“Fast fashion is like fast food. After the sugar rush, it just leaves a bad taste in your mouth.” – Livia Firth

Over the past several years, there’s been a growing focus on the consequences of fast fashion. People no longer want cheaply produced but luxurious items made by a starving workforce. They don’t want leather boots and fur coats, nor hot trends that’ll end up in landfills tomorrow.

Since its inception, the fashion industry’s been everything but ethical, and it’s high time that there was a change for the better. As fashion leaders, we must focus not only on meeting the consumers’ demands but on taking the industry to a higher level, on making it ethical.

Cruelty-Free

Vegan, cruelty-free fashion has been in quite a demand recently. Everything from faux fur and leather to vegan makeup brushes and cruelty-free beauty products has been flying off the shelves.

However, the biggest issue was that products marked “cruelty-free” weren’t always 100% so. Sure, a vegan makeup brush had synthetic bristles, but the glue that holds them together or the dye that gives them that attractive color contained animal-derived elements more often than not.

Luckily, it seems that things are about to change. Britain, for example, is introducing new guidelines that require vegan fashion products to be 100% cruelty-free, with no animal products whatsoever.

Going cruelty-free is beneficial for everyone involved, from manufacturers to consumers. Artificial and synthetic materials have never been of higher quality, and their production is much more affordable.

Eco-Friendly

It’s a well-known fact that the fashion industry is one of the world’s worst pollutants. It’s responsible for massive carbon dioxide emissions, it wastes water and electricity, and only a small fragment of products are recycled.

If we’re to bring about a new era for fashion, it’s crucial to focus on eco-friendliness. It’s time for “reduce, reuse, recycle” to become the new fashion mantra.

Brands such as Levi’s, Zara, H&M, The North Face, and others already have clothing recycling initiatives. Nike’s released shoes made of recycled materials and Adidas has done the same.

Ethical Vs. Fast Fashion

The biggest reason why the fashion industry’s regarded as one of the major pollutants is the fast fashion trend.

Fast fashion is all about selling new products and constantly creating new trends. This means that items quickly go out of style and are discarded faster than they’re bought.

The “old” textiles end up in landfills polluting the environment and releasing greenhouse gasses as they decompose.

The polar opposite of fast fashion is ethical fashion. It involves reusing out-of-style items, upcycling them, donating them to thrift shops and second-hand stores so they can be repurposed, eliminating unnecessary waste.

Manufacturing Conditions and Worker Rights

Shoppers are starting to care more about transparency than anything else, and this isn’t a new trend. Many would be willing to spend more on brands with better manufacturing conditions and worker rights.

Consumers want to know where their products come from, how they’re made, and who makes them. They want to know they’re purchasing from brands that don’t exploit their workers and that take social and environmental responsibility.

Conclusion

Ethical fashion is a trend that’s not slowing down. Leaders within the industry are held accountable for their entire supply chains, and they need to take responsibility and make the world of fashion better.

So, join us at Elements Production, and let’s take ethical fashion to a whole new level.