Eco Friendly Clothing Trends for Winter 2016
Winter 2016 is arriving quickly, giving ethical fashion a growing foothold reflecting consumer purchasing trends in the industry. Trends in Ethical Fashion – Summer 2016 introduced the changing fast fashion in consumer buying to an eco friendly slow fashion mindset.
Sustainable Budget
Finances are always a consideration whether you are the manufacturer, retailer, or the consumer. Current responsible fashion choices suggest creating a reasonable budget as well as considering environmental impact. For a sustainable budget, throw away, cheaply made, high priced clothing and accessories have begun being replaced with environmentally friendly, well designed, and reasonably priced goods. Livia Firth (Creative Director, Eco-Age; Co-Founder, Green Carpet Challenge) touts the “30 wears” rule for selecting your wardrobe.
Eco-Friendly Materials
Making smart eco-friendly choices means checking that label for the materials used in creating the product. Natural based fibers will break down and return to the earth to enrich it. Choosing products made using natural dyes and organic design elements, leave toxic chemicals out of the home and the land fill.
Talk With Your Dollars
When an item is purchased, this confirms to the manufacturer that they made the correct choice in their product’s material, design, and construction. They follow the purchasing trends closely to ensure sales. Being selective will send a message to them when choosing eco-friendly products. Your purchasing dollar has power.
Impacting the Global Eco-system
Choosing responsible fashion selections goes a long way to impacting the global environment. Nicole Rycroft (Founder And Executive Director, Canopy) states “Another 20 to 30 global apparel brands and designers join early Canopy Style pacesetters in eliminating the use of endangered forests from their fabrics by 2017. Research brands to ensure that the items a brand produces, is leaving a positive carbon foot print.
A Healthy Workplace/ A Healthy World
Manufacturing is a global practice with global impact. Often the fashion workplace can be filled with toxic materials and the workers risk exposure. The toxic waste from manufacturing finds it’s way into water tables, rivers and ends up in our oceans. This can affect other industries such food supplies. Encouraging fashion manufacturers to use eco-friendly materials and eco-safe processes has far reaching impact beyond the fashion world.
The Ultimate Goal
David Dietz (Founder, Movavanti) agrees that the ultimate goal is zero waste technology in manufacturing. Consumers, to ease waste in landfills, can choose slow fashion purchasing practices as a personal goal. Retailers, willing to demand ethical fashion products to fill their racks, are needed. It all begins with the purchasing dollar. Make reasonable fashion choices so we can realize the ultimate goal together.