If 2019 was dubbed the ‘Year of Sustainability’, four months into the new decade and the impact of COVID-19 will define 2020. This doesn’t mean suppliers and retailers need to shelve their sustainability commitments. In fact, it’s time for the fashion industry to reflect on their processes, as well as the toll it takes on people and the planet.
Even the way new presentations of fashion collections bodes well: virtual showrooms and virtual catwalks are now the order of the day. And bearing in mind environmental concerns a recent study (Zero to Market) quantified the impact of travel, concluding that 241,000 tons of CO₂ were produced during the 2018 run of shows (to imagine this is equivalent to the annual emissions of a small country!). The move to digital only for the next round of international catwalk shows (see inset) will certainly make a difference to annual emissions – especially if they are successful and the format is repeated in years to come.
In a broader sense the UN Fashion Alliance has identified that the apparel industry is responsible for 8-10% of the world’s greenhouse gases with 20% of industrial wastewater pollution originating from the industry. Some argue that in the current time, these issues are overshadowed by wide-scale unemployment/short hours working and the cancellation of clothing orders by the large clothing and retail brands.
However there is a huge flipside to the current global crisis – which is really how people value fashion and its importance to their daily lives. Internet clothing sales continue to perform reasonably well but fashion purchases have always been driven by more than simple availability. Consumption of fast fashion is experiencing a much needed slowdown and global brands at all ends of the garment cycle have for several years be rethinking their stance in regard to sustainable and less environmentally harmful methods of clothing production: a process hastened by the ‘Greta’ effect in 2019 (Greta Thunberg).
One of the largest global manufacturers of spandex, LYCRA, has been diverting a lot of energy and resources into their Planet Agenda programme – less than 1% of their production now goes to waste with the balance being completely sustainable and recyclable (watch the webinar on The LYCRA Company’s approach to sustainability). Likewise all water used in the production processes is recycled and products such as their Coolmax® EcoMade fibre consists of 97% recycled PET. The company’s ambition is to have all products (apparel and non-apparel) made from EcoMade.
Other leaders in the field include Eurojersey, the Italian fabric producer and owners of the Sensitive® brand of fabric (particularly popular with swimwear end producers) have made major strides in using recycled plastic from the sea in their fabric collections and work WWF on a continuous basis.
There are too many initiatives to list here but the main reason holding back better take up of recycled ingredients has not merely been supply but also price as recycled products come at a premium. And for a wide range of consumers this has been a sticking point to date. However the landscape has changed for ever: consumers who had already started to be concerned about the ‘providence’ of their clothing – both in environmental and human terms (the working conditions of clothing workers) are set to be even more discerning as 2020 progresses.
Swimwear and beachwear accessories was one of the first sectors to take sustainability seriously as this area of garment production is heavily reliant to synthetic fabrics and elastics and producers have been looking more to bio-based materials, innovative new textiles and totally recycled fabrics.
Shifting Consumer Attitudes and Sustainability: Retail Response
Discernible shifts in consumers’ attitudes towards sustainability have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis: it will lead to a change in mind-sets and shopping behaviours. Environmentally ‘sound’ products is one tool in the retailers’ campaign to cultivate and build loyalty to both your outlet and your brand portfolio. There is little doubt that the consumer will be more discriminating and more conscious of the providence of the products they will want to buy. Consumers are already buying less – retailers could benefit by looking to promote capsule wardrobes of lingerie, swim or loungewear with the concept of ‘buy less, buy better’.
And there is increased demand for loungewear – and indeed working from home may become the new working life for many employees. Post COVID-19, consumers will seek out brands that they can align with ethically more than ever before – eco-friendly loungewear has to be part of that mix.
Concern over health will drive the wellbeing and self-care themes in the form of natural and organic products – be that fresh produce or clothing with clean and non-toxic materials being a priority. As people have become accustomed to self-isolation, there is a new appreciation for nature and hopefully this will place issues around the environment first and foremost in customers’ minds and help retailers’ sustainability efforts.
When quarantine/self-isolation lifts, retailers need to take this opportunity to promote holidaying locally to avoid added carbon emissions and overcrowding beaches. Summer ‘holidays’ generally will be pushed back till September-October but demand for swimwear will be there. And sustainable swimwear should benefit!
(more on this later this week on underlinesmagazine.com).
FASHION CATWALKS GO 100% DIGITAL THIS SUMMERInternational fashion calendars are really in flux – the first set of catwalks (men’s) have moved to July and within hours of Italian fashion body (Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana) stating the first digital fashion week would run from July 14-17, the Federation de la Haute Couture said its online showcase in Paris will run 9-13 July and centred on films and videos. These moves will be replicated through to the women’s events. In fact, the fashion industry has already been questioning the relevance of the traditional fashion calendar due to the multiplication of fashion weeks & shows which results in a heavily saturated schedule for press and trade professionals alike. But even digitally France is exerting pressure to maintain its position to maintaining Paris international leadership. Meanwhile the British Fashion Council has announced that their Gender Neutral evet will merge both womenswear and menswear collections into one digital only platform (and this to continue for 12 months). For the present, it looks like the September fashion events (excluding London) will be scheduled with a live catwalk and non-digital display but of course this could change dependent on progress against the COVID virus in the summer months. However one feels that if these all digital events are successful it will put a marker down in terms of how things forge ahead in 2021 and beyond. There are undoubted benefits to the environment of less frequent travel, we are seeing this already and whilst the appetite for leisure travel will return with a vengeance, it seems clear that business travel is most likely to be affected downwards in the short and medium term. |
