In recent years, the fashion industry has undergone major changes involving issues such as the defense of the planet, design based on people and the non-use of animals in manufacturing.
More and more fashion companies are rejecting what is known as Fast Fashion and are joining Slow Fashion movement, whose mission is to achieve sustainability in garment making and design.
The beginnings of Slow Fashion
Design activist Kate Fletcher was the first person to speak of the term Slow Fashion. It was in the Centre for Sustainable Fashion in the United Kingdom. It was based on the Slow Food movement.
Fletcher saw a need for the fashion industry to slow down and adopt a slower pace. Its purpose was to deal with the Fast Fashion that emerged decades ago. The fact that there were brands and companies that destroyed tons of unsold clothing every year was the last straw for Fletcher.
Many companies have taken Kate Fletcher’s call. Brands that manufacture their clothes with sustainable, high-quality materials, producing them in nearby locations rather than in factories in low-wage countries is something that is being socially demanded. In addition, Slow Fashion is betting because production is based on a few styles for each collection released, with launches taking place two or three times a year.
This movement in favor of a fashion that stops the frenetic pace of compulsive manufacturing has been making its way into society and is getting more and more people to know about it and support it.
The UN Charter for Sustainable Fashion was recently announced. It was designed by Stella McCartney, who, with this document, wants the fashion industry to take into account climate change and expects brands to follow in their footsteps.
This letter details 16 commitments to help fashion companies curb the damage the Fast Fashion industry is causing on the planet.
McCartney said it’s critical that companies take on the commitments that form the charter… Everything is at stake. It’s really about bringing everyone together as an industry, and instead of having a few people talk about it, it’s having everyone talk about it and the leaders … actually taking responsibility, putting our money where our mouth is and making an amazing change together.”
The Fashion Revolution Movement
But these movements and ideas to change the fashion industry to make it more sustainable are not based onlt on Slow Fashion. Another trend like Fashion Revolution movement brings together thousands of people seeking greater transparency in the fashion industry’s supply chain.
The Fashion Revolution is a non-profit movement that was born in 2013 in response to the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh, in which more than 1,000 garment workers died.
Since then, this movement has been growing and raising awareness among all levels of society. Reaching even political parliaments such as the United Kingdom, which in 2016 held some events of the third edition of the Fashion Revolution Week.
