In recent years, we have been well-aware of the ever-increasing, dominant impact of sustainability demands on the world economy, the fashion business included.
The reason for this is glaringly obvious, with climate change contributing to the disappearance of vital resources on the planet Earth.
All of the world’s climate agendas over the last several years have been dedicated to one goal: to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases and to sustain life on Earth.
A new world and a new consciousness are emerging out of these developments, which is welcome change both at the level of every individual and of the planet itself.
At the same time, these changes have put a huge dilemma in front of every fashion entrepreneur: the survival of the world or the survival of my fashion business?
At the same time, these changes have put a huge dilemma in front of every fashion entrepreneur: the survival of the world or the survival of my fashion business?
To add to it all, we have stepped into the third year of the Covid-19 pandemic and, more recently, a war has broken out in Ukraine, with both events having far-reaching catastrophic consequences and reshaping the world as we knew it, probably permanently.
How to keep doing business and ensure growth in the face of such global disruptions, while thinking about sustainability, which is set to become a default legal requirement for any business on the market, and especially for fashion business? This question is a topic of many heated discussions today, at all levels and all over the world.
List of strategic goals, plans and aspirations are therefore being developed, with their authors urging every stakeholder to adopt them and start following them immediately. Still, in light of recent political, economic and other disruptions, the question remains: how achievable are these goals?
The main premise is that we have to continue running our business best we know, bearing in mind our own responsibility for climate change.
We, fashion business entrepreneurs, have to prepare our own lists of necessary steps to meet global sustainability goals. It’s less relevant how small these steps are, if they are taking us in the right direction.
From my point of view, we have a number of possibilities one could take to become a vital player in the future of the fashion business. One of these steps could be, e.g., a decision to give up the fast fashion concept and to start designing long-lasting, durable clothing (again).
Moreover, designers could decide to use only fabrics and materials with sustainability certificates.
Some of us might get into the newest digital technology and adopt 2D or 3D CAD systems into designing, pattern making, prototyping and marketing, in order to reduce fabric waste and gas emission that plaque the olad, traditional style development processes. (e.g., CAD services)
The same thing goes for preparation and clothing production itself – there are plenty of new possibilities for sustainable practices industry that people in the garment production are already developing on a weekly basis.
Last, but not least – we are all the consumers too. All of us should rethink our way of dressing. Do we really need so much clothing? Let’s dive into ourselves and realize that a big part of our wardrobe has no function. We buy many things because it feels good to shop or because we are lured by ads and discounts.
Luckily, today we have a whole Meta world, 3D, VR, AR and a number of other unbelievable digital tools at our disposition, which can all help us satisfy the need to express our own fashion style. Nowadays, this can be done digitally, for ourselves and to show it off to our friends, with no need to buy another physical piece of garment. Could you imagine how large an impact this could have on the sustainability goals?
When sustainability is viewed as a matter of survival for your business, I believe you can create massive change.
Cameron sinclair
In the light of these new possibilities, a huge transformation of the fashion business is happening in front of our eyes.
Every entrepreneur should therefore look for their own niche to evolve, which will surely open new opportunities to make a profit, as they might sometimes present themselves even out of the blue.
So, let’s go back to the question from the beginning of this article.
What do you think of the future of the fashion business? Can we run a fashion business yet make huge steps toward sustainability? And, most importantly, what will be your first step?
Share your opinion in comments.
