THE NEW FASHION BUZZWORDS: SLOW. STEADY. SUSTAINABLE.

Fashion and textile brands across categories are tweaking and redesigning their merchandise portfolios, making them as close to being sustainable as possible. In addition to the products, retail environments are also being re-engineered with sustainable materials to communicate 360-degree ‘responsible fashion’ messaging to consumers.

- Zainab S Kazi

From bedding, bathing, fashion apparel to accessories, the buzzword now is sustainability. Fast fashion is soon passing into ages as today the slow movement has been catching up to rule each of our hearts and minds. Brands across categories are refurbishing and redesigning their offerings, making them as close to being sustainable as possible. Not just the products and merchandise that they produce but even the stores are being built using sustainable materials. The consciousness to save the earth is growing. We take a quick look into the dynamics of sustainable fashion.

To set the context of the discussion, it is imperative to understand the need for the fashion industry to move to sustainable ways of doing their business. Sustainability, along with traceability and transparency has been a key challenge for the textile industry for some time now. The area of sustainability in the fashion and textile industry has been challenged more than ever due to the resources that it uses and the contribution it makes to the economies. The industry produces about 8 percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions while generating less than 2 percent of the global GDP. If the fashion industry continues along these lines, it will consume more than a quarter of the total carbon budget that would be necessary to limit climate change to 2°C by 2050. In a recent study by The Economic Intelligence Unit, about 60 percent of executives pick sustainability as the top strategic priority for their organization.