Clothes the loop
The recent backlash regarding the issue of single-use plastics has demonstrated the way demand factors can drive businesses and suppliers to change how they use materials and manage waste.
While the fashion industry has yet to fully catch up with shifting consumer preferences, some retailers and brands have seized the opportunities to emphasise sustainability in components of their value chain and systems.
In an industry that Karl Lagerfeld notes is "not only about clothes – it’s about all kinds of change", this includes shifts towards sourcing more sustainable materials, better ways of converting these into finished products and using tools that measure and quantify the environmental impact of activities.
We see three ways in which fashion brands and retailers can become more sustainable:
Procurement and operations
Sustainability is a key driver of purchasing behaviour. In a recent survey by Nosto of 2,000 US and UK-based shoppers, 52% of consumers want the fashion industry to follow more sustainable practices. Stella McCartney launched her fashion label in 2001 as the `first vegetarian luxury brand' in a joint venture with luxury conglomerate Kering. Her brand is widely considered the industry's gold standard for how to run a high-fashion brand while avoiding textiles in her collections that have traditionally defined luxury – fur and leather.
Stella McCartney's commitment and sustainability credentials are reaping dividends: last year UK profits and worldwide licensing revenue saw a 42.5% increase from the previous year, enabling Stella McCartney to buyout Kering's 50% stake in the company that bears her name.
Measurement and transparency
To `encourage a general movement towards greater sustainability', Kering has developed a tool for measuring and quantifying the environmental impact of its activities, and is sharing its methodology with other companies, in its own industry and beyond. The Environmental Profit & Loss account (EP&L) is described as a `key enabler of a sustainable business model'.
The EP&L measures carbon emissions, water consumption, air and water pollution, land use and waste production along the entire supply chain, thereby making the various environmental impacts of the Group's activities visible, quantifiable, and comparable.
Recycling and reselling
To encourage sustainable practices, M&S' Plan A includes helping customers recycle their old clothes through `Shwopping'. Last month, John Lewis launched a ‘BuyBack’ trial where it will accept all used womenswear and menswear brands stocked at John Lewis in return for £3 per item, which can then be spent in John Lewis or Waitrose.
However, there still seems to be a disconnect between what shoppers want and what they are willing to pay for. While most consumers want the fashion industry to follow more sustainable practices, only 29% of consumers would pay more for sustainably-made versions of the same items, and 62% would like to receive discounts on sustainable clothing items.
Fast fashion has not yet experienced an enlightenment akin to the effect of Blue Planet II on plastic usage. Over the next few years, we expect to see retailers and brands recognise the business case for sustainability, greater transparency in their supply and value chains, and develop their service and digital technology offerings as they plan, prepare and provide for fashion's inevitable focus on sustainability.
Samuel Gebreselassie