The British Are Coming!

For quite some time now,

London has been at the center of the sustainable fashion movement. Beginning in 2006, the British Fashion Council (BFC) led the way by creating Estethica, which was launched by Fashion Revolution founders, to promote sustainability during London Fashion Week (Shurvell, 2019). In 2018, London Fashion Week was the first major fashion week to go fur-free. Then in 2019, the BFC launched the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design to recognize fashion designers focused on sustainable practices. In 2020, the BFC continues its focus on sustainability with the Positive Fashion initiative, a platform intended to celebrate best practices and encourage future designers to make sustainable decisions for positive change (“Positive Fashion,” 2020).

Just last week, the BFC and London Fashion Week continued its pioneering efforts in the realm of sustainable fashion. While many fashion-enthusiasts are aware of the sustainable efforts of large-scale luxury designers like Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood, interestingly it is the work and efforts of many smaller, independent designers who are incorporating sustainable practices into their business models. Designers such as Richard Malone, Phoebe English, Christopher Raeburn and Bethany Williams are focusing their businesses on responsible design and sustainability by implementing practices such as using upcycled and recycled fabrics or creating completely made-to-order collections rather than large stocks of clothing (Biondi, 2020). Whereas many of those in the fashion industry are focused exclusively on profitability, these designers aim on helping the fashion industry to grow and progress in a positive manner. Designer Richard Malone was just recently awarded the International Woolmark Prize for creating and producing “a collection of completely biodegradable, 100 percent merino wool garments, dyed with plant-based dyes. The water used in the dying process will be reused to fertilize the soil and sustain new crops” (Maguire, 2020, para. 4). Malone (2020) acknowledged the inherent conflict in the fashion industry: “‘We are part of the problem, but we also have to provide the solution’” (para. 5).

As Malone and many other designers have acknowledged, the fashion industry is, in some ways, inherently unsustainable. Seasons, trends and ever-changing interests have created a societal need for excess. As tastes change and designers’ collections are updated and revamped, consumers constantly feel the need to purchase more and more in order to feel “in” and included. Building on that, designers are pressured to continually produce in order to stay relevant and financially successful. Therefore, I find the work of these smaller, independent designers to be quite admirable because their focus is not exclusively on profitability, it is oftentimes on the betterment of the industry and society as a whole. While the fashion industry and its designers must acknowledge the need for positive, sustainable change, we, as consumers, must also acknowledge what our overconsumption has done to encourage these unsustainable practices. We must all make a commitment for positive change – just something to think about.

Bye for now,

McGee