What 2023 means for sustainable fashion

Over the years, a core part of tracking sustainable fashion, professionally or otherwise, has been the constant need to scream into your pillow because a fast fashion brand is once again selling something for less than 10p, or the illegal pay scandal is happening again It has surfaced, or there is a large amount of clothing waste again in countries in the southern hemisphere, or millionaires are launching fast fashion lines again. But amid the predictable despair, there are developments that either move things forward in a meaningful way or are so utterly outrageous that you momentarily put down your pillow and ask what the fuck? So, let’s dive into those moments this year.

As of Copenhagen Fashion Week AW23 edition, Any brand or designer who wants to be featured on the official calendar must comply with a series of sustainability requirements.Appropriately called minimum standards because they represent the bottom line all What brands should really do now is that they focus on six areas across the entire fashion value chain: strategic direction (how the company operates), design, smart material selection, working conditions, consumer engagement and fashion shows.

There are 18 action points under these six focus areas, which include not destroying clothes from previous collections; finding a second life for samples; ensuring that at least 50% of collections are made from certified or preferred materials; Conduct due diligence; educate consumers on sustainable practices; and practice zero-waste set design and performance production. In addition to these minimum requirements, brands can take additional actions, such as offering rental services, to earn additional points on their application.

Copenhagen Fashion Week was the first fashion council to implement such standards, and it has started a trend that will see Copenhagen International Fashion Fair, Norwegian Fashion Centre, Oslo Fashion Show and Iceland Fashion Council all preparing to implement these requirements in the coming years.These standards also serve as inspiration for London Fashion Week Minimum and Bronze Standards For NEWGEN designers.

In 2022, Vestiaire Collective announced it was banning multiple brands from its platform as part of a commitment to end fast fashion. Boohoo, Pretty Little Thing, Shein and ASOS are all on the list. This year, after consulting with experts such as Fashion Revolution co-founder Orsola de Castro and The Or Foundation co-founder and director Liz Ricketts, the resale platform added 30 more, including H&M, Zara, Uniqlo and Urban Outfitters.

Reaction to the ban has been mixed, with some praising Vestiaire for drawing a line in the sand and others concerned it provides fewer avenues for resale and therefore increases the chance of clothes going to waste. Vestiaire Collective is aware of these concerns and said it wants to ensure the ban does not shift the blame for fast fashion waste onto Cantamento. To this end, it is lobbying for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation with the Or Foundation and finding practical solutions for fast fashion already in its communities, including recycling, upcycling and constructive donation strategies.

Eckhaus Latta has partnered with fashion tech company Unspun to develop a range of zero-waste products for the Spring/Summer 2024 show at New York Fashion Week 3D woven clothing These include chunky trunk-style pants made from twine, layered jeans and a shimmering pant and sleeve set.unspun yarn Vega Technology makes it possible to create seamless 3D textiles, so you don’t have to start with a piece of fabric and cut out what you don’t need, which obviously creates a lot of waste, but instead only 3D knit what you need, which usually takes less than ten minutes. This is the first time this technology has appeared on a major runway.

While Japanese genderless brand Setchu took home the main prize, one of the two winners of this year’s Karl Lagerfeld Award was better.Run by predecessor Ukrainian Vogue Fashion director Julie Pelipas describes Better as an upcycled system. While the brand reworks deadstock and second-hand pieces (digitally tailored for a perfect fit) and sells them under its own name on its own platform, it also partners with other brands like Dover Street Market Work with retailers to launch your own upcycled collections. The ultimate goal is to become a global platform that promotes upcycling at scale. While upcycling is currently a slow, step-by-step analog process that often results in small capsule collections (such as Balenciagas’ new Recycl collection, which debuted this year), Pelipas hopes to modernize and streamline the entire process to enable mass production. Become a reality and compete with the traditional linear fashion system.

Destroying unsold merchandise has been a hot topic in the fashion world, with countless high-fashion brands participating in the practice. That changed when France proposed a landmark law in 2019 banning the destruction of unsold goods, which was approved in 2020 and came into effect on January 1, 2022. This year, action spread, with the EU outright banning the destruction of unsold textiles and footwear in December.The agreement is part of a wider update Ecological Design Regulation covers everything from repairability to recycled content. Once it comes into effect, large businesses will have two years to comply and medium-sized businesses six years. So while it’s not an immediate change, it’s a step in the right direction.

Fashion giant Comme des Garons has teamed up with sustainability advocate FREITAG to launch a series of upcycled bags. The Holidays with FREITAG collection was released in December and was designed by Comme founder Rei Kawakubo. Swiss brand FREITAG has been making bags out of recycled truck tarpaulins for the past 30 years, with a sustainability record that puts many newly transitioned sustainable fashion brands in the dust. With this collection, Rei Kawakubo paid homage to a brand she has reportedly worn for years while bringing it into the realm of luxury fashion.

NEWGEN Footwear designer Helen Kirkum showed off her upcycled sneakers to combat shoe waste at London Fashion Week in February. her speech, back off, showing four rows of 20-metre-long single shoes collected from a London recycling centre. 824 pairs of worn shoes were placed under dim lights, destined to become 137 pairs of Kirkum shoes Palimpsest Suitable for AW23 mass-produced sneakers. At an event characterized by excess, Kirkum’s speech brought attention back to the industry’s wasteful tendencies.

No sustainable fashion event is complete without some greenwashing and scandal, and this year it came thanks to Kim Kardashian’s nipple bra.Revive an already existing style toured in the 1970s,Kardashian talks about the launch of new SKIMS The Ultimate Nipple Bra Climate-themed ads. Sea levels are rising, ice caps are shrinking, I’m not a scientist but I believe everyone can do their part using their skills. That’s why I’m launching a new bra with built-in nipples. So, no matter how hot you are, you always look cold, she says in the promo.

Kardashian also revealed that 10% of sales will be donated as a one-time donation to Contribute 1% to the earth. Obviously, the campaign aims to approach the climate conversation in a tongue-in-cheek way, but the riff on deadly climate breakdown feels gross, especially when so many SKIMS products are made from synthetic materials based on fossil fuels. When it does, its production exacerbates the crisis. Shedd would be better off releasing nothing but donating a sizeable portion of his wealth. Oh, maybe she could fly it in on a private jet, too.