“Miami Fashion Week 2019” showing designs of Claudia Bertolero. Image: wikimedia.

Fashion designers and producers are leading a revolution in the garment industry, currently responsible for 5-10% of greenhouse gas emissions (Briggs 2021) and 20% of global untreated wastewater resulting from dyeing fabrics. Ralph Lauren Corporation announced “Color on Demand” in its adoption of ECOFAST ™, a sustainable  textile method developed by Dow, to be used in 80% of Ralph Lauren wear by 2025. ECOFAST uses 40% less water, 85% fewer chemical, 90% less energy. Leather jackets made from mushrooms, garments produced in safe and just factories, fibers that are sustainable, shoes that biodegrade, and plastic shopping bags transformed into fabrics, are some of the circularity trends transforming fashion.  The Circular Fibres Initiative launched by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation brings together industry leaders to change the life cycle and supply chain of fashion fibres and textiles. Stella McCartney placed sustainability fact sheets on seats of the Palais Garnier for the 2020 spring collection show. Will garments of the future have sustainability ratings, and ingredient tags along with laundering instructions?

Ellen MacArthur Foundation. “New Circular Fibres Initiative brings industry together to build a circular economy for textiles.” 11 Ma7 2017. https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/news/new-circular-fibres-initiative-brings-industry-together-to-build-a-circular-economy-for-textiles

McCartney, Stella. “Circular Fashion/Circular Economy.” StellaMcCartney.com. https://www.stellamccartney.com/experience/en/sustainability/circularity-2/

Newbold, Alice. “Stella McCartney: Sustainability is the future of fashion, not just a trend.” 30 September 2019. Vogue. https://www.vogue.co.uk/tags/stella-mccartney

Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL). “Ralph Lauren Revolutionizes How the Fashion Industry Dyes Cotton.” 22 March 2021. https://corporate.ralphlauren.com/pr_210322_ColorOnDemand.html

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unp