Fashion Impact and Ethics Thread

[Todd Shelton]

I think some of you are interested in fashions impact on the environment and society. I am. I searched for a thread already started, but didn't see it on the first page of results. I know impact and ethics gets discussed in the industry thread, but my feeling is not everyone wants to see that topic over there. I think a thread dedicated to this topic is worth a shot to see if it gets traction.

 

[Todd Shelton]

My gut instinct is the microplastics issue is real.

"Synthetic clothing releases tiny plastic fibres when they’re washed and as they wear down over time. Microplastics are being found in the most remote corners of the planet, causing problems like fish mistaking them for food..."

"No one knows exactly how much microplastic pollution comes from fashion, but the $167 billion athleisure category and polyester-fuelled fast fashion are some key contributors."

Fashion's dirty microplastics secret

Public concern is mounting about the health and environmental consequences of microfibres.

www.voguebusiness.com

 

[Todd Shelton]

Yesterday, Macy's announced it was shutting 125 stores. As bad as that will be for people connected to Macy's, it's progress towards fixing what is wrong with the fashion industry.

Too much competition and too much over-production is causing the discounting that's killing the industry and isn't healthy for consumerism imo. There's not enough people in the US to consume/wear/need all the clothing that is being manufactured and brought in. Stores closing is not a bad thing in this scenario.

Macy's is closing roughly 125 stores. Here's list of first round of closings

Macy’s will close roughly 125 stores, a fifth of its locations, and is cutting about 2,000 positions over the next three years.

www.usatoday.com

 

[cb200]

I've done a bunch of looking into micro-plastics and while clothing is definitely a source as washing puts the floosened fibres directly into the water system, it's only part of the story. Car tires, artificial turf, marine paint, breaking down of abandoned fishing gear and plastic waste in the ocean, are all major sources of marine micro plastics.

I think there is some danger in over simplifying the issue to be just one of "Fleece jackets and synthetics clothing is bad" while ignoring other sources of micro-plastics as well as the impact of all micro-fibres (not just synthetics) in the waterways. Not to deny the improvements that can be made in apparel but it's important to look at the whole picture.

 

[Todd Shelton]

Agreed, I read tires are the biggest contributor to micro-plastics.

 

[localful]

Plastic pollution needs to be solved with proper waste management systems and education. Even with good waste management and recycling facilities we still get micro-plastics when using oil based plastic products. Maybe one thing to tackle this waste that ends up in places it shouldn't is using bioplastics. This was a good basic read on the matter: https://minipakr.com/blogs/news/biodegradable-vs-bioplastics-what-s-the-difference

 

[cb200]

I'd love to hear some takes on the concept of "ethical" when it gets applied to the apparel market I get using the term in a loose "choose to do less harm if given two options" type of way that I see, but the floor drops out if I ask "who's ethics" and I'm not sure if the term is an easy fit for clothing.

 

[Todd Shelton]

I read a few fashion trade publications daily. Almost everyday there’s an article that deals with the ethics of the industry – sustainability, inclusiveness being the most written about. These articles are becoming more frequent, but it’s still relatively new and not well defined. Maybe the more people talk about it, the better it'll be understood.

The things I care about most in this ethics conversation are over-production and unhealthy consumerism.

I worked as a buyer for a womens clothing brand and it was bought by a finance guy. He told us if our buy for a style for a season was 1000 units at a cost of $8 each ($8,000 total) – but we could negotiate 2000 units at $5 each ($10,000 total) – to buy the 2000 and he’d “burn the rest”. The brand when he bought it supported about 40 people/families – it went out of business 3 years later. Correcting his mentality in this industry, which is not uncommon, is what I hope can happen.

 

[Todd Shelton]

Quotes from article:

- While these brands may appear to operate sustainably on the surface, their underlying goals remain the same: to sell as much as possible to as many people as possible.

- And Zara may have made big commitments on materials, but it still releases 500 new designs each week, adding up to more than 20,000 a year.

- In H&M’s case,” Rissanen continues, “having some ‘sustainable’ materials in the mix makes little difference when in 2018 they overproduced $4.3 billion worth of goods.

- They are part of this large machine that requires them to overproduce and relies on the insecurities of the public that over-purchases.

- Voluntary action only goes so far, as H&M and Zara demonstrate. Experts argue that regulation and incentives are what’s needed for genuine business model change.

The Myth Of Sustainable Fashion

While brands make environmental pledges, they continue to try and sell as much as possible. But some fashion companies are trying to do it differently.

www.huffpost.com

 

[cb200]

I'm not shocked that a brand is looking to sell to as much as they can, it's not a hobby for them. For Zara, their model is based on trying to meet current demand for style. I don't like how they rip off designs and don't build things to last, but their incredibly smart about not building what they don't know with certainty will sell. Do they make mistakes? Sure, but they aren't simply pulling the old "Stack them High and left them fly" method of inventory estimates and allocation.

Big brands should be supported for their efforts towards improvement. A 1% improvement in any sustainable metric by any of these brands would be substantial improvement. Perfect is the enemy of good.

I'm for regulations and incentives as brands right now are able to be free riders too easily when there's no agreed on standards.

 

[Todd Shelton]

I'm not shocked that a brand is looking to sell to as much as they can, it's not a hobby for them.

I'd like to see these big brands focus less on selling more (imo they're big enough), and focus more on profitability through improved business processes. I'm sure they try to do both, but when I read about H&M's reported $4.3 billion loss due to over-production, it seems there's huge opportunity for improving business if they'd put their best and brightest on solving those problems.

 

[constant struggle]

I'm surprised with the whole "buy for life" mantra of the #menswear era of a few years ago, that people are even still buying a lot of clothes... Furthermore buying on grailed, etc has really made almost any new clothes pretty accessible. It is "trendy" in 2020 to wear what you own.

 

[Todd Shelton]

Maybe this is true, there's lots of misinformation on this topic. “Fashion is on par to become a quarter of the global footprint of carbon...,” said Michael Stanley-Jones, co-secretary of the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion.” I think brands are going to try to satisfy consumers by going carbon neutral, which I don't fully understand. Is it purchasing off-sets?

'Clothing designed to become garbage' — Fashion industry grapples with pollution, waste issues

Despite talk of shifting toward more sustainable production, the fashion industry's greenhouse gas emissions are on track to surge more than 50% by 2030 as global demand for apparel rises.

www.cnbc.com

 

[cb200]

New French Legislation Prohibits the Destruction of Unsold Goods, Including Clothing - The Fashion Law

France is home to the fashion industry’s most esteemed names and as of late last month, it is also on the brink of enacting one of the strongest laws when it comes to the handling of unsold garments and accessories. On the heels of revealing that it was working to draft legislation to ban...

www.thefashionlaw.com

 

[Todd Shelton]

New French Legislation Prohibits the Destruction of Unsold Goods, Including Clothing - The Fashion Law

France is home to the fashion industry’s most esteemed names and as of late last month, it is also on the brink of enacting one of the strongest laws when it comes to the handling of unsold garments and accessories. On the heels of revealing that it was working to draft legislation to ban...

www.thefashionlaw.com

An interesting question is what would effective regulation look like. Up until 2004 there were quotas on how much a US company could import (when those quotas lifted made in usa clothing was done). There are FTC laws now that put restrictions on sale pricing, but I don't think enforced unless a complaint is filed. Country of Origin labeling could go further. Would love to hear other ideas.