Sustainable Fashion

 

 We all know that fast fashion is big business and that manufacturers and retailers will do anything to cut corners during production to keep up with the demand for cheaper clothes - from the working conditions, to the use of child labour, they will do whatever they can to cut costs. But it's not just the workers that are paying for our need of cheap clothes, the planet is suffering too. After the oil industry, the fashion industry is the second most polluting industry on the planet.

But we've known this for a long time, so what can we do to change this?

When we go to the shop and purchase those bargin pair of £5 jeans, we are telling the retailer that that is what we want. It shows them that we want cheap clothes and we don't particularly care where they have come from and who has made them. When it comes to buying clothes, we tend to not think about the process in which it's made and more of how well it's going to look on us.

Instead, what we should start to do is invest. Invest in more sustainable key pieces, such as jeans and t-shirts, items you know you will wear over and over again. If we create the demand for it, retailers have no other option than to listen to us. Which is exactly what Zara has done.

Last week saw high street retailer, Zara launch their sustainable collection proving that our desire for ethical fashion has an impact on the industry. Along with Topshop and H&M, our favourite high street brands are stepping up their game and changing their supply chain methods and environmental standards.

 We might not realise it, but as consumers we do hold a lot of power of retailers and if we all get behind this demand for a change for more sustainable clothing we could see a real change.