Now, on the one hand, this massive growth reflects upon the employability and the general upward curve of the industry. On the other hand however, it also brings forward a very simple question : how does an early stage, rather theoretical circularity of fashion cope with this scale of production? And, how realistic is it to expect the current circular initiatives to grow the sustainability aspect of fashion, hand in hand with the economic one?
For instance, here are some data points: The fashion industry is the 4th largest user of raw materials, produces 500 million tons of textiles waste that ends in landfills and the annual carbon footprint of the industry amounts upto 1.2 billion tons. Figures from the State of Fashion 2018 and this article from Ellen McArthur Foundation)
Now, coming back to the original question of the challenges of fashion circularity, the hurdles are multi faceted:
1- The global fashion market is still warming up to the idea, and fashion circularity in supply chain, in terms of use of recycled raw materials still appeal to a niche market.
2- Fashion circularity as a pillar of sustainable fashion industry, is often limited to greenwashing by certain brands where most brands still don’t offer an after sales solution to help the customer use for longer time.
3- Fashion circularity is still not the main focus of formative fashion schools which are creating the future decision makers of fashion.
4- Slow change in policy and business practices pose a risk to the momentum of circular fashion, limiting it potentially to forums and marketing reports.
5- The lack of a strong, supporting ecosystem for impactful, fashion-tech startups with a focus on greentech, often leads to the drying out or extinction of great ideas which could potentially change the world. It isn’t as easy to fundraise or find angels for such startups, as for those in fintech or deeptech.
Recent Comments