Over the past few years, the fashion industry has been dipping its elegant toes into
the waters of sustainability. The luxurious and extravagant nature of fashion has
kept many from coming out about their environmental efforts, for fear of scorn about
what they don’t do. On the other side, however, those wanting to talk-the-talk don’t
have specific standards for walking-the-walk. There lacks, in fashion, a clear set
of guidelines and certifications around different aspects of ethical, ecological, or
system-wide sustainability.

This has lead to much confusion about what sustainability really means when speaking
about fashion, as well as raised the issue of truthfulness versus the fantasy that
is customarily bundled into the marketing of luxury items. However, even in the
fashion industry-the center of the world of fads, ecologically-sound fabrication is
not fashion, not a fad: it is the new center from which sustainable business
necessarily operates. Though fashion is fantasy, clothing and accessories are a
consumer good that will be held to the same accountability for verification and
clear definitions as other products making sustainability claims.

As consumers we are daily more inclined to buy what is seen as sustainable, and
mechanisms for environmental accountability are being put in place across industries
and government to help us make these choices. So, despite the predominance of
cutting-edge, “out with the old, in with the new” attitudes that drive fashion,
there is a shift happening to gather the pieces of the sustainability picture
together. It is a big picture. There are many choices made at all levels of the
life-span of these items that can dramatically shift the footprint. Beyond sourcing,
production, and distribution-things like laundering needs and the marketing of
constantly changing fads affect consumers’ behavior. This is how even more ethereal
concepts like “timelessness design” have come to form the basis of some designer’s
definition of “sustainable fashion.”

Though this new focus on sustainability in an industry built on perpetual change is
often being spoken about as a trend, these are actually the first steps toward
defining, expanding, and standardizing best practices in fashion. A WWF report
entitled Deeper Luxury, outlined the significance in the public shift in perception
and the impact it would have on luxury items. “The definition of success - and the
way it is perceived by others - is changing. Many successful people now want the
brands they use to reflect their concerns and aspirations for a better world.”
Moving forward, conspicuous consumption is out, ethical luxury is in.

Some exciting things are happening on this front, a couple of note:

This is the first year that New York Fashion Week is carbon neutral, marking a
shift in the industry’s willingness to bring sustainability to the forefront. They
also made other efforts at the event, like providing water to reduce the use of
plastic bottles.

Patagonia has made life-cycle information available on-line for of some styles,
and there are a number of designers that are incorporating a broad range of
production choices meant to decrease impact.

2010 is continuing a several year shift toward emphasizing less expensive
accessories over whole garments, so the clothing stays and what you put over it
rotates. This type of marketing trend that would serve to extend the lifetime of
garments that may otherwise be retired.

In a world where “flawless” is the standard, it is promising to see those with the
courage to dress-up and cat-walk toward sustainability, even if the runway looks
more like a balance beam.