In photo above: Secret Paradise Mark II, a backpack made from used and decommissioned sail in the island of Corfu, GR. Learn more about Salty Bag philosophy and mission here.
The current climate crisis reinforced by the pandemic, accentuate all essential talks about sustainability, primarily in the fashion industry. Noble intentions and no-harm intended sweet-talks are long passed behind us, as we all need to fully understand and incorporate new standards in our shopping regime, as fashion needs to step further ahead, establishing fresh rules in textile science, supply chain regulations/end-of-life cycle reform, anti-greenwashing* transparency and methodology. (*Greenwashing is the process of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information about how a company's products are more environmentally sound.)
There is no excuse for not trying, no matter where you come from - an independent small house or a mighty fashion group - to adopt at least to some extend, a business eco-practice by certification regarding either production renewable energy blends, ethical supply and anti-sweatshop logistics, upcycled yarns/eco-engineered materials, or natural materials from sustainable plantations and organic soils.The so-called “Green Identity” is a costant design process and not just an end-to-a-means sole principal. The design of the 80% of the energy footprint of a garment is defined during the design stages and not at final production. The road to Net-Zero or Zero Waste energy footprint is a long one and it is undoubtedly linked not only to consumers habits but predominantly to necessary governmental policies imposed onto all stages of fashion production.
Mandatory regulation for textile wastes from industrial units are already implemented in France and Sweden, with the EU members common law coming up, (active from 1.1.2025) for non-interring or burring clothes, including the collection obligation and compulsory upcycling of remaining garments, for the latter not ending up inside the soil and eventually as micro-plastics into the waters. That’s just not enough though: common policies for public procurements of every type of textile end product (hospital sheets, airplane seat covers, public services or schools soft furnishings et al.) should be controlled all the same inside the continent for certificates that reassure their green footprint and origin.
As the consumer culture changes, awareness about climate change and post-disaster scenarios is raised through social media but also there is a generational and social re-mapping, regarding our notions and useful practices as fashion professionals and consumers/citizens.
What to Do (a condensed Bible for Fashion buyers and makers:
- Ensure responsible material sourcing
- Think of alternative raw materials and where they come from ( mushroom-based textiles, or coffee-based textiles, plant-based leather and their plantations)
- Opt for 100% unblended or recycled fabrics - Recycled fibers (seaqual® yarn: recycled polyester) and biodegradable ones
- Close-looped design process until production
- Production certifications- non chemical usage certification
- Prefer natural dyers
- Traceability of facilities- ensuring proper water management and proper disposal
- Opt for Fair Labour Cerificates
- Ensure Supply Chain Transparency
- Support local production- go for local yarn and materials as much as possible
- Encourage adequacy, care labeling, informative content and responsible marketing
- Renovating and reusing scraps of fabric, adopt new business models of upcycling collections and made to order/ custom made models
- Intergrate new technologies through the creation of apps and intelligent systems, promoting scalable models in order to reduce more waste through circularity/customisation
Follow those useful links to associations, organizations, schools, standards, certifications, legislations, exhibitions:
Fashion Revolution, Athens Fashion Club, Fabric Republic, Eunomia Research & Consulting, Christiana Vardakou Hand Crafted Textiles, Fairtrade International, Cotton Made In Africa, Fair Wear Foundation, Fair For Life, SA8000Ⓡ, Global Recycled Standard (CRS) , Recycled Claim Standard (RCS 100), STeP OEKO TEX, REACH, C2C, Première Vision, Modtissimo.
Special thanks to:
Victoria Dipla, EU Qualified Lawyer/MSc, LL.M Candidate UC Berkeley, Fashion Revolution Greece.
Maria Vytinidou, B.Sc, M.Sc., MBA, Chemical Engineer, Fashion Designer, Entrepreneur, Founder Athens Fashion Club Fashion School & The Fashion Gate.
Stratis Andreadis, Co-founder, Salty Bag.
Evaggelos Dimitrakopoulos, Τextile Engineer B.Sc., M.Sc., General Director, Athens Fashion Club Fashion School.
Hara Xirou, Head of South-East Europe, Eunomia Research & Consulting.
Dimitris Mathioudakis, Trainee Consultant, Eunomia Research & Consulting.
Christiana Vardakou, Designer-Founder, C.Vardakou Hand Crafted Textiles.
Vassiliki & Christina Gerothodorou, Founders - Commercial Directors, Fabric Republic.
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