{"id":1497,"date":"2021-05-19T08:41:03","date_gmt":"2021-05-18T22:41:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/curious\/?p=1497"},"modified":"2021-05-13T18:06:51","modified_gmt":"2021-05-13T08:06:51","slug":"eco-fashion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/curious\/eco-fashion","title":{"rendered":"The rise of eco-fashion"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was a time when sustainable fashion conjured images of hemp overalls and harem pants. Today, sustainability has become something of a fashion blood sport as brands hanker after eco-bragging rights and fill our inboxes with \u201cgreen\u201d clothing campaigns. But among the tokenistic marketing ploys, a new crop of brands is reshaping the industry with savvy business models and techy solutions, and there isn\u2019t a tie-dye handkerchief hem in sight.<\/p>\n

The sustainable brands of today are less about recycled fabrics and natural fibres (although they have their place) and more about disrupting the models of waste<\/a> that have traditionally dominated the industry. These brands are going beyond the garment and addressing the damage at every level, from supply chains to packaging. The crux? They\u2019re asking us to buy less.<\/p>\n

In Australia, 36,000 kilos of clothes and shoes are dumped into landfill every hour<\/a>. Cheaply made garments with a short shelf life mean the fashion industry now accounts for 10 per cent of global carbon emissions.<\/p>\n

A \u201cgreen\u201d clothing campaign that encourages consumers to buy more isn\u2019t a fix; it\u2019s reinforcing the problem. As long as wants are valued over needs, and the trend cycle continues to churn, the aspirational culture of consumerism will continue to damage the planet, regardless of how consumption is greenwashed.<\/p>\n

The antidote, according to a new wave of durability-focussed brands, is to revive the culture of saving up and investing in fewer, high-quality pieces. \u201cBuying less needs to be a big part of the picture,\u201d says Misha Nonoo<\/a>, a New York-based designer who launched her eponymous ready-to-wear brand in 2011. \u201cIt\u2019s about thinking thoroughly about whether you need something and how it will work with what you already own. Just because something is on sale doesn\u2019t mean you need or even want it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A true champion of the capsule wardrobe, Misha\u2019s brand is all about timeless, chic essentials that flatter in every environment. Each piece is designed to meld to your existing wardrobe and other pieces in the collection.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of our design process is thinking about how a piece will work in tandem with the rest of the collection, how critical it is in terms of a wardrobe\u2019s building blocks, how versatile it is, and how much mileage you can get from it,\u201d says Misha, who hosts regular styling videos on her brand\u2019s Instagram account to inspire customers to re-work their pieces to create new looks. \u201cWhen you look through that lens, it makes such a big difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

The line consists of crisp shirt-dresses and tailored jumpsuits, wide-legged pants, silk camisoles, oversized wool coats, refreshingly simple tees and the brand\u2019s signature Husband Shirt, an oversized, crisp button-up in an easy palette that ranges from corporate blues to weekend neutrals.<\/p>\n

While the pieces are elegantly laid-back, Misha emphasizes the brand\u2019s commitment to a very serious model of sustainability. In 2017, Misha shifted the brand to an on-demand model, a method of manufacturing that, put simply, only produces garments when they are sold. In the era of major online retailers with huge budgets that can withstand excessive discounting, it made sense to work outside the gruelling cycle of excess inventory and sales periods.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first year I went direct to the consumer I bought inventory. We had really good sales through that season at 70 per cent, but we still had 30 per cent of our inventory just sitting there that we would have to discount,\u201d says Misha. \u201cI hated that feeling of trying to get rid of things that I had so painstakingly designed in the first place. It didn\u2019t make sense to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The switch was not without its hurdles. Factories that work via this method are difficult to come by, but persistence in the face of the traditional, lazy model has paid off. Producing on demand means Misha has unlocked the freedom to own every decision about what she creates, how much is produced and what it should cost. She doesn\u2019t have to worry about selling out or not selling enough and excess inventory doesn\u2019t run the risk of being marked down or ending up in landfill. Not only is it good for the planet, it\u2019s good for the brand\u2019s bottom line, and new styles can be trialled in front of customers without the need to commit to production.<\/p>\n

The on-demand model also allows Misha to offer affordable personalisation to her customers. The increasingly popular Husband Shirt is now available in a \u201cbuild-your-own\u201d format where shoppers can customise the fabric and colourway.<\/p>\n

Misha is optimistically pragmatic in her approach to sustainability. She admits there are areas that need improvement, but ultimately it\u2019s about transparency. \u201cWe\u2019re very open about what we do and we\u2019re very open about how we want to be better.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an industry with seemingly infinite scope to fall short of what can truly be deemed sustainable, pragmatism is perhaps the only way to go. Between fibre and textile suppliers, intricate networks of factories, air miles and packaging, it\u2019s almost impossible to be 100 per cent sustainable; labelling garments in such a way only works to relieve consumer guilt, not any true burden on the planet.<\/p>\n

Part of the challenge is that every designer interprets \u201csustainability\u201d in their own way, which means definitions vary greatly. A bikini made entirely from ocean plastic waste cannot be labelled sustainable if it\u2019s created in a Bangladeshi factory with underpaid workers, for example.<\/p>\n

Even in just one facet of the industry, such as fabrications, there\u2019s a whole array of competing incentives. Some designers choose natural fabrics that are biodegrade but still require massive amounts of water to grow, others prefer to recycle the polyester already out there or use deadstock cut-offs, but then there\u2019s the problem of releasing micro-plastics into our water supplies. The point is, values compete. Real sustainability is a lot more complicated than an organic t-shirt.<\/p>\n

Transeasonal and trend-proof<\/h2>\n

For Lara and Matt Fells, founders of the Byron Bay-based label St Agni<\/a>, the solution is less about trying to tick all of the boxes and more about focussing on the elements of sustainability they are most passionate about. \u201cFrom the start we had a strong focus on using natural fabrications, but as we have learnt more about sustainability we can see how much bigger the topic is,\u201d says Lara, who co-founded the fashion brand alongside her husband in 2017. \u201cThere are so many aspects to \u2018sustainability\u2019; for us it was about narrowing down what was important to us and working out how to achieve that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Misha, Lara and Matt believe in premium fabrics intended to last a lifetime as a true antidote to the damaging culture of overflowing, underutilised closets. For them, it comes down to natural materials, timeless designs and re-educating the customer about value. \u201cAs a business we believe in our responsibility to promote slower consumption habits among our customers,\u201d says Lara. \u201cAll of our clothing and footwear is designed to last. You really don\u2019t need many pieces, just a handful of good-quality items that work with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

The line consists almost entirely of natural, biodegradable materials such as linen, silk, cotton, hemp, alpaca, Tencel and organic cotton. When synthetic materials are required, recycled options are sourced.<\/p>\n

As well as easing the impact on the planet, everything that St Agni creates supports the makers by providing safe working conditions and living wages. The brand has pledged to build consciousness around sustainable practices by financially supporting their key suppliers through certification processes, rather than abandoning them for already-certified factories. Lara and Matt have visited most of their factories in person and are passionate about the relationships they form with their manufacturers. \u201cWe have decided to take the approach of education and development, which is why we have dedicated the time and resources to implement the long-term plan of bringing new certified factories into the industry,\u201d says Lara.<\/p>\n

Virtues aside, St Agni walks the line between functional and refined. Easy and comfortable enough to throw on, but chic enough to master that put-together look without much thought. It\u2019s elevated eco-fashion at its best. Every collection is transeasonal and trend-proof, further stretching the wearability of each piece.<\/p>\n

When you buy well, garments should last year after year. And that\u2019s the point, really. As consumers, it\u2019s easy to look to brands to lead the way, but we also have a responsibility to remove ourselves from the endless machine of seasonal drops and sales periods. More than just demanding transparency from brands, it\u2019s up to shoppers to choose high-quality, seasonless offerings, delivered at a slower pace. Consumers are, of course, part of the problem, and we are all guilty of buying more than we need. What the industry needs, above all, is a huge mindset shift, and that can very much start at home.<\/p>\n

6 ways to reduce the environmental footprint of your wardrobe<\/h2>\n