J: Jeans

Eco-chic is a paradox, says Sandy Black. And that seems particularly true when we look at sustainable denim. Having a history as workwear, jeans have originally been long-lasting garments. But today, denim has become a trend item that is likely to be thrown away before it’s worn out.

There are other reasons why jeans are not the most likely candidates for green fashion. Denim is generally made from cotton, which is infamous for having negative environmental impacts. The ecological footprint of a pair of jeans tends to be even bigger than the energy consumption of your average cotton garment. In order to give jeans its classic blue color, an above average amount of water, chemicals and dyes are used. In addition, jeans production is characterized by a global distribution system that inevitably leads to considerable carbon emissions. In 2001, two British journalists calculated that a pair of jeans sold in the UK had travelled no less than 40.000 miles (65.000 kilometers) – and had visited a total of 13 different countries – before it reached an Ipswhich store.

And the production of a pair of jeans affects people just as much as our planet. As Greenpeace campaigns have demonstrated, denim factories in China producing for Western brands such as G-Star, C&A and H&M have repeatedly engaged in illegal dumping of waste water. This affects the health of water life in rivers and seas as well as the well-being of local communities that are dependent upon these for their water supplies.

Sandblasting is another pressing issue in the denim industry. This popular method aimed at giving jeans a worn look has serious health consequences for factory workers. Sandblasting can even lead to death, resulting from chronic lung diseases.

Now before you get depressed and ban jeans from your wardrobe: there are numerous initiatives to make the industry greener and fairer. Labels as diverse as Kuyichi, H&M, C&A and Nudie Jeans include organic cotton in their denim collection, thus reducing the toxicity of jeans fabrics. Replay, Girbaud and Levi’s experiment with water saving dyeing methods. And in 2011, G-Star launched its first unique denim collection made from (part) nettle.

Textile recycling provides another perspective on sustainable denim. Brands such as Kings of Indigo have incorporated the re-use of second-hand clothing and fabric in their day to day business. Customers can donate their worn items which will be re-used in new collections. And by re-using previous collections, denim brands avoid having to resort to sandblasting: the vintage look is of course the logical result of pre-used textiles.

Are you anxious to start greenifying your denim style? There’s no need to start flashing your credit card. The environmental impact of a pair of jeans relates for 50% not to its production but to its use phase. This means that you can significantly reduce the ecological footprint of your favorite jeans by washing it sparsely and at low temperatures, wearing it for many years , and donating it to charity after extensive use. And to make this lifestyle change easier, it is recommended to buy jeans that are likely to stand the test of time. Such as instant classics made by Levi’s, Denham the Jeanmaker or Atelier Tossijn. I bet you’ll be looking eco-chic!

L: Local fashion

Wool made of British sheep. Clothing made of nettle grown in the Dutch polder. Shoes made in Italy. The European production of clothing and shoes is a niche market. Textile production having been moved to low wage countries in Asia, Africa and South America, very little of our current wardrobe has been made locally. The negative environmental and social effects of this shift have become evident. To name but a few: energy intensive global distribution processes, water pollution, child labor in cotton harvesting, and sweatshops where factory workers earn less than a living wage while working 80 to 100 hours per week.

The gravity of these issues have stimulated sustainable fashion labels to search for more planet & people friendly production processes. At the same time, pressure by Greenpeace, the Clean Clothes Campaign and others have made mainstream fashion companies more aware of the need to consider the environmental and social impacts of their ways of doing business in low wage countries. What’s more, recent developments in Asia, where wages are getting higher and transport costs are increasing, have made these companies consider the benefits of producing closer to home.

In the UK, initiatives like Handmade in Britain and the Campaign for Wool have attempted to stimulate local textile and fashion production. For consumers, local enterprises promise to offer high quality, often unique products with a good story – about authenticity, heritage and sustainability.

In a similar vein, a growing number of Dutch fashion designers have chosen to work with local production facilities. Many of these are (subsidized) sewing studios for disadvantaged groups, including physically challenged men, women with a psychiatric background, immigrants who don’t yet speak Dutch or teenagers who have dropped out of school. The reason why labels such as Ellen Willink, Coverbee, i-did and Ami-e-toi work with these production facilities is not just out of a concern with labor standards in low wage countries and a commitment to enable vulnerable groups to participate in the job market. They also take into account the environmental benefits of producing locally. And the fact that they create unique, feelgood products? For all of us consumers that’s a free bonus.

T: Transseasonal fashion

With fast fashion brands making 30 or even 50 collections per year, the traditional fashion seasons appear to have become obsolete. What’s more, the popularity of fast fashion has made luxury labels and designer brands accelerate their production as well. The average fashion company now presents not just two or four collections per year, but also a cruise collection (between spring and summer), prefall collection (between autumn and winter), midseason or even prepre collection (at any other, apparently random time of year). The slow fashion movement has been fierce criticasters of this trend, claiming that the current pace of fashion creates overconsumption and throwawayism (and hence, the ever growing landfill space).

As slow fashion has become ever more mainstream, its tenets have come to include not just timeless design and high quality products but also a concern with transseasonal items. For instance, slow fashion designers have produced multifunctional clothes that can be used in several seasons. Think of a summer skirt that can be elongated to serve as an autumn dress. Or a cotton, waterproof coat that is suitable on rainy days in spring and summer as well as autumn.

Transseasonal design also relates to the timing of new collections. For Dutch designer Elsien Gringhuis, the pressure to present four or more new collections per year puts at stake her sense of creativity and her ambition to deliver high quality outfits. Because fashion stores expect at least two new collections per year, Gringhuis delivers two collections consisting of fewer items. In a similar vein, slow fashion pioneer Rianne de Witte designs one collection each year, which is presented in spring and fall.

Some designers oppose the idea of seasonal collections as such. For example, in 2012, young designer Sanne Jansen decided to make no more than twenty items per year, which remain available in her online store for several seasons. Each month, two new items hit the stores – one for men and one for women. Each item will be made until all fabric is used up, which has the positive environmental side-effect of preventing unused materials from being discarded.