San Francisco, USA - Sustainability as a term, but also as a lifestyle, has invaded and become a substantial part of our daily life. It has acquired a broader meaning, which is not only about the quality and the way we consume, move, and leave our footprint on the planet, but also about another essential part of our everyday life: clothing. When talking about sustainability in fashion, we do not mean so much the forms and trends that exist at the time, but whether the clothes, shoes, and accessories we wear affect the environment. Materials, techniques, and even the way clothes are made and distributed to consumers are very significant parts that reveal whether a fashion product or procedure is ethically produced. Keeping all that in mind, we must admit that sustainability is a rather complicated issue that, in order to fully understand it, we have to spend a lot of time and energy where again new questions might arise. In mid-January 2019, the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) released the CFDA Sustainability Initiatives resource hub. This sustainability-centered resource hub is an open- access resource that offers information focused on sustainable fashion design and business strategies. Designers, students, educators, professionals and anyone interested in sustainability and how it interacts with the fashion industry can get beneficial information and use it to their advantage. The CFDAGuide to Sustainable Strategies, authored by Domenica Leibowitz, is a handy guide which covers every complex idea of sustainability in a very digestible way. An overview of what defines sustainability, how to source ethically, and even customer care and repair are some of the main topics. Of course, this guide will continue to grow since the fashion industry and the sustainable fashion movement evolve. As an appendix of the Guide, a SustainableStrategies Toolkit combines all the practical information to help brands broaden awareness and develop a framework for their future strategies. Also, a Sustainability Resource Directory and a Materials Index provide all the information needed.
Asking Sara Kozlowski, Director of Education and Professional Development of CFDA, whether tragic events, such as the 2012 Rana Plaza factory collapse, provoke such initiatives in the fashion industry, she states that, “History unfortunately shows us that catastrophic events are oftena catalyst for a needed change. In the case of Rana Plaza, we witnessed more than a tipping point but a massive uprising in mindfulness. The impact of the suffering and loss is calculable and indelible – igniting urgency for change.”
“Ethical, safe, transparent, efficient value chains that are also empowering and creatively dynamic- are imperative today.” Sara Kozlowski, Director of Education and Professional Development of CFDA
According to Kozlowski, for more than a decade we can see that there is a global collaboration in order to rouse change and it seems that it bears fruit. The Copenhagen Fashion Summit this May will celebrate its ten years, and the Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s Higg Index, after its first release back in 2012, is still the leading assessment tool for the fashion industry globally. “With optimism – the road ahead will lead us to better futures - and we’ll get there through active collaboration and innovation. Ethical, safe, transparent, efficient value chains that are also empowering and creatively dynamic- are imperative today. Also imperative is a shared priority – by education, industry, and policy makers to work beyond climate neutral practices, to invent new materials, processes, and behaviors which are climate positive,” says Kozlowski.
Today’s news should not be just about glamour and how fabulous and fashionable you might look in your new chunky pair of Balenciaga trainers. Fashion should inspire and bring excitement to people, not just turn them into a naive mob who just follow trends and influencers without putting their judgment first. The good news is that organizations such as the CFDA launch initiatives like the CFDA Sustainability Resources and prove that fashion is invented by people who are passionate and excited in forging a fashion future that would create ethical, sustainable and intelligent consumers and designers. σ