Sustainability and The Fashion Industry Conceptual
Sustainability and The Fashion Industry Conceptual
Sustainability and The Fashion Industry Conceptual
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3.1 Introduction
A first step in discussing sustainability in fashion is to recognize an
inherent truth: Fashion is a polluting and resource-intensive industry,
even as its future success depends on reducing its environmental and
social imprint across the entire life cycle of garment production. That
means reducing the impact associated with cultivating and producing
textile fibres, and establishing a foundation of good practices at all levels.
It also means moving beyond focusing on only a few fibre types—
typically cotton and polyester, or a blend thereof—and creating a
portfolio of alternate fibres with low-resource intensity and potentially
rich cultural traditions.
The manufacture of both cotton and polyester fibres is detrimental
to the environment, albeit in different ways. Cotton has the greatest
negative environmental impact (Butow 2014), given its ubiquity in
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market offerings and seeking more choice. One trigger for mobilization is
the development of a collective identity (Scaraboto and Fischer 2013). We
argue that by channelling images of nature through transparency in
the supply chain, and connecting those images with the final product
(i.e. fashion apparel), critical consumers can forge a collective identity, a
bloc concerned with sustainability, which can eventually affect the market.
In community-supported agriculture, for example, consumers and entre-
preneurs have created a countervailing market response to the co-optation
of countercultural movements into dominant and mainstream forms
(Thompson and Coskuner-Bali 2007), presenting a planned mobilization
towards market change, in accordance with Scaraboto and Fischer’s (2013)
analysis. Such responses can change a market segment significantly, leading
to the production and promotion of offerings distinct from those provided
by mainstream markets.
Dolbec and Fischer (2015) analyse the impact of consumers engaged
in market dynamics without a specific coordinated plan, in the specific
context of the fashion industry. In such cases, change can be profound,
and also accidental. As a means of inciting change within fashion,
consumers who make their desire for sustainable garments known may
well have the power to push the industry to meet their needs. If the
consumer market is there, the product line will follow.
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3.7 Nature
Nature can be studied from many perspectives and understood as a
combination of material and discursive elements. Neither an external
objective nor a purely socially constructed entity, nature is a fluid
and contested effect of assembling material and discursive elements
(Canniford and Shankar 2013).
In studies of the subjective and symbolic perspectives of nature, we see
that individuals rely on nature for identity creation purposes as part of a
specific agenda and in opposition to an alternate discourse (Luedicke et al.
2010). Collective meanings and ideals can shape a group’s identity (ibid.).
As Belk (1988) shows, the extension of self can operate at an individual
and a collective level, contributing to consumers’ identities. As de Burgh-
Woodman and King (2013) argue, the concept of the human/nature
connection is tied to a symbolically sustainable discourse, which often
does not extend beyond a material/practical statement. This human-
nature connection as a construct in Western cultural discourse can be
traced back to Greek mythology in its turbulent relationship with natural
elements, as represented by each Greek deity. The relationship with nature
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and the human/nature connection have evolved over time; today’s related
discourses are necessarily linked to and often driven by the development of
environmentalism.
Along with the writings of the naturalists, activists, and environmen-
tal philosophers Aldo Leopard, John Muir, and Henry David Thoreau,
Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” (1962) stands out as one of the most
influential figures in environmentalism (Griswold 2012). Some suggest
her work gave birth to the modern environmental movement (Michaud
2010). Carson opposed the Christian belief that nature existed to serve
man and argued that technological innovations such as pesticides,
through which humans seek to control nature, would disrupt earth’s
natural ecosystem (Carson 1962; Michaud 2010). The notion of accept-
ing our collective societal role as stewards of this fragile ecosystem is
criticized in the environmental ethics literature for having anthropo-
centric, speciesist, and sexist connotations (Welchman 2012).
The environmental movement has spread into different areas from its
original opposition to pesticides in particular and pollution in general to
include opposition to genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Vandana
Shiva, an Indian environmental activist, embraces this opposition, stat-
ing that “GMO” stands for “God, Move Over”, although not without
criticism from the media (e.g. Entine 2015; Specter 2014) and academic
writers (e.g. Gilbert 2013; Herring 2006). Shiva argues that pre-colonial
North America, in having unity in feminine and masculine principles,
engendered stronger ecological values than those brought to the New
World by European culture (McGurty 2011). Without feminine values,
Shiva argues, men would separate from women and nature, and ecolo-
gical disaster would occur; the eco-feminist women tree huggers (who
form handholding circles around trees to prevent deforestation) from the
Chipko Movement in northern India embody this necessary feminine
principle required for preventing ecological catastrophe (ibid.).
Perhaps in a reflection of the distrust endemic to many environmental
discourses (as seen, e.g. in corporate green-washing), the term “tree
hugger” is officially identified in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as
“someone who is regarded as foolish or annoying because of being too
concerned about protecting trees, animals, and other parts of the natural
world from pollution and other threats”.
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time when life was simpler (Belk and Costa 1998); in such contexts,
nature is revered and a “quasireligious naturalism” is evidenced, aligned
with the sacred discourse of nature (ibid. 234).
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Nature Nature
Other
Apparel Apparel
products Traceability
piece piece
(e.g. food)
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3.10 Discussion
Slow fashion aligns consumption with consumer ideals of protecting the
natural world. Consumers who perceive their identities as incorporating
both an appreciation for of-the-moment fashion and a commitment to
the environment will likely find this symbolic value both meaningful
and indicative of new approaches to consumption. To embrace that
goal, slow fashion must focus on a sustaincentric paradigm; only
through responsible processes can high-quality and ethical products be
produced. Once the fashion industry commits to sustainability, trace-
ability is the sole effective method for certifying the industry’s adherence
to the ideals of slow fashion.
Tracing becomes imperative once certification is accepted commer-
cially as essential. Consumers want reassurance that the labels and
certifications they see on apparel products are genuine, which can only
happen when every raw material, supplier, transportation mode, and
process is tracked from the source. Because any apparel company will
have an innate conflict of interest in marketing the green qualities of a
given garment—describing a garment as sustainable instantly justifies a
higher price—externalizing tracing services can eliminate such conflict
by maintaining transparency. After fashion companies have implemen-
ted tracing processes, certification should be done by third parties
untainted by any possible appearance of professional quid pro quo.
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