Photo by Tiziano Guardini by Beulcke+Partners srl
‘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 which prides themselves on ‘responsible innovation’.
September’s shows also saw Prada’s Spring/Summer 2022 Womenswear collection using materials which will be upcycled and donated to META, an economy project based in Milan offering sustainable solutions to waste disposal. This comes as no surprise since creative director Miuccia Prada has already pledged to use 90% of sustainable fabrics for her future designs. She follows in the footsteps of fashion houses like Versace and Gucci, who no longer use real fur in their designs and have made eco-friendly choices in the past. For example, Versace’s most recent sustainability strategy follows 2019 Gucci aiming for carbon neutrality by 2025. However, sometimes when huge brands strive for carbon neutrality issues arise. If aiming for net-zero it’s important to reduce the use of carbon altogether rather than buying back the carbon used, which is a popular approach to carbon neutrality known as carbon offsetting. Although we must be careful not to judge the efforts that the industry is notably making, we must be aware that sometimes sustainable language is used to disguise eco issues.
This new era of fashion not only seeks to help the planet, but it also responds to the new generations waking up to the global issues of climate change and global warming, which fashion greatly contributes to. Right now, we cannot say that decreasing consumerism is a wholly attainable option. Fashion has a close relationship with consumerism and so in discouraging the idea of buying, fashion giants would be doing themselves a disservice. As Miuccia Prada herself has stated, “People urge to buy less, but that will mean diminished production and will lead to unemployment.” Instead, it would be more beneficial to encourage recycling and upcycling. So, in the meantime we should continue to do our best to invest in pieces that are made to last.
Photo by Ouael Ben Salah on Unsplash