Sustainable material pioneers: what does the future hold? | Guardian Sustainable Business What’s wrong with the materials I’m wearing now? It’s likely that you’re wearing cotton or polyester, two of the fashion industry’s most popular fibres. Cotton depends on large amounts of water to grow, and polyester depends on now-declining reserves of oil and gas. Erin Smith, artist in residence at Microsoft Research explains: We are living in a time when our growing population and consumption habits are no longer going to be supportable at our present escalating rate. But what would we use instead of cotton? Bamboo, linen, hemp, sisal and even nettles are being looked into as alternatives to cotton, says Susan MacDonald, business development director at CottonConnect. However, these alternatives are grown in small volumes, so they’re more likely to reduce dependency on cotton than replace it. Flax, (a stalky plant) also has potential, requiring far less water than cotton crops demand. Are there sustainable alternatives to leather? She admits though, that price is a hurdle.
Economy Of Fashion: How Different Trends Reflect The Financial State It's common knowledge fashion is cyclical in nature. The concept of “newness” in fashion doesn't refer to the premiere of a trend, but rather its revival. Why fashion cycles in this manner, however, is less obvious. There are lots of factors at play: cultural trends, politics, celebrity influence. One one of the most surprising factors to influence the cycle of fashion, though, is the state of the global economy. If you think about it, it makes sense. During tougher times, if you need new clothes, the focus is less on passing fads and more on classic, quality pieces worth the expenditure because they’ll last (which also aids in cutting down cost per wear). As FIT professor John Mincarelli tells ABC News, “In rough economic times, people shop for replacement clothes,” adding “basics” prevail during an economic downturn. Economist George Taylor was the first to notice the correlation between fashion and the economy; he developed the “Hemline Theory” to describe his findings. Pinterest How?
Where do your old clothes go? 11 February 2015Last updated at 10:01 ET By Lucy Rodgers BBC News Every year, thousands of us across the UK donate our used clothing to charity - many in the belief that it will be given to those in need or sold in High Street charity shops to raise funds. But a new book has revealed that most of what we hand over actually ends up getting shipped abroad - part of a £2.8bn ($4.3bn) second-hand garment trade that spans the globe. We investigate the journey of our cast-offs and begin to follow one set of garments from donation to their eventual destination. Continue reading the main story How charity clothing donations end up traded abroad. Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main storyContinue reading the main story UK consumers ditch more than a million tonnes of clothing every year. Continue reading the main story “Start Quote There's a moment of magic where a gift turns into a commodity” End QuoteDr Andrew BrooksKing's College London Continue reading the main story
Introducing Study 34, The Knitwear Brand Using Recycled Materials To Create High-End Sustainable Fashion Two years ago, Eleanor O'Neill was working as a junior designer at a well-established Italian knitwear brand. At first, it seemed like the perfect job for the fashion-lover, who'd completed a degree in knitwear at Nottingham Trent University just a few years before. But O'Neill, from Yorkshire, soon found herself becoming dissatisfied with certain elements of the industry. "I felt like there was a lack of creativity everywhere, and on top of that, these massive companies didn't seem to know where their products were coming from," she tells HuffPost UK Lifestyle. "There was also so much waste that I started to get a little bit frustrated." O'Neill left her job in 2014 and in March of this year, launched her own sustainable knitwear brand, Study 34. Eleanor O'Neill The aim of Study 34 is simple: to produce exclusive and original knitwear that is sustainably sourced and ethically made. O'Neill, 26, makes all the jumpers herself in her Newcastle studio, using a small selection of machinery. Close
The Cotton Industry is Changing, Time For Big Brands To Catch Up – Textile Exchange Posted: June 7, 2016 Dora Clouttick from PAN UK shares finding from new report. Cotton is one of the most popular and widely used textiles, but often has serious environmental and social consequences at production stage. PAN-UK, along with Solidaridad and WWF, has published an independent report this month comparing the sustainability performance of companies in the textile industry to highlight their responsibility, current downfalls and opportunities for change. Conventional cotton production regularly results in the depletion and pollution of water sources, alongside long-term damage to soils and consequent loss of biodiversity. In recent years, the Better Cotton Initiative and Cotton Made in Africa have joined these efforts, so that today production of more sustainable cotton has never been higher. Lack of supply is no longer the problem, but for this growth to continue, the demand must be there to match and this is where it gets complicated. Keith Tyrell, Director of PAN UK, added
How much do top fashion brands really depend on China? When, in July 2011, LinkedIn hired Dan Roth, everyone in the media industry thought the “professional” social network was up to something big. Roth came with an impressive résumé: Forbes, Condé Nast Portfolio (a great but ill-fated glossy), Wired, then Fortune, where he served as managing editor before being poached by LinkedIn. Four years later, Roth snatched Caroline Fairchild, a young, talented writer and editor from Fortune. Everyone (yours truly included) was wrong about LinkedIn editorial potential; it didn’t became a significant business media player—and most likely never will. Why? First of all, instead of developing true journalistic content, as expected from its impressive talent line up, LinkedIn opted to bet on quantity. If Quartz or Politico taste like espresso, LinkedIn’s editorial content feels more like American coffee: cheap, bland, diluted but unlimited refills. On LinkedIn, every piece has a purpose: self-promotion (“I’m looking for a job, see my expertise!”)
Wearable pineapple fibres could prove sustainable alternative to leather | Business At weddings and formal events in the Philippines, men can often be seen wearing the Barong Tagalog, a thin and transparent embroidered garment worn over a shirt. One of the more surprising materials used in its manufacture are fibres from pineapple leaves – and long strands of the leaves could soon also be used to make a host of other products, from trainers and clothes to bags and car upholstery. Called Piñatex - piña is Spanish for pineapple - the new material was created by Carmen Hijosa, who worked as a consultant in the Philippines leather goods industry in the 1990s. She was unimpressed with the standard of goods produced and started to look for alternatives. It was the strength and the fineness of the pineapple leaf fibres used in the Barong Tagalog that first alerted her that there was another option: “I was looking for an alternative to leather. The fibres that make up Piñatex are extracted from pineapple leaves on plantations by farmers before they are cut up and layered.
Sustainable fashion reporting, organic beauty tips, DIY projects + tutorials, + natural product reviews. Emma Watson is a gal we love for many reasons, and she recently announced she’s embracing a cause near and dear to our hearts, and that’s eco-friendly fashion! We’ve written about our love of eco-conscious fashionistas in the past, but Watson has definitely come out on top of the sustainable fashion game. She recently announced on her Instagram account that she’ll be wearing clothes from designers who consider artisans’ skills, the environment, and sustainability.The “challenge” will go on while she’s on her most recent press tour for the film Regression. In another big promotion for the sustainable fashion movement, she’s been posting her ethical looks to her Instagram account too, proving that slow fashion may just be the way to go! She also tells the stories of the designers, like what it’s made of, and who made it. She espouses animal-friendly ideals too, and praised a designer who refused to use fur in one of her outfits. This is definitely a trend we can get behind!
Cotton | Industries WWF works to promote sustainable production, reduce damage to freshwater systems, and encourage the use of advanced irrigation technology and more ecologically sound growing methods. WWF is working with farmers, government agencies, buyers and investors at key stages of the market chain—from the field to the clothes shop—in a joint effort to promote more ecologically and ethically sound cotton. With support from IKEA, WWF began a pilot project to promote better ways of growing cotton. Due to its immediate success, the project evolved into a multi-stakeholder organization called the Better Cotton Initiative. Farmers that adopt the Better Cotton standards commit to: minimize the harmful impact of crop protection practices;use water efficiently and care for the availability of water;care for the health of the soil;conserve natural habitats;care for and preserve the quality of the fiber;and promote decent work. Farmers that adopt the Better Cotton standards commit to: