Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
In recent years Italy has paved the way for a greener future in fashion and encouraged a new generation of designers to have an eco-friendly vision since it published the sustainable development manifesto of Italian fashion in 2012.
Although some may not realise, fashion is widely part of our lives. It is an instant language with which we tell strangers, friends, and most importantly ourselves who we are. As pretentious as it sounds it’s true. We walk into a shop often having in mind something we need; a coat for winter, new shoes to replace the ones we’ve had for years that are just so comfortable, but way too old. We decide upon a certain piece not only because it fulfils the basic criteria, but because it reflects us as individuals.
Recently though, many people have become aware of the fact that fashion and the desire to buy new clothes all the time is extremely problematic. Buying second-hand clothing or upcycling old clothes is becoming increasingly popular, along with buying ‘vintage’ clothing. Fashion brands need to evolve to manage this shift in the consumers’ gaze. And this should not be by rapidly manufacturing items that reflect the ‘vintage’ style that’s on-trend; it should be by encouraging a slow and sustainable outlook on fashion.
The fashion world is unsustainable by definition. Fashion is part of popular culture. But what’s popular one week is not necessarily the next. The big fashion houses at the top of the chain use their platforms and expertise to create new and extreme trends, which trickle down from the high-end designers to high street stores. So, are they to blame for the recurrent cycles of trends?
In addition, fashion is unsustainable because of the materials that are often used by brands of varying statuses. High-end designers have been known to use luxury materials like fur and leather, whilst cheaper brands almost always source materials inexpensively and unsustainably. In the case of cheaper brands, this leads to a vicious circle of clothes being borne out of an unsustainable environment and shortly being discarded when the poor material fails to survive the harsh reality of everyday life.
On a more positive note, we can look to Milan Fashion Week for hope. This year’s September Fashion Week hosted the fourth edition of ‘Designers for the Planet’, an initiative by the CNMI (Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana) which advocates sustainability for the fashion industry. It highlighted the talent of three emerging brands, one of which was Tiziano Guardini. He describes his work as a ‘marriage between fashion and nature’ and often uses ISKO fabrics, a brand that prides itself on ‘responsible innovation’.
September’s shows also saw Prada’s Spring/Summer 2022 Womenswear collection using materials that will be upcycled and donated to META, an economy
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