Hello, my name is Harriet and I am completing an internship with Bridge & Stitch. I am currently at University studying textiles.
It wasn’t until I started studying Textile Design that I thought about where my clothes came from and who made them, especially when you can get a whole new outfit for £20. The importance of sustainability caught my attention straight away when I was shocked to find out that the fashion and textiles industry is the most polluting industry to our planet. In the past few years the word ‘sustainability’ has come to our attention, and so it should! We have come become so used to fast fashion being a large part of our lives. Which I must admit, it’s hard not to when you can get a new top for £3, but the term too good to be true comes to mind…
“Today humanity uses the equivalent of 1.7 Earths to provide the resources we use and absorb our waste. This means it now takes the Earth one year and six months to regenerate what we use in a year.” – Global footprint network
At the rate it becomes unsure what the future holds for our planet and what can be done to help it.
One company that are spreading the awareness are Fashion Revolution, which you most probably will have heard of with there campaign, ‘Who made my clothes?’. Which is to promote the question who did actually make your clothes? and what impact has your clothing had on the earth? The industry is slowly making progression towards a more sustainable future with more ethical textile companies and conscious clothing collections, but it’s not enough. Whether you’re a designer, maker or consumer, there is something to be done and it effects us all. Due to social media become a big part of our lives it’s so hard not to to be influenced into constantly buying new clothing instead of clothes with a long lasting life.
So what’s the solution? That’s what we’re trying to work out! Every aspect of a clothing lifecycle has an impact on the earth, from growing the fibres, creating garments, washing and disposing of the garment. This is an issue that won’t be solved in a day (unfortunately). The main thing to start with is making people aware. Without knowing about the effects this has on the planet, how are we meant to do anything about it? This only works if people mindset changes toward the fashion industry. Events such as clothing swap shops are a perfect way to update your wardrobe or even reworking old clothing.
It’s a huge issue to try and solve, which will take a huge amount of people to solve. So why not try and have a think, how sustainable is your wardrobe? and what impact has your clothing had on the earth?
