Behind the glittering advertising and catwalks at fashion shows, both encouraging buy-and-throwaway-consumerism, there is a price to be paid. The price is obviously paid by the customer who week after week, month after month, finds the need to buy new items to fit - and to fit in. But the environment too pays a price.
Every production of materials causes pollution. And every discard of products creates waste. But the so-called ‘fast fashion’, fashion that is cost-oriented (but not necessarily cheap!), quickly discarded and that spirals into ever shorter and faster production and sales cycles, is based on a business model that puts an ecological debt on the environment as well as for the generations to come.
We need to come up with new and more sustainable ways of creating garments and wearable goods. Because, as Jacqueline Jackson from Trucost, has said: “Businesses that will stand the test of time will be those who understand the importance of a strategy which takes into account natural capital at its true cost”.
That’s why the fashion industry must develop and use cleaner materials. And more importantly, do our best to slow down the fashion cycle by designing for timelessness for style and product quality for longevity.
