Fashion and Sustainability: The Journey Towards Reduction
Image: From Harriet Fletcher-Gilhuys presentation Credit: Harriet Fletcher-Gilhuys
In the light of the many on-going issues surrounding the fashion industry from sustainable practices to ethical futures, an exciting panel discussion took place at London College of Fashion. Chaired by TV presenter and historian Amber Butchart; guest speakers were Tansy Hoskins, an award-winning journalist and author who investigates the global fashion industry, Jade McSorley, Lecturer in Fashion and Sustainability (LCF) and co-founder of LOANHOOD (who also sits on the Fashion Roundtable Sustainability and Social Justice Committee), and Harriet Fletcher-Gilhuys, Slow Fashion, Wool and Textiles Researcher, Fashion Roundtable.
The aim of the panel was to gather together creative professionals who are building sustainable and ethical futures for the fashion industry. From addressing areas such as research spaces, consumer interventions and activism, every facet was discussed and interrogated to find a set of proposed solutions and invention points.
After a round of introductions and presentations about each speaker and the role they play in the industry, Amber launched a set of questions to delve into these areas in more depth, to strike discussion, criticisms and reflections.
Jade spoke about her involvement with the digital fashion space, from innovation to the ethical implications of AI, discussing how this can be both helpful but equally detrimental in terms of ownership and IP rights. She emphasised the importance of having a purpose for digital fashion, and that although it can be beneficial, this must be countered with a reason for why it is used and the deeper purpose.
Image: Jade McSorley, co-founder of LOANHOOD Credit: Jade McSorley
Her love of fashion but her hate for the exploitative, destructive and unethical practices of the industry was raised, which led to the birth of her lifestyle service the clothes swap business LOANHOOD, which aims at addressing sustainable consumption habits and the stigma around wearing garments more than once.
Conversations continued around labour, exploitation and activism. Tansy spoke about her involvement with journalism, giving agency and voice to the voiceless, challenging current perceptions, and the importance of a living wage for workers: an area that is often overlooked when referring to sustainable and cyclical fashion systems.
The term sustainable fashion so often refers to the fibre, material or life cycle assessment but rarely includes the worker and their sense of living, ownership and purpose. We need to be paying workers a living wage that allows them to do their job, be respected and live their lives just as we do.
This led into greenwashing claims and labelling issues, something that is a constant confusion for the consumer. I spoke about the need for clearer transparency from brands, as many people want to buy better but often feel confused about where to start and who to trust.
This is particularly prevalent in the wool industry with many suppliers selling cones of yarn labelled ‘spun in the UK’ which suggests that the wool is British, however this is often an imported merino and synthetic blend that has been shipped to be spun and finished in the UK.
Labelling, if used correctly, is a strong and purposeful way to translate the provenance story to connect both the farmer, designer and consumer with the end product, something that I see regularly in the British wool industry.
This led into a talk about our recent project; The Great British Wool Revival, Funded by YOOX NET-A-PORTER and supported by The King’s Foundation as an extension of the Modern Artisan programme. This is an open source tool to connect farmers, designers and makers to support their understanding of, and working with, British wool. We have mapped and demystified the processes and value chain, even adding a terminology guide to ease confusion, simplify terms and allow designers to more easily work with wool from this country.
The closing question before opening the panel up to the final year students was around industry advice and how students and new designers can navigate this area within their creative careers.
We encouraged the students to find an area in the supply chain that excites them, an area to unpick and interrogate whether that be a fibre, dye process or garment worker rights and to focus on incremental change rather than trying to take on the whole industry.
The importance of getting started and being creative was running thread; to be mindful of the materials and dyes you are working with and to have an idea of the seed and source, to not be afraid to have a voice and speak up if something doesn’t quite seem right or make sense, as the industry works on a repetitive basis repeating the same unhealthy habits.
Change can only happen when collectively we address these issues and work together to build a more sustainable and ethical fashion industry for the future - something that I feel we can all relate to!
The panel formed part of a two week symposium for students in the School of Media and Communication at London College of Fashion to support their final year research projects. It was organised by the Cultural and Historical Studies Department.