Sustainability Also Rises in Fashion…
Fashion weeks are to the fashion industry what BaselWorld is for the watch industry: The event that will determine your benefits for the entire season. And we recently assisted to changes in the conception of the events. The Portland Fashion Week, which occurred last October, was especially based on sustainable fashion and green concerns.
First report: the logo! Yes, indeed, they mad it… green! The main idea of the event was to promote « eco-responsible fashion ». This is becoming a strong trend within fashion. It is mainly embodied by the idea of designing clothes and collections with natural products. According to Earth Pledge, a non-profit organization committed to support and promote sustainable practices in many areas (fashion, food, construction, waste management), 8′000 chemicals are used to turn raw materials into textiles. In the same way, 25% of the world’s pesticides are used to produce non-organic cotton.
Hence, awareness and responsibility have risen within the fashion industry. The Portland Fashion Week allows us to go further in our understanding of sustainability. This kind of event is important, as it is a very-well exposed scene to advocate change and action. But in order to declare itself a sustainable fashion brand, corporation should go deeper in their innovation strategies.
Let’s take an example of a well-know fashion brand: Hugo Boss. The German Company integrated sustainability and corporate responsibility in its corporate identity at several levels. They implemented a strict CSR strategy all along their production chain. Assessments are conducted both in the company itself and within their suppliers and producers. Goods can be tracked back through each step and location in the supply chain. Such transparency can be implemented within corporations. The NGO Respect Code advocates this kind of practice and helps you increase your responsibility.
However, sustainability should also be implemented with concerns for the environment. Hugo Boss AG holds its headquarters in building equipped with renewable energetic technologies (i.e. thermal lift and solar panels). They increased their logistic capacity in order to reduce waste of energies and ship merchandises by sea as often as possible, instead of by air. The company also campaigns for animal rights, especially against the practice of mulesing, performed on merino sheep. It only purchases wool material from farms that refute such practice.
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