start

THEORY:

Since signing up for this practice I already knew I had to pick clothing as resource. Because for one, as a designer I am interested in the way we as designers have to shape not only new designs, but also new economies for sustainability within the fashion industry. We will have to change drastically if we want to keep going. Second, as an individual I already partake in consciously shopping. I eat less or no meat at all, I buy from local shops and markets, I thrift for new clothing or buy via vintage suppliers or secondhand apps on my phone.

Because I believe buying clothing that has an expanded life cycle has a big influence on the fast fashion industry as we as customer can control the market, if we realise to do it in masses.

FIRST ECONOMY: FAST FASHION

What is Fast Fashion?

Fast Fashion is an 1.3 trillion euro economy focused on selling inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends from the runways. This industry focuses continuously on “the next big thing” and has a short lived garment use. This industry knows big players like H&M, Zara and Uniqlo. All these brands are in the top 10 most damaging retailers and know little to none sustainability or affects to show the contrary.

The biggest problems facing this economy:

The textile and fashion industry has a long and complex supply chain, starting from agriculture and petrochemical production (for fibre production) to manufacturing, logistics and retail.
Each production step has an environmental impact due to water, material, chemical and energy use.
Many chemicals used in textile manufacturing are harmful for the environment, factory workers and consumers.
Most environmental impacts occur in the textile-manufacturing and garment-manufacturing countries, but textile waste is found globally.
Fast fashion has increased the material throughput in the system. Fashion brands are now producing almost twice the amount of clothing today compared with before the year 2000.
Current fashion-consumption practices result in large amounts of textile waste, most of which is incinerated, landfilled or exported to developing countries.

The Fast Fashion companies have a new and complex economical build up.

1 Vertical Integration: This is when a company controls production and/or distribution of a product or a service. These companies do everything themselves, from designing clothes to the production of a millionfold, to selling the items. This helps streamline costs and optimize production process
2 Communication: These companies also work with a feedback system. So can the inhouse designers quickly adjust on customer feedback and deliver specific products to keep customers interesting. They use data analysis and conduct field research on what is trending worldwide.
3 Design to retail cycle: The emphasis lies on fast; brands like Zara have completely reshaped the industry by speeding up the cycle by having a finished, sellable item within 5 weeks. Insane!
4 Outsourcing: finally, the last one follows through imperialism and the post colonial economy of cheap labor in poor countries. Again costs are kept at a low with low wages over long hours, factories jam-packed with workers, working all hours of the day. These brands can do what they want because this economy also feeds the mouths of those who work in the fashion industry world wide, which is believed to be 1 in 6 people. The terrible wages, hours and working condition are hold up in these developing countries because they know little to no worker-unions or labor protection, next to the damaging lack of environmental laws keeping this industry exploitative and unreliable.

There are many ways we could change this system but let's look at the system first (system avaible at 1.1 & 1.2 on this page)

This model gives a clear view on what this system gives. Clear as day is the amount of waste the whole process generates, and, in which stages these are caused by the consumer/producer. Next to waste being a big outcome, the usage of energy to make these products is incredibly high. Meaning that there is a second sustainability issue with emissions and control theirof. Another problem is the time spend using the product, or better said; the lifespan of one article of clothing. This consumer side issue is sustained by the constant notion of trends and new, cheap items. At one hand holding up the sensation of having to be stylish within popular culture, on the other hand provided by the same manufacturers who offer you cheap clothing.

Thus, creating an economy with the second highest polluter of clean water resources on earth. Impacts from the fashion industry include over 92 million tonnes of waste produced per year and 79 trillion litres of water consumed. On the basis of these environmental impacts, we outline the need for fundamental changes in the fashion business model, including a deceleration of manufacturing and the introduction of sustainable practices throughout the supply chain, as well a shift in consumer behaviour — namely, decreasing clothing purchases and increasing garment lifetimes. These changes stress the need for an urgent transition back to ‘slow’ fashion, minimizing and mitigating the detrimental environmental impacts, so as to improve the long-term sustainability of the fashion supply chain.(2)
Next follows an improvement of the current fast fashion system. (see personal mapping 1.3)

source 1 &2 https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-020-0039-9?proof=trueMay#change-history

SECOND ECONOMY: SECONDHAND/THRIFTSTORES/VINTAGE

For this economy apply different rules. For instance, the secondhand/thrift/vintage economy could not exists without the fashion industry. As this market drives on the remainders, thrown away and overflow of product in the fashion industry. This market know different system, as the supply chain has fewer steps. There is even difference in these markets based on country, where the clothing is filtered and where it ends up being resold/reused.

The secondhand economy is based on a shift within customer demands, as lots of shoppers change buying behaviour. They do this in the following ways:
1 buying local. Local (secondhand) shops, thrift stores, luxury vintage and designers are getting more shoppers as we shift to conscious shopping behaviour.
2 selling and buying personal clothing. Individual can now in many many ways sell and buy items from others individuals on a global scale, reducing interest in “new” items of clothing. This is also a second new economy, based solely around individuals. Prices range between items as to what brand or state there in.
3 Recycling. Recycling old clothing into new fabric usable for product manufacturing can simply save us from the linear economical doom.

Now following are some mappings of what in my eyes the system upholds and what it creates.

THIRD ECONOMY: CIRCULAR ECONOMY

The last form of economy which we should and could adapt to the fashion industry is circular. A circular economy (often referred to simply as "circularity") is an economic system aimed at eliminating waste and the continual use of resources. Circular systems employ reuse, sharing, repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing and recycling to create a close-loop system, minimising the use of resource inputs and the creation of waste, pollution and carbon emissions. The circular economy aims to keep products, equipment and infrastructure in use for longer, thus improving the productivity of these resources. All "waste" should become "food" for another process: either a by-product or recovered resource for another industrial process or as regenerative resources for nature (e.g., compost). This regenerative approach is in contrast to the traditional linear economy, which has a "take, make, dispose" model of production.

(see personal mapping 1.4)