Khandual et al. 2019 Moorhouse et al. 2017 Thomas 2020 Hur et al. 2019 Lawless et al.

2016

Perceptions towards
fashion sustainability
In recent discussions, “sustainable fashion” has become one of the most
frequently used terms in the fashion industry today. It is not only about coming
up with regulatory policies and turning into socially responsible brands with
eco-friendly products but also about meeting the demands of conscious
consumers to adapt to sustainable fashion (Pradhan & Khandual, 2019). A
rising conversation has been going on whether people working in the fashion
industry have the same perceptions and attitudes towards sustainable fashion.
The articles used in this research generally agreed that whatever their
differences are, people working in the fashion industry have a basic
understanding of fashion sustainability and recognize it as a fraught issue
(Thomas, 2020). However, it has been noticed that business managers and
fashion designers differ significantly in how they conceptualize and practice
sustainability. While conducting interviews with participants in the fashion
industry and selecting fifty fashion designers as research subjects for a survey,
participants were accordingly asked to define their current understanding
sustainability in fashion and textile design (Cassidy & Hur, 2019). 20% of the
participants commented that they were “not sure of the definition of sustainable
fashion”, while 36% of them gave short descriptions such as ‘No more waste and
everlasting material’, ‘Environmentally conscious design’, ‘eco-friendly
products’ and ‘extend life’. The remaining 44% of participants gave rich
interpretations and descriptions of sustainable fashion and their own practices
and goals towards it.
Business managers seem to describe fashion as an industry and view their skills
sets as transferable across the different business sectors in the industry. Their
personal understanding and commitment to environmentalism intersects with
their training and expertise in management in ways that made it seem
appropriate and logical, to define sustainability efforts using economistic terms
of the scarcity of natural resources in the environment and a need for more
effective and efficient systems of measurement, decision-making, and reporting
intended toward gradual reductions in resource usage and waste (Thomas
2020). In addition to that, the research conducted by Cassidy & Hur seems to
highlight that business managers particularly focus on the holistic view of
fashion sustainability and consider overall product lifecycles and how design
can have wide effects and consequences on the environment and society.
(Cassidy & Hur, 2019). However, just like Thomas stated, they emphasized on
the lack of appropriate tools and resources to support designers gain a better
understanding of sustainability and improve their design strategies and
practices. (Cassidy & Hur, 2019).
While we notice that business managers acknowledge the tension imposed on
them to transform the fashion industry and improve its practices, they are not
likely to change everyday work routines and workplace demands to build out
solutions based on more radical and longer-term resolutions (Thomas, 2020).
On the other hand, designers tend to focus on the environmental sphere of
fashion sustainability, and they suggest practical actions such as reducing the
environmental footprint of fashion (Cassidy & Hur, 2019). What differentiates
them from business participants is their connection with consumers. They
describe investing personal interests and involvements in the process of making
their work, and they define sustainability in terms of hands-on engagement with
materials, textiles, and production techniques (Thomas, 2020). Often times
than not, designers also considered the existing, lasting, and personal
relationship between their clothes and consumers to be part of what makes
fashion sustainable. (Thomas 2020)
Amidst the tensions and schisms evident in these views of business managers
and designers, there exists also notable points of convergence. Both group
members highlight a perceived need for producers and consumers to become
more knowledgeable and aware of how clothing is made, produced, and
distributed. (Cassidy & Hur, 2019). Each group approaches this need from a
different perspective. However, they both offer different ideas and methods on
how best to address it.
After the analysis of the sustainable design practices of eight designers
conducted by Lawless & Medvedev, the authors discovered that, in spite of
current unethical industry practices, the designers’ sustainability efforts,
achieved through innovation and personal experimentation mostly, indicated a
positive shift towards systemic gradual change in the fashion industry (Lawless
& Medvedev, 2016). For instance, Kriti Tula, the designer of emerging label
Doodlage in Delhi, is known as ‘The Upcycler’ (Vogue India, May 2018). She
uses scraps of fabrics, organic cotton, industrial waste and sustainable materials
for her designs (Khandual & Pradhan, 2019). Moreover, in May 2016, Levi
Strauss and Evrnu designers’ team invented the first pair of jeans made of post-
consumer cotton waste following a process that turns consumer waste into
renewable fibres using 98% less water than virgin cotton clothes (Moorhouse &
Moorhouse, 2017)
However, the authors stated that the experience of designers revealed that
following sustainable fashion practices by itself is not enough, and they
emphasized on the importance of integrating sustainability principles and
practices into design education in order to achieve more environmentalism in the
fashion industry (Lawless & Medvedev, 2016).
Debbie Moorhouse confirms that education is a very important factor in
creating a purely sustainable fashion industry through teaching young designers
how to design with consideration to the production process and waste lifecycle
in the environment. Since the importance of sustainability in fashion and
textiles is fairly a new issue in the industry, the author undertook a practice led
research project to incorporate sustainable design thinking in education by
organizing and teaching a module on wero-waste fashion design to university
students. To her surprise, students were often already aware of the social
responsibility imposed on designers and pattern makers as individuals,
however, the zero-waste design module gave them a more holistic approach to
creating garments and designing (Moorhouse & Moorhouse, 2017).
On the other hand, while Lawless & Medvedev agree that fundamental changes
and improvements in design education are necessary, they indicate that it is also
just as equally important to recognize that designers represent only one element
of a big wired system that includes manufacturers, distributors, business
managers, retailers, and consumers. According to them, a truly sustainable
fashion industry is only achieved through the combination of efforts of all
participants, not just designers. (Lawless & Medvedev, 2016).
Based on the previous claim, it is important for businesses to demonstrate a
certain social responsibility through a collaborative productive approach with
fashion designers and textile innovation to successfully design sustainable
products using minimal waste (Moorhouse & Moorhouse, 2017). However, the
main drawback is the cost factor as the use of sustainable fashion materials and
products in some cases costs more than using conventional materials. Thus, the
manufacturers express their concern that the increase in costs will make the
clothes unaffordable and beyond the reach of ordinary people coming from a
middle-class economic background (Khandual & Pradhan, 2019). Others also
argue that selecting sustainable materials and developing eco-friendly processes
are time-consuming and take a lot of effort and money to adapt them and
appoint trained people who would be able to implement the right practices and
work on them (Cassidy & Hur, 2019).
With all taken into consideration, many researchers still believe there are vast
opportunities for improvement and innovation, with many brands and design
labels achieving world first thank to sustainable fashion. The positive impact
adds a long-lasting equity and value to the brand’s identity and increases
consumer confidence at a time where more and more people are buying from
brands that tackle global issues and make a difference waste (Moorhouse &
Moorhouse, 2017).