I have learned in my research that the fashion world needs a complete remodel to become sustainable. To produce slightly less “un-unsustainable” clothing isn’t enough if we keep selling (and buying) big amounts of it. Therefore I want to explore ways to take part of the fashion world that isn’t designing new clothing.
Save Your Wardrobe
The startup Save Your Wardrobe helps people to go shopping in their own wardrobes. It pairs together pieces of clothing in the users wardrobe, guides to find repair services and alteration services. This can help in reducing the feeling of need for something new.
Unmade
To tackle one of the biggest issues in the industry – waste as a result of overproduction – Unmade list demand directly to production. This means there is no “guessing” what the consumers want. The software allowed users to customize clothing before it is produced. The clothing is then made on demand and in smaller batches. With this customization the user will likely also love the product more, as we tend to like things we had part in creating more. This leads to willingness to repair and use until it is worn out.
Fæbrik
A “sewing collective” creating easy sewing patterns which can be altered to perfectly match your body ensuring longevity and keep-worthiness is booming in Norway. By promoting using second hand clothing that has nice fabric, but not a nice fit is a great way to salvage clothing before the last stop. In addition they sell surplus textile from already (quite) sustainable brands to salvage high quality textile in addition to enlighten the public about this issue.
Renting / second hand / resale
ThredUp, Tise, Rent the Runway, My Wardrobe and so many other companies are booming. There are issues to take into consideration here as well, eg. transport, getting “the feeling of sustainability” yet still over consuming and changing of trends, but these can be worked on. Helping in designing systems for these companies to be more profitable yet more sustainable would be highly interesting.
Sources
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20211105-how-carbon-might-go-out-of-fashion
