SXSW 2024: The Power of Collaborations for a Sustainable Fashion Future
“There are so many people, in all corners of the world, who are working on solutions, who are willing to make a difference. Those people are the superheroes of today and tomorrow. ”
The world is facing challenges that force us to understand that fierce independence simply doesn't work. When we come together and share expertise, we can find solutions and make them happen to create real change.
Fashion is an industry that contributes to the triple crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and waste and pollution on a large global scale. But it is also one where exciting change can happen through the power of collaborations and community.
A wide collective shift including all value chain stakeholders is needed to change fashion’s impact on people and the planet for the better.
PICTURED: SUSTAINABLE FASHION STARTUP TREUN HOUSE ATELIER
Member of the UN Conscious Fashion & Lifestyle Network led by the United Nations Office for Partnerships and the Fashion Impact Fund advancing the SDGs - Member of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation helping to build a circular economy
REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE
AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FASHION VALUE CHAIN: LAND TO MARKET
“We need the farmers at the table”
60% of our clothing today is made from fossil fuel in the form of polyester or plastic. This comes at a high cost for the environment as these synthetic fibres are hard to recycle, pollute nature and contribute to global warming.
The reality is that most clothing today is still designed for a take-make-waste linear model in its approach to resources, causing damage to human health and natural systems. The need for a global transformation towards the sustainable use of resources has become critical as per The Global Resources Outlook 2024 by the United Nations that has just been released.
How can we halt this polluting inferno right at the source via the raw materials we use?
Returning to nature and designing clothing using circular economy principles is one of the pathways. When garments are made from natural fibres, one big advantage is that they are naturally biodegradable, which means that the end of life of the product is integrated into the design right from the start. But we still need to look at the impact of each fibre and the methods used to grow them in soil.
This is when organisations like Land to Market, the leader in regenerative agriculture, play a critical role in providing avenues for fashion brands to promote and support the regenerative production of raw materials.
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Approximately a third of the Earth’s land surface is grasslands, and 70% of these lands have been degraded. By restoring productivity back to global grasslands through regenerative agriculture, we can contribute significantly towards food, water and climate security.
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Regenerative agriculture achieves net positive results for the environment. It repairs the damage that humans have done to the earth and makes things better.
Regenerative agriculture builds soil fertility, sequesters carbon, improves watersheds, and supports biodiversity by properly managing livestock on the grasslands of the world.
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Regenerative agriculture puts environmental outcomes at the forefront of decision-making for farmers and ranchers and allows them to optimize their stewardship of the land.
As more land is regenerated, more vegetation is grown and more CO2 is removed from the atmosphere — helping to mitigate temperature shifts caused by rising carbon in the atmosphere.
Regenerative agriculture has a critical role to play in impacting the climate emergency.
Land to Market is working with brands around the world, including luxury fashion group Kering, to heal the planet by regenerating its grasslands. They are the world’s first verified regenerative sourcing solution for raw materials such as wool or leather. Together with their partners they make it possible for regenerative farmers and ranchers to receive the recognition they deserve and are giving a voice to the land.
MADE TO ORDER PRODUCTION
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FASHION VALUE CHAIN: PROJECT DXM
“We need courageous leadership”
Despite fashion having a staggering waste crisis, many brands are reluctant to publish their production numbers... which Speaks Volumes in reference to a campaign by The Or Foundation as a call for transparency and accountability.
While we don’t know the exact number of clothes fashion produces, it is estimated that 150 billion garments are now made each year (yet another increase year on year), over 40% are never sold, and 85% of all textiles end up in landfills.
What can be done to make these whopping numbers of waste and overproduction plummet?
One significant solution would be to reconsider how we produce fashion. The vast majority of the clothing sold today is ‘ready-to-wear’ i.e. designed and produced to standard sizes for mass production and distribution. Although this system has its benefits, it also generates mind-blowing amounts of unnecessary stocks that end up being only produced for dump sites or destroyed without even ever touching the hands of a consumer.
Enter Project DXM, a proprietary technology platform that makes ‘on-demand’ manufacturing possible with a turnaround time of days, not weeks, allowing brands to only produce what consumers would actually order. With this ecosystem, brands of any scale can offer fit, customisation and size inclusivity and connect with consumers directly via digital commerce. The new standard DXM are setting for the fashion industry doesn’t only optimise the overall supply chain, but also reduces carbon footprint and improves the customer experience. If only 20% of the apparel and footwear on offer today would switch to on-demand production, it would already lead to striking waste reduction and would save tons of raw materials and gallons of water.
FOSTERING COMMUNITY
AT THE END OF THE FASHION VALUE CHAIN: THE INFLUENCER CODE
“We need to approach Influencer Marketing differently”
Fashion is known for setting new trends that influence not only what we wear and our daily lives but span far beyond to other industries and shape culture as well. In light of the triple planetary crises we face and the growing interest and demand for eco-friendly practices, sustainability has garnered a lot of attention in the fashion industry.
Many fashion brands and designers have incorporated eco-friendly practices into their collections, claims have flourished, sometimes genuine, sometimes green-washing, new ventures have been created to reduce, reuse, recycle. Sustainability is clearly on trend!
But how can this trend become a lasting shift with significant impact for the future?
One thing sustainable brands need to be able to harness if they want to be successful in their missions and create change for the long-term is: the power of influence.
For so many decades, fashion brands have grown on marketing tactics involving fast buzz, seductive advertising and irresistible promotions appealing to our senses and price sensitivity. It still influences consumer buying behaviour today in a big way and continues to feed the beast of forever-growing consumption and production.
This is when ‘The Influencer Code’ by Amanda Russell (*) can serve as an incredibly useful guide for brands who wish to challenge the status quo, build trust and grow genuine communities, because even with the best intentions in the world if you don’t connect with your market, your influence is not going anywhere. In the book, Amanda redefines what influence means and provides a useful framework to help brands Build Better Influencer Alliances and leverage your Influencer relationships across all elements of your business.
Sustainability can be a very serious topic and it can be tricky for marketers to approach it in a way that can ensure it does have the reach and impact they want to see. But if sustainable brands can harness their power of influence in a bigger way, fashion could play a huge role not only in driving the social and environmental agenda forward within their own industry, but also in becoming a compelling force that changes the direction of the current crises trends across the world. Now, that’s a trend we want to see more of!
(*) Amanda Russell is widely respected as a leader in marketing, an entrepreneur and an accomplished scholar having taught at some of the most prestigious business schools in the world including Harvard in the USA, Oxford in the UK or HEC in Paris and advising some of the biggest, leading global companies such as Lamborghini, Cedars Sinai or Lionsgate.