Only sustainable fashion can be in fashion. Any persisting doubts seem now to have completely vanished. Sustainability is no longer the subject of theoretical analysis or a matter for environmental activists, but rather an innovation catalyst for brands and companies. A reality that must be tackled under environmental, social and economic dimensions. The issue at hand is no longer if sustainability came for good, but instead how to work the concept and take advantage of it.
António Freitas de Sousa
In a world where sustainability is yet to be certain – due, in part, to the persisting practises that oppose the planet preservation inevitable tendency –, the fashion sector could not help but give a positive response to the myriad of challenges that sustainability represents.
The concerns about sustainability incorporation into the businesses are far away now, and entrepreneurs seem to have come up with a winning recipe: sustainability went on to become a development tool as important, or even more so, as the traditional management instruments, and an essential innovation element.
The multiple answers brought up to tackle sustainability showed us that the topic requires no more theoretical analysis, since entrepreneurs and companies have already assimilated the idea into their daily business.
That’s what Braz Costa, CITEVE’s general manager, says, for “there is no longer a sceptic who considers that sustainability in the day-to-day business is a fad. The question that is asked today to the Portuguese Textile and Clothing Industry (TCI) is: how to work the concept and its inherent options and practises”.
“Sustainability in fashion is no longer a thing for scientists or activists. Only sustainable fashion can be in fashion,” he emphasizes, to convey the notion that there is no other way forward.
Ana Silva, Tintex’s Head of Sustainability, believes that “sustainability has entered the fashion world, becoming one of the industry’s pillars and not just a fad. It brought new concepts, arousing curiosity among the most attentive ones. It is, at the moment, a catalyst for new solutions and business models, and a concept that spreads throughout the entire value chain”.
The subject is the core of the question: sustainability went from being a tag pinned to a clothing item, to become a management system and a distinctive element among companies.
“Turning sustainability into an intrinsic element of business development enables us to innovate in a responsible and inclusive manner, adding value to our products and services. It is an essential tool to keep our companies alive. It’s the present and it will be the future”, says Ana Silva.
Cristina Motta, Messe Frankfurt’s representative, considers that “no one still ignore that the future of the planet depends on us, on our ability to change practises that have long been established, from the way we consume to the way factories produce and how the products are distributed”.
Cristina Motta raises the question of the business rationale as crucial: “the survival of the big manufacturers relies on their capability for sustainable innovation. For the up-and-coming enterprises, sustainable production has become, with no shadow of a doubt, an opportunity to rapidly enter a market that is here to stay.”
To Dolores Gouveia, responsible for the sustainability department at Valérius Group and for the Modtissimo’s Trends Forum, the times when sustainability was a mere buzzword are gone: “I believe that sustainability is not just a fad, but instead a macro tendency that has been gaining power and is evolving in qualitative and quantitative terms”.
Or, in other words, sustainability is, nowadays, a matter of competition. The bet on sustainable practises could be a determining factor, from a corporate point of view, between making new businesses or not.
“This movement was led, during an initial phase, by Northern European countries and brands, and it has been extended to other latitudes and currently even in China there is a strong debate on the subject”, points out Dolores Gouveia, adding that “there is a pressure from young consumers over brands”, which ends up having “a crucial role in making them rethink their way they act, putting pressure, in turn, in the entire supply chain regarding social and environmental ethical behaviour”.
She leaves an important message: “companies have to embrace a new paradigm because presenting collections with a range of sustainable products is just not enough; companies have to incorporate sustainability into all steps of their businesses. Furthermore, sustainability, in its environmental, social and economic dimensions, has to be a part of the values and principles that drive the organizations. This paradigm shift implies, above all, a mindset shift from the companies’ top management”.
Finally, she places the focus on the question’s essence: “what strikes me as a fad are companies delivering speeches about their sustainable products… an urge that comes from that pressure exerted by partners and clients. They are aware of the sustainable fashion potential”.
For Daniela Pais, from Elementum, “the sustainability fad, like all fads, will go away, but sustainability will not! The need to acknowledge and assume the impact we cause as producers and consumers is imperative”.
The designer believes that, “while it was in vogue, sustainability slowly began taking on a central role, leaving its mark in the fashion world. This is a macro-tendency that hasn’t reached its peak yet and, when it does, deep changes will follow”.
Accordingly, Paulo Gomes, from Manifesto Moda and also the coordinator of Modtissimo’s Green Circle, also attests that sustainability is not a fad: “it’s an inevitable subject, which nobody can ignore. From digitalizing the (complex) production system to substantially reducing the production environment and social aggressiveness and choosing sustainable raw materials (fibre recycling or using bio-degradable fibres, for example), everything has to be treated with urgency and seriousness.” In conclusion: sustainability “is not a trend, but it could become more and more a fashion product”.