EP.12/ Why Sustainable Materials Won't Save Fashion
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The thing that's going to make the biggest difference between making more of something better, and completely changing the fashion industry is shifting business and consumer mindsets.
Here's what we cover in this episode:
1. Is recycled polyester that sheds microplastics good? Or is it just the same as virgin feedstock? What about organic cotton that is mass-produced?
We continue to operate in a linear system while making small tweaks to production to insinuate the illusion of sustainability. And don't get me wrong - yes recycled polyester is better than virgin as it doesn't use crude feedstock like petroleum to come to life and saves millions of GHG emissions from being produced. And yes, organic cotton is better for farmers as it uses no herbicides or pesticides in the growing process.
BUT, if they're all being mass-produced and made by people who have to endure slave labour to make these "green" products a reality - is that really sustainable?
The problem we're facing in the sustainable fashion movement is the overproduction of sustainable alternative materials.
Fashion can change - but it won't change with only making better materials.
2. So what's the solution?
The key to changing the industry is changing our business ideas and the way we quantify success. If we can reinvent the way we connect and view fashion - all the other innovations and industry advancements would make an incredible impact.
It starts with our business.
The truth is, we as human beings operate on behavioural needs and want. We don't need 300 items of clothes in our closet, our logical mind knows that. We don't need to design that last-minute addition to our collections - yet we do it not because we're driven by logic but because as humans we're driven by emotion. So, in order to fix the real problem with fashion - we need to shift the way we as brands and consumers think, relate and connect to fashion and our overall vision of what fashion is supposed to mean to us as individuals.
We need to re-engineer society.
Ending Note:
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