ETHICS & SUSTAINABILITY IN FASHION

Brand ethics and sustainability has become a large issue within society as information becomes more accessible for the modern day consumer through online platforms and social media. The way in which a brand presents itself towards current issues can affect its success with the current and future consumer. As the issue of climate change and the impact we as humans have on the planet grows, fashion consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious, and so expect brands to offer sustainable products to cater to them. There is also an expectation that brands should be reducing their carbon footprint and polluting emissions through the use of eco-friendly fabrics and manufacturing, however creating sustainable products costs, and to create true supply and demand costumers have to be willing to pay. Stella McCartney was one of the first designers to consider sustainability within her collections, creating a brand image thats conscious and responsible for the resources it uses and its activity impact. Within the collections recycled textiles and organic cotton is used as much as possible, reducing the amount of mixed fibres sent to landfill that are unable to decompose. Stella McCartney's stores and studios in the UK are also powered by wind energy, again portraying an environmentally conscious brand which attracts a niche consumer that isn't targeted by many other brands. However while we all like to believe we're doing out bit for the planet - maybe a bit of home recycling or giving our clothes to the charity rather than a landfill - it's hard to judge whether it is truly achievable for the current consumer. We are a planet driven by consumerism, every year we purchase three times worth our population and throw away 27 African elephants worth of clothes into landfills - but in a world of cheap fast fashion and ever-changing trends it's hard not to. Especially when Topshop sunglasses are over ten times cheaper than Stella McCartney's sustainable eyewear collection made from over 50% renewable resources, it's just not a realistic price the everyday shopper is able to spend. H&M created a more friendly way for the current consumers to have a positive impact on fashion sustainability through their fashion recycling week. A giant drop box was placed in Covent Garden and their stores for costumers to recycling old clothes, in return they received vouchers which was used as an incentive nationally to recycle rather than throw away. Ethics and sustainability could also be questioned within the technology industry due to 'planned obsolescence' forcing the consumer into buying something newer and sooner than necessarily needed. Apple is one of the largest brands known for it's use of planned obsolescence on it's products. Every time a new iPhone or Mac is brought out the older versions of the product fall behind and no longer qualify for their IOS updates, eventually causing the phone to become slow and many apps to stop working. We're then forced to upgrade and throw away our current phone even though it's really in perfect condition. This carries with it the issue of 'e-waste', every year we produce 41.8 million tones of 'e-waste' from throwing out electrical products. Just like the iPhone many of these products contain toxic elements which won't biodegrade, and even with the correct recycling methods only 1% is reusable. But we're all guilty of it, in the past 7 years I've owned around 5 iPhones, that's a new one every year and a bit or less. But as a consumer not owning the latest version is the end of the world! NOT my 'e-wastage'.