A Beginners Guide to Disruption: How are Retailers & Designers Sustainable?
- Dorothy Silverman
- Oct 26, 2020
- 3 min read
Now you know how to thrift, great! But what if you want new clothes, like basically everyone else? We all love that feeling of confidence after leaving a store with your new sweater, and ripping the tag off when you wear it out for the first time. Well, I’m here to tell you that there are a few retailers and designers who are looking to disrupt the fashion industry to change the ways of sustainability so that you can still buy new clothes. Sustainability within a retailer can’t just happen overnight. It takes the knowledge of scientists, the motivation of the designer and the following of consumers. It also takes a lot of money, which is why the fashion industry is doing their best to tap into sustainability so that it’s more available for the public.
I’ll start with @stellamccartney, the fashion designer daughter of Sir Paul McCartney. Her high fashion garments exude elegance and edge, and she’s a pioneer guiding the luxury fashion industry towards sustainability. McCartney breaks up her sustainability report between the mission statement, materials and innovation, social sustainability and measuring our impact. The tab delves further with specifics, but McCartney makes sure to keep customers in the loop. McCartney is a member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition. The brand uses eco-friendly materials like organic cotton and regenerated cashmere. They also measure and report on their direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, and have an approved science-based target to reduce greenhouse emissions. I’ve included a video where McCartney reflects on her impacts on sustainable fashion.
@hm, the infamous fast fashion retailer, has been tapping into sustainability. The H&M Group publishes sustainability reports every year with their highlights and facts on how they’re improving their market. Upon looking up “H&M Sustainability” on Google, you’ll be drawn to H&M’s website of “Let’s” initiatives like innovate, be transparent and be fair. The H&M Group also posts their sustainability performance reports every year which includes a thorough examination of what their goals are and what they’ve already done to aid in the sustainability movement. H&M is still considered fast fashion, but they are definitely working, slowly but surely, on their goals. If you can believe it, H&M has pledged to use 100% recycled or sustainable materials by 2030!
@reformation is a retailer with a bit of a higher price range, but you’re definitely paying for quality, and you are paying for the protection of Mother Earth. Reformation’s whimsical but stylish clothing allows you to confidently tell people that your outfit is new. They continuously send followers their sustainability reports, and they have them posted on their website. That is called transparency! People want to know what the retailer is up to! And a plus is that they report their diversity and inclusion stats.
They’re honest about the affects COVID-19 had on the company. They mentioned that their goal for 2020 was to have 75% of their fabrics be certified by third-party certifications like Oeko Tex Standard 100 and Bluesign. If you scroll more on their report you’ll see they’ve had 41% CO2 savings (carbon dioxide in metric tons), 68% water savings (M gallons) and 32% waste saving in metric tons. The statistic that I would consider to be most impressive is the fact that they have reused or recycled 272,027 garments, which is the equivalent to taking 365 cars off the road, 31 olympic sized pools of water and 9 garbage trucks of waste. Obviously, Reformation is looking to make an impact in the sustainable fashion industry and wants to be an inspiration for other retailers who aren’t quite there yet.
Some notable mentions of other sustainable retailers that are making their way into the light are @everlane, @revenvert and @elborneliving.
I hope this mini summary of a few of my favorite sustainable retailers/designers gives you insight into what the fashion industry is doing with sustainability and that there is hope for protecting our planet. I’ve attached a few links to the retailers sustainability reports below! Let me know in the comments if you know of any sustainable retailers because I’m always looking for new ones! Stay tuned for my next blog post on a fashion student’s take on the future of fashion in a sustainable era.
Links to sources I used for further information:
Stella McCartney:
H&M: https://www2.hm.com/en_us/hm-sustainability/lets-change.html/transparent
Reformation: https://www.thereformation.com/pages/sustainability-report-2020
Screenshots of sustainability reports: already cited above
Instagram: @dorothylauren
Twitter: @dsilvs9
I really love the way that you are offering some links at the end. These links really help me understand the details of these fashion brands. It seems like you really thinks from the reader's aspects and the format you use is really clear that me as a reader is willing to follow you and seek for your future posts. The readers will feel like you will keep providing useful information in the upcoming blogs. I believe it will be better for you to add notations under the pictures you add to the blog to make it clearer.
I loved this blog post as it shed light on ways we can still try to shop sustainably without having to thrift. I agree there is nothing like walking into a clothing store and out a new garment that has never been worn by someone else. I think it showed a level of knowledge and understanding of the topic you discussed in this blog post when you included specific statistics to back up your points. For example, the statistics about Reformation saving our precious natural resources while producing clothing. I was not aware of the environmental impact Reformation was making while still managing to be successful within the fashion industry. I now understand why influencers and celebrities are sporting this…
I really liked your post because I don't know much about how the fashion industry works. I learned alot about the organizations that you covered as well as what to look for in a company to see if they are creating and selling clothes sustainably. I really liked how you talked H&M being fast fashion, but still working to try and create sustainable fashion. In my head, these two things were mutually exclusive. I also really liked the video that you attached to the blog. I think that the videos point about needing a change in laws and legislation was really important. The only thing that I wished you did was provide more context on who Stella McCartney is and…