The most urgent issue facing our planet is undoubtedly climate change. Frequent weather storms, melting glaciers, extreme changes in temperatures, and rising sea levels are truly worrisome for the future of us and our environment. These shifts have been caused by different factors. The devastating effects of plastic on ocean life are a major environmental issue that has led many companies to reconsider their vision and practices. Whereas plastic is unfortunately becoming a fashion trend this year, one of the major fashion brands, GANT decided to partner with Seaqual in order to start making shirts out of plastic collected from the sea. Considering the worrying environmental crisis we are living in, an important question must be raised therefore: is eco friendly clothing the future of fashion?
In an interview with Teen Vogue, Sofia Shannon, creative director of AMUR, mentioned that making only one cotton T-shirt requires the use of 2,700 litres of water, which equals the same amount of water a person drinks in 900 days. Moreover, Shannon pointed out that 60% of all garments use polyester, which contributes to three times higher CO2 emissions than any other materials such as hemp or linen. However, luxury brands such as Italian Loro Piana and French Samatoa have started using lotus flower fibre, which is first extracted from plants near the lakes of Myanmar, then woven within 24 hours. This process creates a material that’s highly similar to raw silk. This clearly shows that there is a great range when it comes to making eco-friendly fabrics.
There has to be special care in using packaging materials that do not harm the environment as well. This has inspired many companies to begin using biodegradable packaging materials in the making of various fashion products. Head of Tipa Corporation, Daphna Nissenbaum, uses a material that looks like plastic, that when composted, breaks down in 180 days or less. One of the leading womenswear fashion designer, Stella McCartney, has embraced this strategy by using Tipa products for her upcoming collections. This suggests that we may be witnessing gradual changes in how the fashion industry approaches the environment. After all, it is about time to start treating nature as a space of intrinsic rather than simply instrumental value, and make fashion a sustainable practice.
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