Explain how new developments and technologies are being used by two retailers to promote sustainable fashion
Stella McCartney is also a champion in the sustainable fashion industry. As a lifelong vegetarian, she doesn’t use any leather or fur in any of her clothing and in her Spring/Summer collection, over 50% of her clothing is sustainably and ethically sourced.
Viscose, is a key material in product making at Stella McCartney, they use it for trousers, tops, dresses and jackets. Viscose starts as trees, and as of S/S 2017, all of the viscose for Stella’s products comes from sustainably managed and certified forests in Sweden. She also creates products which are made entirely from re-cycled waste.
Another change Stella has made to her production is the use of her cashmere. Virgin Cashmere has the highest environmental impact.
Instead, she uses regenerated cashmere, made from post-factory cashmere waste in Italy. ‘Re.Verso’ is the first and only platform for re-engineering cashmere materials for fashion.
Cashmere waste from factories is sorted by hand, which requires a skilled touch to identify the difference between a variety of different fibres. As the majority of yarns are not re-dyed, the materials are sorted by colour and fibre, before being sent for testing to ensure fibre content and chemical safety. It takes four goats to produce enough fibre for to make a single cashmere jumper, this is also why the sustainability of cashmere as a material needs to be addressed immediately.
Both these retailers are showing examples of how the industry can be changed and adapted to be more sustainable. And sometimes it actually improves profits rather than affecting them. Developments in technologies and science means we can now analyze what chemicals are causing the impacts and what we can use as an alternative. Fashion sustainability is something which has just begun and is becoming more and more heard of as bigger brands start to take on new projects. The effect will only be felt once everyone is Involved and being sustainable as the demand for fast fashion increases.