Fashion Forward: 2020 fashion trends at the service of sustainable development

By Roxy L. Rowton

The spring / summer 2020 fashion trends reflect an industry that is dealing with the harmful effects of fast fashion and mass production. Designers and clothing brands focus on sustainability, transparency and circular fashion. These factors will continue to impact the industry over the next decade as designers and clothing brands strive to strengthen their reputation as loyal fashion keepers.

Transparency:

For spring / summer 2020, it is not only the latest trends that roam the runway. A commitment to make the fashion industry more sustainable and transparent on the catwalks between clothes. Consumers demand to know the true cost of manufacturing a garment, by tracing the supply chain from raw material to fabric and the production chain from production, to labor and delivery. Clothing brands and fashion houses are stepping up their efforts to reveal the manufacturers and origins of raw materials. These actions give clothing brands and fashion houses a channel of communication to their consumers on their sustainable development efforts. It allows consumers to make more informed choices about the clothes they bring to the closet.

the Fashion revolution is a nonprofit social enterprise that ensures that transparency and accountability in the global supply chain is on the agenda of governments around the world. They reviewed 200 global fashion and clothing brands. Their review included the quality of information they disclose about their suppliers, supply chain policies and practices, as well as social and environmental impact. The average score was less than 21%. However, the Fashion Transparency Index 2019 has shown that brands are improving their transparency.

Seventy major fashion brands publish a list of their leading manufactured products, such as where their clothes are sewn, cut and finished. Thirty-eight fashion brands are disclosing their processing facilities, such as ginning, spinning, wet processing, embroidery, printing, dyeing and bleaching. Ten fashion brands report facilities or farms supplying fibers such as cotton, wool and polyester. While the results of the Fashion Transparency Index 2019 on transparency progress are encouraging, the fashion industry still has significant progress to make.

Scaling Mill Production:

The process of spinning, weaving, dyeing, printing and finishing in garment factories generates a large part of the harmful environmental impacts of fashion production. Intensive dependence on dyes and chemicals, burning coal and fossil fuels, liberating greenhouse gas and wastewater emissions during fashion manufacturing are the main culprits which contribute to toxic environmental effects. The adverse environmental impacts of clothing manufacturing often extend beyond the direct supervision of a fashion house or clothing brand. However, a growing number of fashion brands and designers are engaging with their suppliers / manufacturers to integrate more sustainable practices such as reducing energy, water, chemicals and tincture.

Programs such as Clean by design Create green supply chains by bringing together clothing retailers and fashion brands with their suppliers to limit the harmful environmental impacts in clothing factories.

Recycling:

The reuse of end-of-life clothing is essential for the fashion industry to transform into a more circular market. The recovery of materials or the recycling of clothing is another channel which is examined by fashion brands. One method is to rethink new clothes from post-consumer clothing. The second is to recycle post-consumer clothing by integrating it and mixing it with new yarns and textiles.

Innovators in textile recycling, such as Tyton Biosciences in Danville, Virginia and Recover in Spain, develop clothing recycling solutions for the treatment of recycled polyester and organic cotton waste. Exploiting water as a solvent to make clean and recycled fibers suited to the varied needs of the fashion industry. Recycling clothes for the end use of clothes transforms textile waste into quality recycled yarns. Textile recycling innovators develop and manufacture recycled low-impact yarns and fabrics that provide clothing and fashion brands, as well as consumers, with a material recovery solution and a closed-loop system for management reliable end-of-life waste.

Resale:

Re-commerce, also known as reverse trade, is an increasingly common practice of buying and selling previously held goods to consumers. More than any other industry, fashion is leading the growth of reverse trade. Apparel retail has outperformed traditional retail by 21% in recent years, says retailer ThredUp. Young savers Millennial and GenZ are the largest group reorienting their purchases of clothes towards second-hand clothes.

Whether it's savings, second-hand, used or lightly worn, reselling has become a bargain. Resale of used clothing is of the utmost importance as clothing is often thrown away before it wears out. Resale helps redirect clothing from landfills and incinerators. Fashion brands are stepping up their efforts to collect their lightly worn products in order to encourage customers to engage in circular fashion. Fashion brands such as Eileen Fisher, Patagonia and other traditional retailers offer trade-in programs that resell previously owned clothing to their customers.

High-end fashion:

As fashionistas and pragmatists fall in love with the iconic denim, fashion is accelerating the production of denim clothing. Recycled denim will likely infiltrate all levels of the fashion industry. the Ellen MacArthurs Jean Redesign Program has grown; circularity is a major concern in denim production. Designers and fashion brands are committed to using more cotton from sustainable sources in denim clothing such as the Better Cotton Initiative, organic cotton and recycled cotton. They are also looking to partner with denim manufacturers who are committed to adopting production methods using less chemical dyes, eliminating salts, reducing water consumption and using renewable energy sources.

A number of brands have become collection agents. They offer services that encourage their customers to return used jeans and used denim clothing for recycling. Reusing old clothes is a way for the fashion industry to tap into sustainability and consumer demand for an icon.

Roxy L. Rowton has spent three decades helping women transform their wardrobe from a random assortment of clothing into an organized collection of functionality and individuality. She shares her expertise on Fashion Files at Prince William Living and create a better wardrobe blog at dailyrefinement.com