Is Green the New Black?

by tammamsarah

TechRound asked for my opinion as an expert on Sustainable Fashion and how the industry has changed with so many more businesses and consumers taking sustainability more seriously. As many of you know it is a topic I feel passionately about so thought i’d share it with you….

I started working in sustainable fashion in 2004, when it was still very niche. It was just a bunch of small indie labels trying their best, but with nothing standardised, chopped up supply chains and very few options (at any stage of production). It was the early days when people would be proud to buy fair trade coffee and bananas, but wouldn’t think twice about the clothes on their back.

Since then, sustainability really has gone mainstream. On the surface it’s great that it’s now part of the conversation. But as an insider I can see there’s an awful lot of green washing happening – companies realise the power of the message and use it as a marketing tool rather than making any actual difference.

Now, the real power shift is coming from the consumer. The over-consumption message is getting through and people are starting to turn their backs on fast fashion. It’s not just about buying ethically; it’s also about buying less.

One of the most exciting ideas I think we’ll see more of in the future is collaborative couture: hundreds or even thousands of people owning a small piece of a single high-end garment, the complete other end of the spectrum to fast fashion – where one person owns many cheap garments. Collaborative couture gives the buyers that thrill of owning a piece of couture, without the waste. And crucially, it is being made into a really rich experience with digitisation – integrating tech to connect consumers to the artisans who made it.

Full article here

Ms T xx