When it comes to fashion, if it looks good, it should be worn. If it is for our skin, it must be safe, and when it is worn out it must not go to waste. Sounds like common sense, right?
But not so today. A truckload of clothing is burned or dumped in landfills every second. Mountains of clothing are trapped in warehouses and in the back of our closets. And less than 1% of used clothing is turned back into new clothing.
Globally, it is costing us billions of dollars every year. This should not be the price of looking and feeling good. The demands and expectations of people are changing. It's time for the fashion industry to change too.
To thrive in the future, we need a fashion industry made up of three elements:
- Business models that keep clothes in use longer, such as swapping, renting, repairing, and reselling.
- Materials that are safe and renewable, so that our clothes do not release microfibers that pollute our oceans; and
- Local ecosystems that are not destroyed when manufacturing them.
Sounds like a sustainable fashion principle, right?
Solutions, so that used clothes become new, designing and manufacturing clothes so that the materials can be used over and over again. It's a new ambition for a fashion industry where clothes never go to waste.
There are so much brands can do right now, but no organization can change the system alone. Make circular fashion brings together people from across the industry to develop new solutions, scale the ones that work, and build a fashion industry that's beautiful inside and out.
In this article, we will discus more about the first two elements fashion industry should have to create a more sustainable and circular fashion system.
Business Models Supporting Extended Use of Fashion Items
Business models that focus on keeping clothes in use longer are a crucial part of the movement towards sustainable fashion and circular economy practices.
These models aim to extend the lifespan of clothing items, reduce the demand for new production, and minimize the negative environmental and social impacts associated with the fashion industry.
Here are four key business models that contribute to this goal:
1. Swapping
Clothes swapping allows you to refresh your style without contributing to the negative impacts of fast fashion. It gives new life to pre-loved pieces and discover unique finds that align with your fashion sensibilities.
In 2012, there was a rising sustainable fashion trend called 'swishing'. It was a clothes swap event organized by several swap shops in London dedicated to fighting fast fashion, encouraging sustainable consumption and – most importantly – bringing a sense of community to secondhand clothes shopping.
Part of a wider global influx of 'swishing' initiatives, it offers a more personal take on sustainability.
In this event, for example, you should lend 5 items of clothing in exchange for the opportunity to borrow 5 items from other people who are willing to share with you. So, make sure that your items are in a good standard and clean.
The main takeaway is ultimately that we should be diverting clothes away from landfill – so anything leftover should goes to charity shops.
This swishing trend were then rise in Indonesia in early 2019. In order to contributing to sustainable fashion in Indonesia, Goethe-Institut Indonesien has taken the lead in orchestrating clothes swapping events for individuals who are eager to participate.
This cloth swap party was first held in Jakarta. The idea behind these events is to offer a platform for fashion enthusiasts who are willing to exchange their gently used clothing items, thereby breathing new life into their wardrobes without contributing to the environmental strain of fast fashion.
While this concept has been introduced in Indonesia multiple times, its popularity has been somewhat limited. However, Indonesian fashion brands should take note of its potential. Given Indonesia's substantial population, the popularity of such events could have a significant impact on the fashion industry's growth and sustainability.
2. Rental fashion
Rental fashion is a service that allows people to rent clothing and accessories for a set period of time. This can be useful for special occasions or everyday wear. To use the service, customers typically create an account and browse the available items. They can then select the items they want to rent and have them delivered to their doorstep.
Rental fashion is a unique and increasingly popular way to keep your wardrobe fresh without breaking the bank. Most rental companies allow you to rent designer clothing and accessories for a fraction of the retail price.
Not only is rental fashion more affordable, but it also allows you to wear the latest styles without having to commit to purchasing them. And when you’re done with an item, simply return it to the rental company – there’s no need to worry about storage or selling it secondhand. For fashion lovers who want to stay on trend without spending a fortune, rental fashion is the perfect solution.
Although clothing is essential, the way it is produced and consumed takes a heavy toll on the environment. One way to reduce the environmental impact of your clothing choices is to rent rather than buy.
When clothing is rented, the lifespan of each garment is extended, thereby curbing the demand for new apparel production and diminishing resource consumption. Furthermore, rented clothing often boasts superior quality compared to typical retail selections, ensuring prolonged usability.
In Indonesia, one of the most popular rental fashion companies are Style Theory and Rentique. They offer fashion items from thousand of fashion designers, giving you an ultimate fashion experience without breaking the bank.
3. Fashion repair
One of the core principles of the fashion repair business model is to extend the lifespan of garments and accessories. Instead of discarding items that are damaged or worn, customers can have them repaired, thereby reducing the need for constant replacements. This approach directly counters the fast fashion culture, where items are frequently disposed of after minimal use.
By repairing fashion items, fewer garments end up in landfills or incinerators. This reduces the strain on natural resources required for new clothing production and minimizes the associated pollution and energy consumption.
The repair business model also nurtures skill development within communities. Tailors, cobblers, and other artisans play a crucial role in revitalizing damaged items. As demand for repair services grows, so does the demand for skilled professionals, providing economic opportunities and fostering traditional craftsmanship.
This repair model also incentivizes brands to create products that are repair-friendly. Designing garments with easily replaceable parts, durable stitching, and quality materials ensures that items are conducive to repair, extending their lifespan further. This shift in design philosophy aligns with the principles of sustainable fashion.
Repaired items often carry sentimental value, reminding customers of memories or experiences associated with them. This emotional connection promotes a stronger bond between consumers and their possessions, diminishing the desire for constant novelty. As a result, the disposable mentality ingrained in fast fashion is challenged, leading to more thoughtful purchasing decisions.
4. Fashion Reselling
As of October 2020, a comprehensive report undertaken by Vestiaire Collective in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group unveiled a thriving resale market valued at an estimated $30-40 billion. This study further illuminated a transformative shift in consumer behavior towards conscious consumption.
Remarkably, 70% of the participants expressed a compelling inclination to opt for resale purchases driven by sustainability considerations. This marked a significant progression from 2018, where 62% of shoppers held similar sentiments.
The resale economy offers the second-best sustainable option by extending the lifecycle of each garment, keeping it out of landfills, and replacing the need to produce new items.
Both trashing or constantly creating new clothes feed into a linear supply chain that supports using excess water and fabric to can promote unethical labor practices, especially when purchasing from fast-fashion retailers.
Based on Green Story Inc.'s Environmental Study, the research firm conducted calculations revealing that if every shopper were to replace just one new purchase with a pre-loved item, it would lead to the elimination of a staggering 449 million pounds of waste from landfills this year alone.
To put this into perspective, it's equivalent to the capacity of approximately 18,700 garbage trucks.
Furthermore, adopting these secondhand alternatives could conserve an impressive 25 billion tons of water, equating to over one billion showers, and curtail 5.7 pounds of carbon emissions—enough to facilitate the planting of 66 million trees.
This study also unearthed a notable trend: shoppers place equal importance on both sartorial variety and sustainability.
Surprisingly, a significant 70% of the research participants admitted to purchasing outfits that they wore only once throughout the entire year of 2019. Concurrently, half of the surveyed individuals asserted that they prefer not to be seen wearing the same outfit twice. Interestingly, with each instance of reuse, the carbon footprint of a dress decreases by an impressive 79%.
In light of this, the act of swapping these one-time purchases for secondhand alternatives could have not only offered these customers a fresh look but also significantly reduced the colossal 209 million pounds of waste currently languishing in landfills.
Safe and Renewable Materials
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| (Source: aprayon.com) |
Materials that are safe and renewable play a pivotal role in sustainable fashion. By embracing such materials, the industry can foster positive environmental, economic, and social outcomes. Here are 4 reasons why safe and renewable material contribute to the industry's thriving sustainability:
1. Reduced Environmental Impact
Safe and renewable materials are often sourced from sustainable resources, such as organic crops or responsibly managed forests. By using these materials, the fashion industry can reduce its reliance on non-renewable resources and minimize negative impacts on ecosystems, land, and water resources.
Asia Pacific Rayon is one of the biggest viscose rayon manufacturer operating in Pangkalan Kerinci, Indonesia.
The natural fiber in their viscose-rayon is sourced from sustainably-managed renewable plantations. Benefiting from the generous interplay of equatorial sunlight and rainfall, these cultivated trees exhibit a remarkable growth rate, enabling them to be harvested in as little as five years.
Moreover, Asia Pacific Rayon is a subsidiary under the management of Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) management, in which RGE companies and their third-party Indonesian wood suppliers are committed to protecting forests of HCS (High Carbon Stock) and HCV (High Conservation Value).
Therefore, RGE companies are noteworthy exemplar in terms of providing safe and renewable materials.
2. Lower Carbon Footprint
Materials derived from renewable sources typically require less energy during production compared to their conventional counterparts. This helps in lowering carbon emissions and mitigating the industry's contribution to climate change.
How's the production of these materials could require less energy? Let me give you an example!
One of RGE companies operating as renewable fiber manufacturer is Sateri, and one of the most popular sustainable fashion material by Sateri is Lyocell.
Lyocell is a type of fiber known for its environmentally friendly production process and its desirable properties as a textile material. It is a type of cellulosic fiber, which means it is derived from natural sources, primarily wood pulp. Lyocell is often used in the textile industry to produce fabrics that are soft, breathable, and have a smooth texture.
Besides being sustainable due to its materials, Lyocell production is also relatively short and straightforward compared to other synthetic fibers. The entire process, from wood cutting to spinning, takes only about two and a half hours, requiring less water and energy.
Furthermore, one of Lyocell's main sources is eucalyptus trees, which can grow in almost any location, even in soil unsuitable for food crops. Eucalyptus grows rapidly and doesn't need irrigation or pesticides. When compared to cotton, growing cotton requires land five times larger than growing eucalyptus trees.
3. Less Harmful Chemical
Safe materials often involve fewer harmful chemicals, reducing the environmental pollution caused by traditional dyeing, finishing, and processing methods. This improves the health and safety of workers and surrounding communities.
Apart from being easily biodegradable in soil and having its waste used as compost, there's another reason that makes Lyocell from Sateri is environmentally friendly: its eco-friendly production method known as closed-loop manufacturing.
Closed-loop method is a production process that doesn't generate harmful byproducts. The chemicals used in its creation are non-toxic and can be reused multiple times, preventing their release into the environment after production. One of these chemicals, amine oxide, used in the Lyocell fiber production process, is safe and fully recyclable.
4. Enhance Quality and Durability of Products
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| Characteristic of Lyocell (Source: sateri.com) |
By using natural, non-toxic, and biodegradable materials that are less prone to wear and tear, and can be easily repaired or refurbished, safe and renewable materials enhance the quality and durability of a product.
I am still going to use Lyocell in this case as an example for explanation.
According to the above characteristics table, Lyocell fiber has a length of 38 mm and a fineness of 1.33 dtex. This indicates that the fiber is both fine and long, making it easy to spin into strong and smooth yarn.
Elongation measures a fiber's ability to stretch before breaking. With dry elongation at 15-18% and wet elongation at 18-19%, this fiber demonstrates good elasticity in both dry and wet conditions, enhancing flexibility and durability.
Having a wet strength of 4.0-4.2 cn/dtex, the fiber maintains its strength when wet. This property is crucial as some fibers weaken in wet conditions. Consequently, Lyocell fiber is well-suited for sportswear or garments exposed to liquids or humidity.
The wet modulus, indicating wet stiffness, ranges from 1.1 to 1.3 (cN/dtex)/5% for Lyocell. This means the fiber remains relatively rigid and resists stretching when wet. Therefore, textiles made from this fiber retain their shape and structure even when damp.
Resurgence measures the fiber's ability to return to its original shape after being stretched or compressed. With a resurgence value of 10-12%, textiles produced from this fiber will maintain their shape over time, even after repeated wearing and washing.
From the above explanation, we can conclude that Lyocell as a safe and renewable material possesses the capability to yield robust and long-lasting textile products.
4. Market Responsiveness
As consumer awareness about sustainable living grows, industries that prioritize safe and renewable materials are better positioned to meet market demands and differentiate themselves as environmentally responsible entities.
According to Diponegoro International Journal of BusinessVol. 4, No.1, 2021, pp.49-57, regarding Indonesian purchase interest in sustainable fashion products, stating that Indonesian people, especially in urban areas, have quite high buying interest in sustainable fashion products.
According to this research, after being given socialization regarding the importance of starting sustainable living, consumers tend to be willing to pay more for more sustainable fashion products.
Therefore, it is important for fashion brand owners to start considering integrating sustainability principles into their business. Sustainability is no longer just a trend, it has become a necessity in the modern fashion industry.
Related Post: Royal Golden Eagle's (RGE) Innovative Approach to Paper Upcycling
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