China’s Sustainable Fashion Paradox | Global Currents | BoF SHANGHAI, China — There are few places that arouse a more visceral reaction to the environment than China’s biggest cities. A mere glance out the window of a shiny new skyscraper in downtown Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou or Shenzhen is enough to understand the reality of unchecked environmental degradation. For many of China’s urbanites, daily conversation with friends and colleagues often revolves around something called PM 2.5 levels, which is a fine particulate matter small enough to penetrate deep into a person’s lungs, with a “good” day showing a reading under 150 and a “bad” day reaching over 250. Here, people speak of air pollution the way people in other countries talk about the weather. A decade of poisoned food and water scandals and unbounded mass manufacturing to fuel economic growth has culminated in Beijing’s now seasonal “airpocalypse”, a term coined in 2012. China certainly has a long way to go before it can legitimately claim the environmentally friendly upper hand.
Sustainability Is Not Just About CSR And Protecting The Environment Miniya Chatterji Sustain Labs Paris - BW Businessworld Sustainability Is Not Just About CSR And Protecting The Environment: Miniya Chatterji, Sustain Labs Paris After three years as Chief Sustainability Officer of the $3.4 billion Jindal Steel & Power Ltd., Miniya Chatterji is quitting the company to move to an entrepreneurial route. At the age of 34 in 2014, when she returned to India after studying and working abroad at organizations such as Goldman Sachs and the World Economic Forum for 14 years, to join Jindal Steel & Power, she was one of the youngest top business women in India. Miniya is now launching Sustain Labs Paris, a ‘sustainability incubator’ - which will be the world’s first of its kind. In an exclusive interview with BW Businessworld, Miniya speaks about the sustainability incubator, her initiatives in the realm of education and her views on women in the workplace. Edited excerpts: What is the need for a sustainability incubator? A sustainability incubator will establish sustainability within organisations.
Emma Watson's Guide to Ethical Fashion Ethical fashion is an important issue to Emma; she signed up to the Green Carpet Challenge in 2015, agreeing that every single piece she wears on the red carpet would be sustainable. Her Calvin Klein Met Gala 2016 gown, for example, was made out of recycled plastic bottles and her Emilia Wickstead Beauty and the Beast gown is made from end-of-line fabric, and that's far chicer than it sounds. She isn't just showing how fashion houses can use innovative technology to create magnificent, sustainable red carpet and day-to-day pieces, however. She also sees it as her fashion mission to highlight emerging cutting-edge brands that are produced responsibly, and her stylist, Rebecca Corbin Murray, is constantly scouting for new labels by crowdsourcing on Instagram. Last year, Emma even collaborated with ethical label Zady on a capsule collection, once again proving you can dress stylishly while still sticking to your principles.
A Brief History of Sustainable Fashion Type the words ‘future’ and ‘fashion’ into any search engine, and you’ll get a stream of results on 3-D printing, wearable technology and e-commerce websites – sustainability is but a mere mention. Yet, the S-word has undeniably made its way into the modern apparel-making process and increasingly influences what lands on runways and store racks. The fashion industry’s growing focus on sustainable practices has even prompted business publications such as Forbes to hail “Green is the New Black.” Through innovative business practices, the fashion industry has come a long way in improving environmental and social conditions along complex global supply chains. From industrialization to Earth Day When the first department stores appeared in the United States in the late 19th century, amid the rise of the Industrial Revolution, sewing machines were relatively new and child labor was still legal. The postwar mentality of growth without limits was not met without dissent. Opening the flood gates
How ethical fashion brands are marketing to conscious consumers Eco-friendly fashion often comes with bit of a stigma. But while it was once thought of as uncool or only a concern for hippies, the tables appear to be turning. According to a recent Unilever study, sustainability issues are increasingly affecting shopping decisions, with 21% of people saying they would support brands that clearly convey sustainability aspects through their marketing and packaging. This extends beyond food and every day consumer goods into clothing, too, with a multitude of fashion brands subsequently taking environmental and ethical factors into consideration during the production process. That being said, research suggests that it’s not always easy to market eco-friendly fashion. A Verdict study found that 20.2% of consumers say they would refuse to pay more for sustainable clothing, while 17.5% of consumers cite a lack of choice and 18.8% cite difficulty in finding it as reasons against. Helpsy Zady ASOS Made in Kenya Industry Of All Nations Related article:
Why Transparency matters We believe transparency is the first step to transform the industry. And it starts with one simple question:Who made my clothes? This is our focus for the next five years. We believe this simple question gets people thinking differently about what they wear. We need to know that as consumers, our questions, our voices, our shopping habits can have the power to help change things for the better. With more consumers encouraging brands to answer ‘who made my clothes?’ Downloads Although our resources are free to download, we kindly ask for a £3 donation towards booklet downloads. It’s time for a Fashion Revolution Fashion Revolution White Paper on transparency in the fashion supply chain. Fashion Transparency Index 2017 Ranking the levels of transparency of 100 of the biggest global fashion companiesDownload. The situation now:We don’t know enough about the impact our clothing has on people and planet We assessed brands across five key areas: Why we need transparency Transparency is a process
Can an Awards Show Solve Fashion's Sustainability Challenge? | Intelligence | BoF MILAN, Italy — Second only to oil, fashion is one of the world’s most polluting industries. Practically every stage in the life cycle of clothing has negative implications for our planet. And if the world’s population rises to 8.5 billion people by 2030, as expected by the United Nations, overall apparel consumption will rise by 63 percent, from 62 million tonnes today to 102 million tonnes in 2030, significantly amplifying the scale of the problem, according to a recent report by the Boston Consulting Group and Global Fashion Agenda, a forum on fashion and sustainability. “We are aware that there are already many fashion awards, some of them even nod to sustainability. But what was missing at this level — by which we mean the global fashion stage — was something that celebrated provenance, sustainable innovation and the work that is being done in the supply chain to preserve sustainable production and innovate towards a lesser footprint,” explains Firth. Some are sceptical.
Vegan Leather or Animal Leather: Which is More Eco-Friendly? Vegan leather wins hands down when it comes to animal welfare, but its environmental impact has been questioned. With the animal cruelty issue aside, as a vegan brand we are continually asked the same question: vegan leather is great, but which is worse for the planet – real or faux leather? There is a huge amount of contradictory discussion on whether vegan leather is or isn’t more eco-friendly than animal leather, so it’s tricky to figure out which is the worst offender. Vegan Leather Vegan leather is typically made bonding a plastic coating with a fabric backing. PVC is infamous for its environmental unfriendliness. Luckily, the garish days of knee high PVC platform boots in the 60s and 70s are in the past. Polyurethane Today’s vegan leather is made using polyurethane (PU), and it is so much better than PVC. However, regular PU is not completely squeaky clean. The first innovation is using vegetable-based plastic, which totally reduces the hazards of making regular PU. Animal Leather