Being a producer or a buyer, there are three simple steps you should take to make a mindful sustainable fashion choice. Rethink your operations and reorganize your perspective on what truly makes a brand environmentally conscious!
Step 1: Be informed
Sustainable fashion for producers goes far beyond choosing organic or eco-friendly fabrics. They must prioritize two important elements to enter the sustainable fashion.
The creation of clothing and textiles using sustainable and environmentally friendly materials like reusable or eco-friendly fabrics such as bamboo, that are less harmful to the environment, is one important step, however, you can also list sustainable elements from water reduction to recycled cotton meaning that consumers can make informed decision as they sort through. As so, the production process is equally important as the fabric selection. A major part of sustainable fashion should be dedicated to how the clothes are made because not only should the materials must be low impact, factories must have sustainable and ethical practices too.
You can review our design for recycling topic here.
From the consumer point of view, we need to be more conscious of what we are buying. A good starting point is knowing the origin of the products and how it reaches its final destination.
For example, choosing an organic or GOTS certified cotton piece is relevant since GOTS certified cottons are monitored from the point of growth and monitor the fair trade of the farmers, the consumption of water used, regulate pesticides used, and, on a whole, monitor the full supply chain.
When making a decision on a purchase, we should find out the story and process behind it, and today it’s much easier because there are so many brands that run with a sustainable focus in mind.
Step 2: Shift your perspective
Designers are becoming more aware of the importance of developing ideas with environmentally friendly materials. Therefore, the image perceived by consumers that lacks in sustainable products any sort of luxury or beauty or detailing or desirability is fading away. With more and more brands seeing the importance of an environmental focus, dressing sustainably no longer means compromising on beauty.
Step 3: Choose Quality over Quantity
This last step is extremely important to brands and consumers and it's all about changing mindsets.
Choosing garments and materials engineered to last longer, like natural fibers (cotton, hemp, linen), futuristic/innovative fabrics and ditching fibers that do not grown naturally and instead come from chemicals and polymers, is more expensive, however, this means more quality.
Producing and buying better quality and more sustainable pieces is likely to cost more money than producing and buying a cheap product that doesn't have higher standards. However, although this costs more, it’s possible to reduce the carbon footprint by owing less pieces with high-quality, rather than more cheaper pieces.
At Plain in Portugal we truly believe that we must think, design, create and produce regarding these three simple steps.
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