A: Animals in fashion

Massages for horses, designer wear for dogs, aroma therapy for cats. Thanks to a growing wellness industry, we’re able to pamper our pets in unprecedented ways. (Antidepressants for rabbits, anyone?). But while we spoil Beauty, Buddy and Tiger, our daily outfit is far from animal friendly. And we’re not just talking about fur here.

Just think about the ubiquitous jeans. Every year, about 50 billion pairs of jeans are made worldwide. In the Chinese town of Xintang, the effects of the large-scale production of denim have become clearly visible. The rivers and lakes in the vicinity of the city, which produces some 260 million jeans every year, have come to be colored the darkest of blues – the result of (illegal) dumping of dyes and chemicals. Needless to say, these toxic chemicals have negative effects on the environment, and are life threatening to fish and other waterlife.

And the fashion industry poses other threats to the world’s aquatic life as well. One clothing item made of polyester can emit more than 1900 fibers per wash – and these all add up to the island of plastic waste that is floating somewhere between Australia and Africa. Experts estimate that every year about 100.000 sea mammals and one million sea birds die as a result of this plastic soup.

Do woolen jumpers offer viable alternatives to polyester tops? That’s doubtful. Traditional wool production in Australia is based on large-scale cattle farming which involves practices such as mulesing and tail cutting. Closer to home, wool is largely a byproduct of the meat industry – with all the hormones and antibiotics that come with it.

What about silk, you wonder? In order to produce silk, caterpillars are cultivated and then boiled alive. Only in the production of so-called peace silk are caterpillars’ pods harvested after the butterflies have outgrown them, which means no animals die in the process. But because peace-silk creates fabrics of lower quality than conventional silk, it’s rather rare in the fashion industry.

When it comes to shoes and accessories, animal lovers better pay attention too. Leather production does not only involve a lot of hazardous chemicals and, in some low wage countries, child labor. For animals, it’s no fun either. Reports by international research organizations have repeatedly shown that in India, which produces leather for amongst others European shoe brands, illegal factories tend to skin cows alive. Producers of fake Uggs have been accused of illegally killing raccoon dogs.

And if this weren’t too much bad news already, there is of course jewelry made of pearls and ivory. Even though the ivory trade in Africa and China has been forbidden since the 1980s, illegal trade has continued. The African elephant is now one of the most endangered species on the continent.

Now let’s not spoil the average World Pet Day with too many depressive thoughts. Because there’s also good news.
Greenpeace has convinced labels such as G-Star, C&A, H&M, Nike and Adidas to put an end to clothing factories dumping hazardous chemicals in rivers and lakes. Because the global clothing industry is based on a large number of subcontractors, it’s unlikely the production process will be cleaned up in a few years. But the ambition is to end pollution in 2020 at its latest.

The fight against the plastic soup has so far focused primarily on reducing the use of bags and packaging. But experts have called upon fashion brands and washing machines producers to develop new methods to prevent plastic fibers from being emitted during consumer washing. Until they do, we’d better avoid buying polyester and fleece cloths and minimize washing the polyesters that we already own.

In the case of wool, consumers can also make a positive difference. Organic wool production is more animal friendly than conventional cattle farming. Sheep (and goats as well) are kept with ample space to graze, fed with organic food and not treated with antibiotics. What’s more, mulesing is not allowed in organic farms. Clothes made from organic (or even recycled) wool are therefore a good choice for animal lovers who just love the look & feel of wool.

Finally, let’s not forget that there are plenty of imitation fabrics that are animal friendly as well as comfortable to wear and stylishly fashionable. Think: imitation silk, faux leather, fake suede and imitation pearls. Linen, rubber and hemp all provide excellent fabrics for shoes. Creative producers are even working towards bioengineered, i.e. labgrown, animalfree leather. And let’s face it: who really needs real fur to keep warm in our rainy climate?

B: Big brands

H&M has agreed to stop using toxic and nonbiodegradable perfluorinated compounds (PFCs for short) in their outerwear by 2013. Nike has recycled more than 28 million pairs of athletic shoes through their Reuse-a-Shoe program. And as a result of Greenpeace actions, brands like Puma, Adidas and C&A have promised to stop their clothing factories from dumping hazardous chemicals in nearby rivers.

As these examples show, a growing number of international fashion companies are taking up the challenge to produce in more sustainable ways. Brands like H&M and Puma have developed ambitious CSR programmes, which include targets about topics as diverse as the use of water based adhesives in shoe production and CO2 emissions.

The general consensus is that large companies are crucial to changing the fashion industry and improving the environmental and social issues at stake. For example, the buying power of players such as C&A and Zara means that they can decisively stimulate organic cotton trade.

At the same time, due to their global operations, multinationals have difficulties controlling their supply chain. For instance, production for H&M takes place at approximately 1650 supplier factories around the world. Controlling labor conditions in all these factories – and the many subcontractors that are often involved as well – is no easy feat.

According to many of the upcoming sustainable fashion brands, producing clothes ethically may be more difficult for large, established companies than for young, small labels. The current forerunners in sustainable fashion are often small, visionary companies that have embraced corporate social responsibility from the start. Contrary to large corporations that are now pressured into changing their ways of doing business, ecofashion labels have sustainability in their genes. As a consequence, they are able to quickly adopt new strategies and develop innovations.

It may therefore come as no surprise that The Ethical Fashion Consultancy’s Ilaria Pasquinelli has claimed that sustainable innovations have come primarily from small companies with visionary, highly specialized designers and product developers. Only these types of companies are able to have the ideas and flexibility to be unique and stay ahead of the masses, Pasquinelli says. If this is true, we’d better support the pioneering fashion brands that have put sustainability on the fashion agendas – from People Tree to Kuyichi, RE-5 and Camilla Norrback. Enjoy!

C: Campaigning

If everyone keeps their promises, environmental issues in clothing production will be significantly reduced in 2020. Because with its Detox Campaign, Greenpeace have pressured internationally operating fashion brands such as H&M, G-Star, Nike and Adidas to eliminate toxic discharge in their supply chain by 2020. Successfully so. A growing number of fashion companies, ranging from M&S to Victoria’s Secret, have pledged to engage with their clothing factories in order to prevent hazardous chemicals, such as dyes and bleaches, from polluting water (including the rivers that local communities are dependent upon for their daily water supplies...).

Campaigning has been a consistent element in the sustainable fashion movement. With the Detox Fashion campaign Greenpeace has been one of the most creative environmental activists to join the anti fast fashion movement. Of course, the worldwide Clean Clothes Campaign has been putting the spotlights on the negative side effects of our (cheap) fashion consumption for years. And for designers like Vivienne Westwood and Katherine Hamnett, campaigning for a more green & fair fashion world has been part of their ways of doing business. (Yes, that's the power of slogan shirts for you).

With sustainability and corporate social responsibility becoming ever more popular in the world of fashion, it seems that activism is being gradually supplemented with, if not replaced by, business consultancy and consumer support. Even Greenpeace has indicated a willingness to collaborate with fashion brands to assist them in detoxing their supply chain. In addition, initiatives such as Rankabrand.nl, GoodGuide and Fashioning Change provide consumers with resources to make their shopping carts more fair and green. Because as the concept of Changeanomics suggests, consumers voting with their wallets may be just as crucial to a more sustainable fashion industry than activists campaigning.

N: Naming & shaming – and beyond

In October 2012, Textile Exchange put the spotlights on ten companies that are committed to organic cotton. Anvil Knitwear, C&A, Dibella, Ethicus, Gossypium, H&M, Hess Natur, Nike, Patagonia and Veja all received a Future Shapers Award, a reward for their growing use of organic cotton and for their ambitions to adopt more biocotton in their future collections.

Textile Exchange is a non-profit organization that aims to accelerate sustainable practices in the textile value chain. It was founded in 2002 in the United States and works with clothing brands as diverse as Adidas, H&M, Patagonia, Anvil and Lenzing. The Future Shapers Awards ceremony was part of the annual Textile Exchange conference, which took place in Hongkong in October and celebrated the organization’s ten year anniversary.

Handing out awards to companies that have demonstrated a willingness to adopt sustainable practices seems to be more popular nowadays than the naming & shaming strategies that labour associations and organizations like the Clean Clothes Campaign have traditionally adopted. For instance, in 2012 a number of Dutch consumer groups launched the Push Fashion Forward campaign, which rewarded companies that publicly admitted to improve environmental and social standards in their supply chain. After critically reviewing brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, DIDI, Steps, Zara, Esprit, Mango, Only, Pieces, Jack & Jones and River Island, those that pledged to commit to more sustainable practices were surprised with a visit from a group of enthusiastic consumers. In the end, three Dutch brands – Hema, Sissy-Boy and Protest – received a Push Fashion Forward Award to celebrate their increased commitment to sustainable fashion.

Cynics will be quick to point out that it remains to be seen if mainstream brands such as Hema, C&A, H&M, Nike and Adidas will live up to the expectations that have been created by their elaborate CSR policy reports. I’m sure that organizations such as Textile Exchange and GoedeWaar.nl will keep an eye on that. And of course, let’s not forget that consumers can stimulate sustainable change as well, both through their buying behavior and by consistently pestering their favourite stores and brands about environmental and social standards.