To complement the review of existing literature, a mapping of current industry and consumer practices was undertaken (Figure 2.5). This provides a snapshot of existing commercial fashion practices with the potential to support greater sustain-ability in the garment life cycle. Case studies and examples discussed in the literature were extended upon through internet searches which located other similar businesses, and by searching key terms from the literature like ‘eco-fabrics’ and ‘fashion customisation’. In addition, my professional knowledge of the industry, especially within Australia, provided further examples. The visual mapping was drawn using mind-mapping software Coggle, that facilitates the hierarchical grouping of data under headings. The method of mind mapping enabled examples to be grouped under keywords and re-arranged as subsequent examples were added, refining and focusing the groupings.
Retail point of sale, at which the ownership of the garment transfers from producer to consumer, emerged as the division point between two main groupings of fashion practices with potential to support sustain-ability: those that are producer-led and those that are consumer-led. Within the Producer half of the map, Production, Fabrics, Animal Welfare and Design generally describe businesses that have adapted their product development processes and materials to mitigate or eliminate harmful environmental or social consequences. The examples grouped under Business Models may do this also (for example, Patagonia) but some of the examples included do not. Businesses like Le Tote173 that operate a Product Service System business model are included because existing literature in both design for sustainability and fashion design for sustainability has identified their business model as one with potential to be redirected for sustainability.174
On the Consumer side of the map, groupings reflect alternative approaches to the acquisition of fashion garments (made-to-order, buying second hand, swapping) to care and use of garments (repair, re-making) and to the discard of garments (donating to charity). A mix of community groups, not-for- profit as well as for-profit enterprises operate using these practices. The positioning of some of the examples within the consumer side of the map could perhaps be challenged. For example, buying second hand fashion relies on shops that sell second hand clothing. The conundrum this presented in creating the map led to the most significant finding of the mapping activity: there is considerable scope to combine various methods of sustainable product design with business models that enable consumer to acquire, wear and discard garments with greater sustain-ability. For example, sustainably produced products might be more sustainably used if they are rented rather than purchased and designed for disassembly and recycling at end of life. This finding complemented that of the literature review by
173. Le Tote Inc., ”Le Tote," accessed 17 June, 2016, https://www.letote.com/.
174. Cosette M. Armstrong and Chunmin Lang, "Sustainable Product Service Systems: The New Frontier in Apparel Retailing?," Research
Journal of Textile and Apparel 17, no. 1 (2013), Fabrizio Ceschin and Idil Gaziulusoy, "Evolution of design for sustainability: From product
design to design for system innovations and transitions," Design Studies (2016), https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2016.09.002
highlighting the division the point of sale occupies within the garment lifecycle and stressing the importance to the overall sustain-ability of the product of bridging that division, by design. Further, it hinted that while many good efforts are being made within the existing industry, their impacts have so far been limited.
FIGURE 2.5 MAP OF EXAMPLES OF EXISTING COMMERCIAL FASHION PRACTICES WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR GREATER SUSTAIN-ABILITY IN THE GARMENT LIFE CYCLE.Jo Cramer RMIT University
CONSUMER
PRODUCER
CIRCULAR FASHION
“many efforts are already being made by brands, retailers, and other organisations to change the industry. These efforts offer solutions and demonstrate promising progress in various areas but are fragmented and often only effective at small scale. Ensuring the critical characteristics for system-level change are in place would harness this momentum and accelerate the transition.”
- Ellen MacArthur Foundation175
So far, this chapter has detailed theories and practices that make up current approaches to implementing sustainability within the existing economic fashion system. However, as cited above, there is need for change at a systems level to mitigate the harmful impacts of the global scale of the fashion sector. ‘Circular fashion’, a model for the transformation of the global industry, is discussed below as the foremost solution gaining momentum within the sector.
Circular fashion is an extension of the concept of a circular economy, a business model based on life cycle thinking,176 which seeks to account for all direct and indirect impacts of the material and energy flows associated with the entire life cycle of a product: from the manufacture of its materials, through production of the product, consumer use177 and disposal. Transposed to an economic framework, the production and consumption of goods are repositioned from a linear trajectory of use and disposal to a continuous cycle of circulating resources (Figure 2.6). It is modelled on biological systems where nutrients are fed back into the growth cycle in a closed loop. Closed loop production reduces the consumption of virgin resources and environmental pollution. Therefore, establishing a circular economy is seen as key to the transition to a low-carbon future.178
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation has been instrumental in the formation of a coherent framework for a circular economy, bringing together businesses, policy makers, and academia, globally, to work on collaborative solutions.179 The Foundation emphasises the opportunities of a circular economy within their definition:
Looking beyond the current take-make-dispose extractive industrial model, a circular economy aims to redefine growth, focusing on positive society-wide benefits. It entails gradually decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources and
designing waste out of the system. Underpinned by a transition to renewable energy sources, the circular model builds economic, natural, and social capital. It is based on three principles: Design out waste and pollution, Keep products and materials in use, Regenerate natural systems180
175. Ellen MacArthur Ellen MacArthur Foundation, A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning Fashion’s Future., pp. 26 176. McDonough and Braungart, "Cradle to cradle: remaking the way we make things."
177. Julian M Allwood et al., Well dressed? The present and future sustainability of clothing and textiles in the United Kingdom., University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing. (Cambridge: University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing., 2006).
178. Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Towards the Circular Economy (2013).
179. Geissdoerfer et al., "The Circular Economy – A new sustainability paradigm?.", p.759
180. Ellen MacArthur Foundation, ”Concept," 2017, accessed October 1, 2018, https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular- economy/concept
FIGURE 2.6. CIRCULAR ECONOMY SYSTEM DIAGRAM © ELLEN MACARTHUR FOUNDATION. The Foundation focuses specifically on the fashion industry with their Make Fashion Circular initiative, that seeks to radically re-design the fashion industry’s operating model to “ensure clothes are made from safe and renewable materials, new business models increase their use, and old clothes are turned into new.”181 In their 2017 report, A New Textiles Economy, they identify four key ambitions with suggested strategies for implementation as tabled below (Table 2.2). In the fashion sector, the emphasis presently is in the collection and remanufacture of fashion garments (item 3 in Table 2.2), rather than in transforming the design of clothes to be less readily disposed. Yet re-processing garments is costlier and more energy intensive than repair and re-use.
181. Ellen MacArthur Foundation, ”Make Fashion Circular," 2017, accessed October 1, 2018, https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/our- work/activities/make-fashion-circular
Key Ambition Strategy for implementation
1. Phasing out substances of concern and microfiber release
Align industry efforts and coordinate innovation to create safe material cycles.
Drastically reduce plastic microfibre release.
2. Transforming the way clothes are designed, sold and used to break free from their increasingly disposable nature
Scale up short-term clothing rental.
Increase clothing utilisation further through brand commitments and policy.
3. Radically improving recycling by transforming clothing design, collection, and reprocessing
Align clothing design and recycling processes. Pursue technological innovation to improve the economics and quality of recycling.
Stimulate demand for recycled materials. Implement clothing collection at scale.
4. Making effective use of resources and moving to renewable input
using renewable feedstock for plastic-based fibres and regenerative agriculture to produce any renewable resources.
transitioning to more effective and efficient production processes
TABLE 2.2. ELLEN MACARTHUR FOUNDATION’S AMBITIONS FOR A NEW TEXTILES ECONOMY
A circular economy cannot be achieved by adding eco-efficiencies into an existing linear business model, instead it requires new collaborative business models.182 For example, H&M Group is working with textile recyclers to develop new technologies for fibre reclamation.183 One of the challenges of transitioning to a circular economy is highlighted in the 2017 Sustainability Report by H&M Group, where it is noted that “viable recycling solutions for many types of textile fibres – especially blended fibres – have either not been invented yet or are not commercially available at scale.”184 In response, H&M Group state they are “creating demand” for these solutions, and working with remanufacturing industry partners on innovative solutions.185 New technologies and industry collaborations as supported by the Make Fashion Circular initiative are imperative to achieving a circular economy in the future. However, it is insufficient to address the “demand” H&M is currently creating: the alarming amount of unsold clothing they have already amassed. Therefore, in addition to the objectives of a
182. Michael Leube and Dominik Walcher, "Designing for the next (Circular) Economy. An appeal to renew the Curricula of Design Schools," The
Design Journal 20, no. sup1 (2017/07/28 2017), https://doi.org/10.1080/14606925.2017.1352999, p.S495
183. H&M Group, Sustainability Report (2017),
https://about.hm.com/content/dam/hmgroup/groupsite/documents/masterlanguage/CSR/reports/2017%20Sustainability%20report/HM_grou p_SustainabilityReport_2017_FullReport.pdf.
184. H&M H&M Group, Sustainability Report., p.34 185. H&M H&M Group, Sustainability Report., p.34
circular economy, it has been suggested that complementary actions are needed in energy efficiency, dematerialisation and consumer sufficiency.186
Despite the centrality of the user to a truly cyclical system of production and consumption (Figure 2.6), current industry practices continue to focus on those strategies that best fit the established linear economic model. Significantly, in their efforts to produce more sustainable fashion products, that the rapid cycles of fashion taste change mean those garments are likely to be quickly discarded, remains unchallenged. As identified in the Comparison Of Design Strategies Proposed In A Cross-Section Of Research Literature (Appendix 2), changing habits of use to reduce wastefulness is considered by proponents of sustainability within the sector, to be beyond the remit of design.187