OXFORDSHIRE, United Kingdom — Fashion’s environmental footprint is one of the largest of any industry in the world, although it’s nearly impossible to measure the true scope of its impact. (The oft-quoted stat that it's the second most-polluting industry in the world has been disproven several times over.)
Consumers are purchasing more clothes, and keeping them for half as long, driven by fast fashion, fast marketing and a digitally driven thirst for newness.
Read MoreVictoria Beckham has become the latest designer to ban exotic animal skins from her collections.
The British fashion maven, 44, confirmed this week she would be following in the footsteps of Chanel by cutting exotic pelts from her eponymous fashion line from Fall 2019 onward in a bid to 'reflect the wishes' of her customers.
Despite never using fur in its designs, Beckham's luxury label currently sells python shoes on its website, and has previously touted snakeskin bags.
Read MoreUnless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know there’s a horrifying amount of plastic waste floating in the world’s oceans: around eight million metric tonnes of the stuff. And if things continue as they are, it’s predicted that by 2050 there will be more of it than fish in the sea.
Our single use plastic usage is declining thanks to plastic bag taxes and the rise of reusable coffee cups and water bottles, but it’s still a massive problem. And while recycling is not the definitive answer, it’s certainly going to help.
Read MoreNYFW kicked off this past weekend and all eyes are on the faux fur dominating the runways. Once considered an insult to the real thing, the opposite is now true and faux fur is the darling of established labels such as Jean Paul Gaultier and Diane von Furstenberg who’ve ditched fur on ethical grounds.
At NYFW, which began last weekend, long, plush faux fur coats and accessories made a statement, showcasing how the once-derided fabric has a place on the runway.
Read MoreWith the realization that today's shoppers quite literally wear their values on their sleeves, the fashion industry spent 2018 getting more serious about sustainability. From real fur becoming a fashion faux pas to the rise of the luxury rental and resale market, we've entered 2019 with a marketplace hungry to create a more environmentally-conscious fashion landscape and, ultimately, to design a sustainable end-to-end retail economy.
Read MoreThe city of Paris has announced official plans to become the most sustainable fashion capital by 2024. The initiative, entitled 'Paris Good Fashion' will aim to push the fashion industry towards using more sustainable practices, WWD reports.
The process will be carried out through three themes: improving sourcing and traceability, working on making processes more sustainable (including Paris Fashion Week) and creating a circular economy. The proposal was announced on Monday at the Institut Français de la Mode by Frédéric Hocquard (the deputy to Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo in charge of cultural diversity and nightlife), Antoinette Guhl (the deputy in charge of social economy and solidarity) and former fashion journalist and the first editor-in-chief of Jalouse, Isabelle Lefort.
Read MoreIn their debut Fair Trade collections, J.Crew is launching 18 styles of denim and Madewell added 16 styles, across men’s and women’s denim. "This is our first category that the company is doing with the denim collection with the Saitex factory in Vietnam. Fair Trade is a broader CSR commitment and we’ll be announcing more styles across categories in the near future," says Gonzalo Pertile, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at J. Crew Group.
Read MoreStella McCartney is set to launch a United Nations charter to promote sustainable fashion. The British designer will work with high street fast fashion brands to help them come up with plans to reduce their carbon footprint. More details on the charter and the specific fast fashion brands participating will be announced at the UN's annual convention on climate change on Dec. 10 in Katowice, Poland. {The Independent}
Read MoreFast-fashion in the UK isn't as stylish and fashionable as one may think, as it has led to a multi-billion pound wasteland, according to sources. An inquiry by House of Commons environmental audit committee will explore carbon impact, resource use and water footprint of the British fashion cycle and supply chain.
Read MoreApart from the fashion industry being “underfire” with a bunch of ugly things, the beauty industry is also under some serious reckoning. Cases involving low-wage factories for high-profile brands, environmental concerns, dangerous working conditions and more, is your favorite beauty product really safe for hygienic use?
Read MoreAs the fashion industry faces more backlash when it comes to their "production" practices, a lot of major companies have since jumped into the sustainable bandwagon and reinforced a new system of selling clothes. The most recent member is California-based activewear brand, The North Face. From returned, damaged to defective pieces, the brand aims to repurpose these materials and help bring awareness to different sustainable shopping options.
Read MoreWhat happens when a corporate lawyer transitions her passion towards a sustainable fashion? A bustling e-commerce destination for chic, eco-friendly clothing that's backed with culture, taste and values. Apart from switching out from a nine-to-five pantsuit wardrobe to a more creative and sustainable closet, the New York-based business owner is down to an exciting and invigorating path. “I dug deeper and discovered the social tragedy behind fast fashion,” she explained.
Read MoreNobody can seem to agree on how to dress sustainably. Some people advocate for organic cotton and Fair Trade fashion, while others criticize how expensive those types of pieces are for most people. Some advocate for only buying vintage, but shouldn’t indie designers also be supported in their efforts to be eco-friendly?
Read MoreWhen Kristy Caylor was in the process of moving apartments, she did what so many clotheshorses do: She tried to purge her closet the right away. She gave away clothes to friends and sold things to The Real Real and Buffalo Exchange. “But I was still left with a pile of undignified donations—things like pit-stained tees, single socks, and stretched out pajamas,” she says.
Read MoreNEW YORK, United States — Nordstrom will begin carrying Reformation products starting Monday, marking the first wholesale partnership for the brand, which has developed a following online with its environmentally friendly practices and summer dresses.
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