(Planet) Sustainability: an unachievable dream for consumerism’s favorite child?

Week One was based around the pillar ‘planet’ which meant exploring the impact of the fashion industry on the environment. Even though the focus was on how materials, production, and consumption of fashion tax the planet and are slowly destroying it, this essay will focus on the root cause: people. This essay will argue that fashion’s secret to sustainability lies within the consumer rather than the system. This will be argued by defining sustainability and relating it to the customer’s behavior, explaining the root of mass consumption, and exploring the relationship between fashion and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Firstly, it is important to define what it is sustainability. According to the most often quoted definition of sustainability, it means to: “meet the needs of the present (generation) without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” (UN World Commission on Environment and Development).  This definition suggests that for fashion would look like producing clothes to fulfill the materialistic and creative needs of the current generation without destroying the planet so far off that the next generation cannot do the same. In this sense, it could be further argued that sustainability has then evolved to become a social agreement that reflects a code of conduct our society demands. It is about being polite and morally righteous, just like saying “please and thank you”. It has been conveyed that it should be at the forefront of any objective we set when it comes to expanding or innovating in any industry. Within fashion, this means reusing existing clothes or materials and being more conscious of our level of production. Theories such as the ‘circular models’ have been developed to move towards “slow fashion”, and society looks down upon those who do not subscribe to these ideals. A circular economy champions the preservation of resources such as energy, labor, and material, and is based on the four pillars of using, reusing, conscious design, and production. This could be exemplified as not disposing of an outfit after worn. It is imperative to recognize that these theories and goals do not address the core causation of the issue: customer demand. It does not matter how much a business has CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) or how much we demand TBLs (Triple Bottom Lines) because the results will not change unless the psychology of the consumer changes.

Keeping this in mind, it is possible to subscribe to the affirmation that sustainability in fashion has nothing or very little to do with the actual clothes and the quality of the materials and all to do with the consumer. Fashion is capitalism’s favorite child because it is rooted in human identity. Our capitalist culture controls our consumption patterns as well as our perception of needs. We look to consumption to distinguish ourselves and showcase social status. We are so blinded by the image of the product that we are numb to the labor it represents. Vestments aimed to call attention to this dichotomy through their Harrod apparel in 2018 in a very Marcel Duchamp way. The window displayed a pile of clothes donated by Harrods employees to call attention to mass production, yet it also promoted the brand to increase sales. Therefore, the dichotomy arises, they call attention to overconsumption while they incentivize it. No, but it is okay to consume their products because they are niche and “unlike other brands”, they make a social statement. The fashion industry will always come hand in hand with capitalism and wear hypocrisy as their stellar costume.

In line with our human hypocrisy, the United Nations has developed 17 Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) that if reached by 2030 will allow us to live in a new and dystopian world. It could be argued that all SDGs are relevant to the fashion industry, yet for the purpose of further exploring the planet this essay will focus on numbers 11 (Sustainable cities and communities), 12 (Responsible consumption and production), 13 (Climate action), 15(Life on land), and 17 (partnership for the goals). These goals can be further explained in infinite manners which exemplify how they truly mean ‘x’ instead of ‘y’, but the truth is that the goals are very straightforward and stand for what their title describes. If the fashion industry was really aiming to shift towards saving the planet, then it would have to shut down. Unfortunately, at its core, it is not driven by creativity but by profit. Creativity would not cease to exist with the death of mass production, it would thrive. This would mean production would become local and would be cut down in size to fulfill regional needs and celebrate cultures. Nonetheless, society is anthropocentric and as much as we care for the planet our priority will always be humans. This is best exemplified in the order of the SDGs themselves, as ending poverty and world hunger are within the top 5, and goals regarding the planet only come about after Goal 10. Thus, to contribute towards the SDGs it is necessary to focus on the client rather than the product. Just like designer Patrick McDowell is doing with his “aftercare” service. He provides the client with the opportunity to reshape the purchased garment to fit multiple events and become a timeless piece rather than a one-night spectacle. 

In conclusion, if fashion dreams of becoming more sustainable the answer lies within the consumer. As painful as it is fashion might never fully reach sustainability, yet it must aim to become less harmful to the planet. The answer to how it does it has infinite variables, but nothing changes if people do not demand the change. As René Magritte eloquently pointed out in his “This is not a pipe” painting, the fashion industry is not clothes… it is the people who wear them.

References:

1. Corvellec, H., Stowell, A.F. and Johansson, N., 2022. Critiques of the circular economy. Journal of industrial ecology, 26(2), pp.421-432.
2. Cross, G., 2015. Consumed nostalgia: memory in the age of fast capitalism. Columbia University Press.
3. Gottdiener, M., 2000. CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO CONSUMPTION. New Forms of Consumption: Consumers, Culture, and Commodification, p.1.
4. Madsen, A.C (2018). At Harrods, Vetements Calls Out The Fashion Industry On Overproduction. London: Vogue.
5. McDowell, P (2022). About Patrick McDowell. https://patrickmcdowell.co.uk/pages/timeline
6. O’neill, J., Holland, A. and Light, A., 2008. Environmental values. Routledge.
7. Rousseau, J.J. (1895) The Social Contract … Translated with a historical and critical introduction and notes by H. J. Tozer, etc. London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co.
8. United Nations. (2022). The Sustainable Developments Goals Report. New York: United Nations.
9. UN World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). Brundtland report. Geneva: United Nations.
10. World Economic Forum, Ellen MacArthur Foundation and McKinsey & Company,. (2016) The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the Future of Plastics. http://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/publications).