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!

K: Killer fashion

“Change has to be subtle. When a woman alters her look too much from season to season, she becomes a fashion victim.” This is, according to Terry Agins’ ‘The end of fashion’, a statement by Georgio Armani . Pitiable as fashion addicted women may be, there are more victims of the fashion industry.

According to a 2012 documentary, every hour one cotton former in India commits suicide. Other estimates suggest that the wave of so-called GM genocide in India means that suicides occur every 30 minutes. The cotton farmers are desperate because they cannot pay back the loans that have been forced on them by seed companies. Crop yields tend to be lower than promised, which makes it impossible for farmers to return the 7% interest rates.

Casualties also occur in other clothing production countries. For example, in Uzbekistan, every year almost 2 million children are forced to pick cotton during harvest season. Child labor is not uncommon in other parts of the world either. Dutch research centre SOMO has repeatedly shown that garments for several US and European brands and retailers are being produced by young girls in the South Indian region of Tamil Nadu under exploitative working conditions.

And then there are of course animal victims. In Defence of Animals claims that 50 million animals are killed for fur on a yearly basis. Animal lovers will also be sad to hear about the many stories about mulesing. And did you know about illegal leather production in India, where cows (yes, those animals considered holy in that very same country) are skinned alive?

Knowing all this, it’s laudable that Puma has made tentative steps to diminish the use of leather in its sneaker collections. This could turn out to contribute to the welfare of people in the lothing production industry as well. Because not only animals suffer in current shoe production practices. The hazardous chemicals that are widely used to tan leather also negatively affect workers’ health and lives. I wonder if Mr. Armani is aware of the thousands of animals and people that are the true victims of the global fashion industry?

Z: Zero Plastic Week

As an ecofashionista who’s joined Zero Plastic Week for the second time in a row, I’m up for a challenge. So let’s go beyond the fight against plastic wraps of cucumber, tofu, toothpaste and the like. Because once we take a look at our daily outfits and weekly clothing shopping sessions, it becomes obvious that plastic plays a major role in our wardrobes.

Obviously, the average fashion store is not a particularly plasticfree environment. It’s plastic bags, price tags and clothes hangers galore. The basic step for those striving towards a low plastic lifestyle? Consume less, or go vintage or thrift shopping. And, of course: keep those foldable, reusable shopping bags within reach at all times.

The thing is: a more hidden plastic world lies behind our closets at home. And I’m not talking about those raincoats or fleece vests here. The average wardrobe consists of 50% of polyester items. (The other half is cotton; unfortunately a not so environmentally friendly fabric either). In many cases, natural fibers such as cotton and silk will be blended with nylon or lycra to make them more durable or to give them a better fit. In addition, the availability of contemporary high quality polyesters – which are not as uncomfortable to wear or cheap looking as their predecessors – means that even designer wear can now be made from artificial fibers.

What’s wrong with the abundance of polyesters in our closets, you may ask? The most important issue when it comes to plastic in clothes concerns our washing routines. Every time we wash an item made from polyester, some 1900 plastic fibers end up in the oceans and seas. And once there, the microplastics contribute to the deadly plastic soup.

Even for dedicated ecofashionistas like myself, dressing in style while supporting the fight against the plastic soup is not an easy feat. My search for animal friendly alternatives to leather bags inevitably seems to lead to plastic. For example, slow fashion designer Ellen Willink's bags are made from recycled (plastic) banners. And let’s not forget that even Envirosax’s reusable bags are made from polyesters.

On the upside, anyone who’s seen the images of the plastic soup, and more importantly, its effects on birds and other marine animals, will be stimulated to continue to strive towards a zero plastic life. Because surely, plastic can never be fashionable.