a relatively new concept in sustainable fashion. Consumers no longer have to sacrifice design quality for social and environmental responsibility. So the fashion industry is making strides toward sustainability but without compromising on design.
Consumers’ only choice for green garments used to be ugly and expensive. Now, green fashion doesn’t differ aesthetically from products made using traditional production methods nor is the price point exorbitantly higher. Products need to be disassembled at the end of their life-cycle, which requires not only materials that can be recycled but also better reuse/repair options from labels.
Currently, there are almost no rules requiring companies keep track of their often complex supply chain despite flagrant human rights violations in factories at home and abroad. The 2013 Rana Plaza disaster, in which a garment factory in Bangladesh collapsed and killed thousands of workers, was a wakeup call for an industry that often turned a blind eye to its production methods. Jeans are the fashion industry’s most notorious culprit for waste and chemical production. The textile industry uses 7000 liters of water to produce one pair of jeans. The indigo dye used for the denim wash is painfully detrimental to the environment.