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The Paradox of Sustainability: Green Overproduction

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Is sustainable overproduction a valuable strategy?

Do you know the paradox of sustainability? The paradox is this: making far more garments labelled as green products. In other words, it means perpetrating the same old overproduction pattern and marketing it as sustainable.

If that’s how you make money, why should you change? Okay, but the planet is dying, and we are facing a climate emergency the fashion industry should care about. Well, the attention towards this topic is just a facade.

In fact, according to Edited, “In the past four years, the number of clothes described as ‘sustainable’ has quadrupled.”

Green overproduction: the paradox sustainability

Yes, we know we write about this topic a lot. But when the data we ran across confirms our impressions and perplexities, it is appropriate to address it over and over.
Is sustainable overproduction a valuable strategy? Specifically, is that how we plan to save the planet? Making four times the stuff we made before is our strategy?

If this is true, we are far from reducing our impact on the planet. Clearly, that is not sustainability. And it doesn’t take a genius to understand it. So, let’s call it by its name: this is marketing! This is greenwashing!

Sustainable fashion, like eco furniture, food, tourism or whatever, has become a profitable business. And more than an effective change of direction, it represented a change of marketing. Just call it green, and you’re going to sell it. Whatever object or service you are trying to launch on the market.

The solution the fashion industry ignores

Let’s be clear: sustainable fashion, rather than making new garments and new stuff in huge green quantities, is a matter of educating people towards conscious consumption. Indeed, the solution is producing far fewer garments. At the same time, we must reuse, resell, recycle and upcycle existing clothing.

But, instead of educating people, for the fashion industry, it is easier to make money by flooding the market with sustainable products. Which, in the end, aren’t sustainable at all.

And so, this is the paradox of sustainability: making four times more garments and naming them sustainable. Unfortunately for us and for the planet, it is not a joke!

Free download our sustainability checklist here!

Fashion Out Of the Beaten Paths: Marc Le Bihan

2 October, 2023 / Leave a Comment

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Emotions & beauty in a distinct venue for Marc Le Bihan & Jean Francois Mimilla

Come and discover fashion out of the beaten paths, where you’ll find exceptional artisanal work made with care and love for uniqueness.

Walking through showrooms for our Spring-Summer 24 research, it’s been amazing to witness the work of some designers who express their unique vision of fashion. Those who follow their own path, meaning they don’t feel involved in the latest trends just to sell more. Those who offer good design, beautiful fabrics, and timeless quality. Away from the commercial logic of overproduction and mass distribution. Precisely, they do the opposite. Few words and hard work. So they provide real value.

A path of recognizable value

For instance, entering Marc Le Bihan‘s space was like opening the Narnia door: you open it and get in a world apart. Set up in a post-industrial structure, a large room with big windows from which a late summer September sun brightened the garments. After a look around, a shiny black piano in a corner gave us a clue we didn’t get immediately, just because we did not expect it. Indeed, while peaking through the clothing along the perimeter of the four-room sides, we noticed a wood bar behind them. So we connected the dots: it was a dance school!

Marc Le Bihan’s “Danseuse Line” has found the perfect frame. But so it was for the gorgeous pristine white lace or linens, the silk slip dresses in different shapes. And the tye-dye knitwear. Likewise, Jean-Francois Mimilla’s materic jewels, whose precious crocheted hand work makes them unique.

Uniqueness out of the beaten paths

And so, the atmosphere was unique, warm, quiet and poetic. Marc le Bihan‘s clothes, like Jean Francois Mimilla jewels, delivered a tactile experience made of dreamy creativity, out of the ordinary, and, because of its uniqueness, even more beautiful.

Independent designers and artisanal fashion provide the opportunity to own unique, high-quality pieces that are not mass-produced or widely available. That is the essence of luxury style.

However, the whole set-up affirmed that there’s still something meaningful in fashion. It doesn’t have to mingle with the mainstream. Indeed, it’s not for all, yet you can find exceptional fashion out of the beaten paths.

Another note of appreciation: the space was fully accessible. Don’t take it for granted in the fashion field.

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