Fashion signs up for a green era

The sustainable fashion movement, with the first dissertations on the deteriorating state of the planet, began in the 1970s when US senator Gaylord Nelson established «Earth day» as a purely ecological event. It was then Denis Hayes, the first Earth day coordinator, who made the event an international reality, founding the Earth day network and involving more than 180 countries. It was not until the mid-1980s, however, that issues related to the planet began to make themselves felt in the field of fashion, thanks to the work of two such pioneers as British fashion designers Katharine Hamnett, with her slogan organic cotton T-shirts and seasonless collections, and Vivienne Westwood, with the first-ever «buy less, make it last» campaign, followed by co-lab initiatives with African artisans and support for reforestation campaigns. Coinciding with the 1992 United Nations conference on environment and development, «green themes» entered fashion and textile publications.

In the 2000s, however, «fast fashion» was born, i.e., the production and sale of garments with a season life and low prices, which, however, generates a quantity of waste difficult to dispose of, with a long-term prospect of decomposition: only organic-based fibers, such as cotton or wool, if spun by themselves and without other fibers of synthetic origin, are in fact naturally biodegradable. Among the first online stores to launch an eco-friendly products area is Yoox, a platform also founded in 2000, which nine years later launched Yooxygen, supported by Green cross international, an Ngo against world poverty and environmental disasters.

There are 17 sustainable development goals and 169 sub-goals associated with them. Shortly before the pandemic in 2019, it was the turn of the Fashion pact, which is a coalition of leading global fashion and textile companies (ready-to-wear, sports, lifestyle and luxury) committed to a set of shared goals focused on three main areas: halting global warming, restoring biodiversity, and protecting the oceans. At the G7 summit in Biarritz held from August 24 to August 26, 2019, the alliance was created, in which many different companies are involved, including Adidas, Burberry, Calzedonia group, Capri holdings, Diesel, Zegna, Armani, Herno, Karl Lagerfeld, Kering, Moncler, Ralph Lauren and Salvatore Ferragamo. One year after its creation (October 12, 2020), the number of members of the Fashion pact has doubled.

Alongside this is the phenomenon of second-hand reselling companies such as Vestiaire collective or Therealreal that focus on the circular economy, a pillar of sustainability, with exponential growth: from 9% to 18% by 2030. As for luxury, Chloé is the only maison with a B-corp certification that attests to standards of performance, transparency and responsibility, while Valentino with its bio-based sneaker collections, a project that is part of the Valentino green commitment, is taking the first steps of a transformation, along with brands such as Stella McCartney, which is promoting the use of mycelium instead of leather, and Gucci with its Equilibrium projects, or with the Gucci vault dedicated to vintage garments from responsible emerging labels and brands.

These achievements and initiatives have created a starting point for the growth of a more conscious industry. So says the agreement drawn up by the european Council and the european Parliament, which jointly signed the Corporate sustainability reporting directive (Csrd). Starting in 2024, in fact, large companies will have to publicly disclose information on how they operate and manage social and environmental risks. (All rights reserved)