sustainability

Is sustainable fashion elitist? BOF questions

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Misunderstanding sustainability or a manipulated behaviour

In a recent post, Business of Fashion raised the question: is sustainable fashion elitist?

Earlier, a fashion writer, Derek Guy, tweeted his thoughts about menswear, inviting his audience to “buy less, buy better”, considering quality pieces over fast fashion.
Well, we agree! But this post sparked controversy: many said sustainable fashion is elitist because most people cannot afford luxury clothes.

Surely we cannot deny that sustainable materials plus production chains that give proper wages to their workers cannot provide cheap products.

But let’s go through some points:

• cheap clothes and disposable fashion are not sustainable!
They offer an easy-to-connect narrative, but they aren’t sustainable. Not only do they damage the environment, but need an underpaid workforce to thrive.
• luxury doesn’t mean sustainable! Indeed, fast fashion and most “luxury” brands are two faces of the same coin. They both share an overproduction pattern based on people and planet exploitation.
• brands that call themselves sustainable but are distributed everywhere, so mass-produced, aren’t sustainable.

Download “The sustainability basics” here!

Education, not just money

Mindful consumption is one of the building blocks of a modern lifestyle, and it is a matter of education, which not necessarily rich people have! The conversation on sustainability is not about inducing low incomes to stop consumption but helping them develop better habits. On the contrary, high incomes must reduce their purchases drastically because their lifestyle’s impact is much higher.

Sustainability is not just about shopping. It’s a lifestyle choice in respect of nature, and people and workers’ rights. A necessity in the face of climate change!

It is tricky to say what is sustainable and what is not. So, the fashion industry can force brands to stick to specific regulations, making things clear to consumers. But, in the end, each individual must learn and become a conscious consumer. Nothing happens on one side only.

How can we explain this complex situation?

We live in a consumer society where everything revolves around consumption. People overconsume at the expense of other human beings and the planet as if it is the only reason for living. Of course, many cannot afford expensive items. But vintage represents a sustainable and circular option. Also, you can find up-cycled clothes in every price range.

So, is sustainable fashion elitist? And why people prefer to buy fast fashion? A quote by Upton Sinclair gives a perfect insight:

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”

Upton Sinclair

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Community: understanding the true meaning

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Valuable insight from Simon Sinek

Now everything revolves around the concept of community. But can you understand the true meaning of it? Simon Sinek had the perfect response.

“A community is
a group of people
who agree to grow together.”
Simon Sinek

Community & growth

According to Simon Sinek, the purpose of a community is not just about having something in common, sharing a culture, heritage or a specific interest. It’s deeper than that. In fact, there’s an element of growth which comes from a journey you enrol in with a group of people. Specifically, growth is the product of a reciprocal process of shared interactions.

Community: making a change together

Fashion to celebrate the value of research and to tell the story of our times: this is a mission we share with people who want to make a change. And it’s a growth process, indeed. Because through our activity, we do more than just fashion. We use our blog and connections to discuss fashion and lifestyle as key to analysing society and promoting climate change awareness. And sustainability against greenwashing.

We started by ordering small productions of international brands and independent designers. An exclusive selection of timeless fashion and meaningful garments without gender barriers. While we are studying how to implement a practice of circular fashion, we shed light on what we consume and how we throw away, bringing about critical discussions.

What we learned

Our planet is an open-air landfill, and we must stop expecting our litter to disappear magically. Furthermore, we cannot move from capitalism to green capitalism just to keep consuming as we did before. We need something different to fight the climate emergency.

Buy less (far less), buy better is how we lead to thoughtful consumption.

Telling stories about fashion, lifestyle and climate change, inspiring and being inspired, we have a positive impact on each other. As a tiny community, we try to change for the better. And so we grow together, open to possibilities.

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Davos Forum: permacrisis and private jets

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World leaders, the luxury bubble that rules the world

These days, the planetary elite is gathering in Davos. And try to guess how they reach the World Economic Forum? On a private jet, of course!

Davos Forum: what is it?

Davos is a town located in the Switzerland Alps where, in January, the World Economic Forum takes place. Started in 1971, WEF is a Switzerland non-profit that holds a five-day conference annually. The delegates include political leaders and representatives from international companies, pharmaceuticals, tech, banks and academics.

Every year the leaders tackle a different topic. This year’s theme is: “Cooperation in a fragmented world.”
Since Europe is facing a persistent state of hardship, going from crisis to crisis, we entered the era of “permacrisis.” And there seems to be no end to this challenging time. Other than economics, leaders will touch on environmental and social issues too.

Greenpeace & Davos

Greenpeace published an analysis conducted by the Dutch CE Delft checking the CO2 emissions from the private flights to the Davos Forum:

“The analysis shows a substantial increase in private jet flights to and from Davos airports and an even more sizable increase in CO2 emissions during the week of the World Economic Forum 2022, compared to an average week. The number of private jet flights doubles and private jet emissions quadruple during the week of the World Economic Forum compared to an average week.”

About every second flight is attributed to the meeting. But, the distance travelled is striking:
53% of all private jet flights were short-haul flights under 750 km. 38% were ultra short flights (below 500 km) that could have easily been train or car trips. More than 6% of all private jet flights flew less than 100 km. The shortest flight recorded was 21 km.

Read the full report here.

Clearly, these leaders live in a luxury bubble. In order to address economics, the climate emergency and social injustice, they fly on private jets and go to five-star hotels. Nevertheless, they suggest a radical change in technology and sustainability. In short, they indicate solutions while they exacerbate the problems. Absurd. Isn’t it?

Of course, the idea that leaders travel on private jets to address pollution, causing more CO2, could make us laugh. Unfortunately, the climate emergency is here to stay, and there’s nothing to laugh about.

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Corporate change & sustainability: this is greenwashing!

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The era of branded change: how corporations deceive people

We are facing a new wind called corporate change: an intersection of sustainability and change. Specifically, corporations do it by advertising, sponsoring, hosting panels, summits, and so on. Which, in other words, sounds like branded change. 
Either sustainability needed marketing to reach a wider audience. Or, we can clearly say this is greenwashing! Smoke in the eye to make money.

The conversations on sustainability encounter the favour of corporations. Indeed, the more the discussions multiply, the more they need to get involved. Fingers in the pie! But since our planet has reached the point of no return, the narrative turns out as dangerous. And even if facades are beautiful, questions should arise.

Every day a new greenwashing candy!

Eco-conscious movements sponsored by big conglomerates.
Corporations like Coca Cola sponsoring COP27. 
Fashion Group Inditex (Zara) partnering with WWF. 

It sounds weird. Don’t you think so?

And what about the fresh new one: UAE names oil chief to lead COP28 talks! Yes, an oil boss will lead the climate summit! 

Does it make any sense? Can we trust them? 

They make millions exploiting the planet, but they promote a conference to address climate change. It seems like one single institution sells the poison and the cure. All at the same time! 
There’s a name to call these practices, a definition understood internationally: conflict of interest. Perhaps corporations or top managers aren’t familiar with it!

How can we trust those who created the environmental destruction we ended up in? And still, they make money out of it! In order to prioritise profit and growth, corporations have taken deliberate decisions ignoring the side effects on the planet and on the people. 

Now they can even lead summits on the climate emergency, but they aren’t the ones who will ever bring effective solutions. 

Corporate change? This is greenwashing!

However, you might think what counts is spreading the conversation on sustainability, no matter who puts the money in to support it. Well, no! Those who say that have other purposes than change.  

We quote cobsinsights.com – “Can we trust corporate sustainability reporting?”:

“corporate or business sustainability is simply NOT planetary sustainability.”

And so, firms can invent stories to make the narrative engaging, but that doesn’t mean those stories are real. There’s a gap between talks and practice. All these people can do is keep an outdated system going.

Eventually, we can easily explain, in a few words, this new wind of corporate change & sustainability: this is greenwashing!

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Limited number of pieces: our fashion alternative

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Why limited quantities pave the way to sustainable fashion

The production of a limited number of pieces represents an alternative in the fashion industry. Indeed, it is a viable approach towards sustainable fashion.

It means producing much less without forcing the market to pursue never-ending growth. The purpose is to limit the impact of the fashion industry on the planet while protecting workers with decent wages. But, at the same time, offering quality and not quantity to consumers.
We are far from the scarcity principle and the fear of missing out, developed to manipulate people’s behaviour. Those patterns fake scarcity to hide a system of overproduction. Because of this massified production, the fashion system needs parallel markets, frequent markdowns and marketing tricks to push people to consume more and more.

The sustainable solution

Garments and accessories made by skilled tailors or crafted by artisans. In the hands of a healthier and more balanced manufacturing chain, those limited production would have a lower impact on the planet. This system includes small reorders and a made-to-order service for retailers. In the end, clients would get real quality pieces made to last rather than disposable fashion.

Unique fashion and sustainability: a limited number of pieces, our retail approach

We have reduced the quantities we buy from each brand we select. Perhaps they are not happy with it, but they cannot deny there’s a new reality, so we must face it and find solutions. Even though some brands come from Japan, which you may consider less sustainable, since quantities are small, the impact is low. Microscopic compared to the fashion supermarkets like big retailers or dept. stores.

Indeed, a limited number of pieces is our commitment to uniqueness and sustainability. Specifically, we are satisfied with Marc Le Bihan, who gave the opportunity of a made-to-order service to those who appreciate his unique designs.

Eventually, we can foster the status quo, pursuing an exploitative system. Or, we can explore alternatives.
We chose to work for a different possibility, an evolution, a change for the better. And a limited number of pieces is our commitment to unique fashion and sustainability.

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