Fashion. Whether you follow it closely or not, it is important for everyone. High-end fashion changes regularly, with their revolutionary ideas often trickling down into high street ideas and more common solutions. Nowadays, there are all sorts of creative solutions changing the game for fashion brands, mostly surrounding the economic and environmental impact of fashion. In this article, you will learn about some of the creative solutions that are dominating women’s fashion right now, from carbon-neutral ideas to biodegradable clothing.

The Impact of Fashion

The impact of fashion is changing. It used to be the case that garments were purchased to be kept for long periods of time. Nowadays, fashion is very disposable. Often, people do not want to be seen in the same outfit more than once, creating a huge amount of waste and damage to the environment. There is also the question of fashion being sustainable. Clothes are often produced in far-flung corners of the world, then travel thousands of miles to be bought at a cheap price. This creates air and shipping miles, which, of course, are bad for the environment. These impacts are being tackled now by some leading women’s brands. Here are some of the ways they are doing it.

Carbon Neutral Companies

As briefly mentioned above, clothes are often mass-produced and shipped thousands of miles. As forward-thinking brand blonde gone rogue explains, there are ways to “offset the carbon emissions from shipping your orders.” One of the ways they achieve this is by protecting and even replanting rainforests. The Amazon rainforest alone absorbs over 20% of the world’s carbon emissions, so protecting it and helping it thrive is a great way of offsetting the carbon emissions from the production and shipping of clothes. Other solutions include planting new forests or using newer, more carbon-neutral shipping methods.

Organic Materials

Another great creative solution taking the industry by storm is the use of organic materials in clothing manufacture, such as organic cotton. For many years, it has been commonplace to use toxic fertilizers and oil-based fertilizers in the growing of cotton. Organic farming, however, uses neither of these methods. This means that there is far less environmental damage caused by the growing of cotton.

Organic farming of cotton also helps to save water and natural water sources. When toxic pesticides and oils are used in farming, the soil becomes unhealthy, meaning it soaks up less water. It then takes far more water to keep the cotton plants alive. Saving water is good for the planet, and it is for these reasons that plenty of clothing manufacturers are now growing cotton organically.

Ethical Fashion

Aside from making clothes organically, many producers are making sure they also produce fashion ethically. There have been many issues with ethics and mass clothes production over the years, with massive factories being built in poor areas, to ensure labor is cheap and easy to control. For many years, the human rights aspects of fashion were hidden and brushed aside, but today, that is no longer the case. Today, major brands are stepping away from these massive, poorly managed factory conditions and converting their production to small, local factories. Instead of outsourcing their production to factories where workers are overpaid, overworked, and poorly treated, they are using local factories, boosting small towns’ economies, paying fair wages, and creating higher-quality garments at the same time. Sure, all of this means the price may be a little higher than it was before. But, knowing your fashion came from a sustainable and fair production system means most people are more than happy to pay the slight premium.

Recycled Clothing

Clothes are wasted daily. For example, in the UK alone, 300,000 tonnes of used clothing is thrown in landfill every year. Worldwide, these stats get higher and higher. One of the ways the industry is trying to combat this is by utilizing more recycling methods. Recycled clothing is quite new and still relatively hard to produce. But, it is starting to become more readily available. By breaking down the fibers in old clothes, it is possible to repurpose them into simple garments like t-shirts and underwear. The technology is developing and recycled clothing is sure to become a huge part of the industry in the future.

Biodegradable Clothing

If recyclable clothing is one solution, biodegradable clothing is another. Instead of using materials like nylon and polyester which do not biodegrade, companies are taking a different approach. Organic cotton, hemp, bamboo, and other similar materials are all now being used to create clothing. These materials naturally break down in the ground, meaning that fewer clothes will fill landfills in the years to come. Biodegradable items are now a highly sought-after bonus when buying women’s fashion.

Animal-Free and Vegan Brands

Throughout history, humans have tested products on animals. Whether medicine, foods, or fabrics, they have often been tested on animals to see if they are fit for human use. People are starting to dislike this, with many of us choosing to buy products that are “cruelty-free.” This means products that have only been tested in labs or on humans before their use. Fashion brands have taken this on board, with many adopting a cruelty-free and vegan approach to manufacturing. Gone are the days where we needed leather for boots and jackets. Now, companies can produce animal-free, biodegradable leather alternatives.

Eco-Friendly Packaging

Though this isn’t a fashion item, it is still catching the eye of many consumers worldwide. For years, companies have massively overused plastic, as it has always been cheap and easy to make. Plastic, however, does not break down in the ground, and we waste thousands of tons of plastic packaging a week. Brands are switching to eco-friendly, biodegradable, sustainable packaging, and consumers are far, far happier. As you can see, the main efforts in the fashion industry at the moment tend to be moving towards sustainability and environmentally friendly ideas. These trends are taking over women’s fashion, with many designers and high street retailers copying suit. Look out for biodegradable, eco-friendly clothing this season.