According to information, Zalando, Europe’s largest e-commerce platform, has specially labeled sustainable products on its platform to help promote sustainable brands and stop using disposable packaging in the future. The concept of sustainable development has become a universal consensus in the world. The prominent problems in the fashion industry are particularly critical, so sustainability has changed from the biggest topic to the only way for brands to survive. Material, fabric, craft and packaging have become necessary conditions for the brand’s sustainable development. Several designers in this report have spent years exploring a supply chain system that can be traced and focuses on 100% sustainable use of all kinds of raw materials, and they are always trying to change the morbid ideology of the fashion industry.
Designer Stella McCartney is a lifelong vegetarian who founded the eponymous designer brand in 2001. Unlike other luxury brands, Stella McCartney never designs or sells anything that contains leather, fur or rare animal skins. Products have always been designed around sustainability and social responsibility. This season’s collection, which McCartney claims is the most sustainable one she has created so far, uses materials that contains 75% eco-friendly materials, such as polyester, organic cotton, sustainable viscose fiber and ECONYL® , as well as introducing hemp and sustainable raffia.
STORY mfg. is founded by the couple, Bobbin Threadbare and Katy Katazome in London, UK. The couple work with dyers, weavers, embroiderers and tailors in their studio in the Indian forest. They focus on the concept of sustainability, prioritize the design process developing slowly, and have a more authentic, fulfilling and intimate pursuit of fashion, which balances between aesthetics and sustainability. The latest series of this brand is made of organic fibers. Some details are hand-crocheted by organic cotton yarns, and dyed by leaves, bark, root and fruits.
British designer, Christopher Raeburn, has renamed his eponymous brand as “Raeburn” to mark its 10th anniversary. The designer, who has long been advocating sustainable practices in fashion industry, pioneered the transformation of redundant fabrics and garments to create unique and practical clothing. The S/S 2020 collection named “New Horizon” is on display at “Move to Mars” of the Design Museum in London. The top and outerwear of this collection are printed by photos of red and brown marble on Mars shot by NASA. The materials are inspired by “manufacturing on-demand” on Mars, using renewed materials such as old clothes instead of raw materials.
Spencer Phipps, a former menswear designer at Marc Jacobs and Dries Van Noten, founds his personal menswear brand Phipps in Paris and launches his collection during Paris fashion week shortly after its creation, with the concept of ecological sustainability to respond to the environmental trends sweeping the fashion industry. The Polo shirts are made of recycled organic cotton and decorated with illustration-style information pattern. The slightly larger silhouette is made of recycled California hemp fibers. It trumpets the co-existence of fashion and environmental protection through aesthetics.
Filippa K encourages customers to pay less for high-quality and durable products, and runs a recycling program for clothes. Knowing that the choice of fabric can have a significant impact on the environment, the brand devotes a lot of time and energy to materials, looking for organic materials and biodegradable materials. Influenced by the minimalism of Navia, the brand has abandoned unnecessary decorations and demonstrated the designer’s dedication to expanding the impact of environmental protection by offering sustainable clothing in a low-key style.
Due to the need of environmental protection, it is more and more urgent to develop natural resources for the market. As one of the natural resources that can be used sustainably, natural dyestuff that can also be decomposed to nature is increasingly favored by designers. As the technology becomes more developed, the color fastness of natural dyes also increases. Pigments are extracted from microorganisms ranging from bacteria to fungi and to mould. Natural dyestuff can not only reduce the damage to the environment and fiber itself, keep the fabric simple and natural, but also produce less waste water or other industrial pollution harmful to the environment and human health. And it is an environmentally-friendly print & dye craft.
“Remade” is an extension of the environmental 3R: “Reduce, Reuse and Reuse”. When the cost of recycling used clothes to generate new textile fabrics is relatively high, the garment can be directly decomposed and reassembled, which is a way to reduce unnecessary water waste and carbon emission. In this era of fast-changing fashion, the remade style is highly praised by young people. Currently, restructuring is sweeping the market. Not only the online celebrity or designers, but more and more related brands are starting to “Remade”.
Global consumers buy about 80 billion new clothing in a year. Reflecting the environmental concern through materials is a well-documented development road. Organic cotton can be grown on dry land. It can reduce water consumption by 91% and soil erosion by 26% and improve the soil quality. From the data above, we can know that growing organic cotton is a kind of sustainable agriculture. The quality of organic cotton is also better than ordinary cotton, which can extend the service life of clothing, and has great significance for the ecological environment protection, the healthy development of human and the green natural ecological clothing.
