As COP26 approaches, the needs of our climate & our planet’s future are held in the balance.
With very bleak reports telling us that 2021 is the tipping point to make radical changes to our greenhouse gas emissions; COP26 is the time for world leaders to make good on their climate pledges.
However, despite us all being keenly aware of climate change & the impact it is not only having on us now, but the impact it will continue to have in our future; there is & has been a quiet revolution going on in business sectors across the globe to combat this.
During COP26, Virtually Smart will be focussing on businesses making changes which are already having a positive impact on climate change, part of the quiet climate change revolution, so often overshadowed by larger media stories.
This week Virtually Smart are taking a brief look at how the fashion industry is beginning to make changes & how some business models are actively disrupting the industry with a vision of a positive outcome.
Throughout history the clothes we wear have been practical, keeping us warm, enabling modesty & on occasion & when occasion has dictated, created a smart appearance. With clothing having not only been passed down generation to generation & of course being ‘turned out’ (turned inside out, embellished & re-used) in days gone by; clothing lasted for decades.
The ‘Make-do-&-Mend’ generations of WW1 & WW2 seem so very distant to us now, but with fabrics being in very short demand if it was torn or worn – it was repaired & if it was too small-it was passed on.
Therefore, what has happened to the fashion industry to make clothing become such an incredible polluter? The ‘throw-away’ generations have replaced ‘Make-do-&-Mend’ & ‘fast-fashion’ is responsible for more than 300,000 tonnes of used clothing going to landfill each year in the UK alone.
Therefore, what are disruptors in the fashion industry doing to combat this?
One such UK company is RÆBURN (1) Design.
Established in 2009 by Christopher Raeburn, the RÆMADE (1) ethos is pioneering the reworking of surplus fabrics & garments to create distinctive & functional fashion.
The fist RÆBURN Design collection (AW10 PREPARE) saw Raeburn create a limited edition collection of outerwear using de-commissioned military stock. (1)
From wool field jackets to nylon parachute canopies, each RÆMADE style is produced by deconstructing the original & reworking the materials into unique & ethical garments. (1)
The RÆMADE ethos is based on the Three R’s:
RÆMADE
Reworking surplus materials, products & artefacts into completely new designs, with each piece being a limited edition, made exclusively in England. (1)
RÆDUCED
Designs developed at the RÆBURN Lab are considered for their impact on the environment. (1)
RÆCYCLED
Accessing responsible materials from around the globe, working with responsible manufacturing partners, recycling pre-existing materials & harnessing green technologies, are fundamental to the production process. (1)
In 2020 Christopher won a Fashion Award, selected as one of the Honourees of the Environment category. The awards celebrate the individuals who have created positive change within the fashion industry, as chosen by 800 key members of the global fashion industry. (1)
Another sector which is seeing an uptick in demand is ‘Share-Wear’ The ethos behind this business model is to loan designer labels & everyday clothes for a period of time, interchanging the contents of a wardrobe, without the need to purchase more.
One such UK based company is My Wardrobe HQ.
The ethos of companies such as My Wardrobe HQ, is that you can hire designer clothes, even your wedding dress, for a fraction of the original price.
My Wardrobe HQ made headlines when Carrie (Symonds) Johnson chose to hire her wedding dress for her wedding to the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. She subsequently went on to hire outfits for the G7 summit.
With wedding dresses being hired from anything as little as £24 a day, not only is this kinder on the pocket, enables wearers access to something normally out of their price range; but it also has a huge environmental impact. (2)
A survey from Barnardo’s found that in 2019, Britons looked set to spend £2.7bn on summer outfits (2021) that would only have been worn once before being thrown away. (3)
As well as contributing to landfill, our wear-once- throw-away mindset is fuelling the textile industry’s 1.2 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions a year. With the sustainability conversation more insistent than ever, we’re all looking to shop more consciously. (3)
These two UK companies are only two examples of fashion disruptors driving environmental change within the sector. But with more companies like these seeing opportunities for sustainable fashion options being able to reach a growing market for conscientious shoppers; they could be seeing considerable financial returns, whilst also being part of a growing sustainable fashion market.
Written by Katy-Jane Mason for & on behalf of Virtually Smart
- https://www.raeburndesign.co.uk/pages/about
- https://www.mywardrobehq.com/
- https://graziadaily.co.uk/fashion/how-to/sustainability-clothes-rental-services/
