by Tess Belgrove & Laura Scheepers
Sustainable fashion is a movement and process of changing and evolving fashion products and the fashion world to become ecologically efficient.
The University of the Arts has issued a warning concerning the climate crisis, while the Students’ Union’s campaigns officer Amber Goneni said: “Students are leading the campaign to create a better world for the next generation, learning from the mistakes of our predecessors.
“We need to act collectively if we are to realise the structural changes needed to reverse the effects of catastrophic climate change. We are looking forward to working with UAL, using our influence as creative leaders to address the problem locally and globally.”
It is critical that students must take this into account in their work, whether it’s fashion, photography or journalism – they must consider the effect it will have on our climate.
Many students at Central St. Martins have incorporated sustainable elements in their work for instance, not buying anything new for their fashion projects but reusing old garments and material that can be made into something new.
The fashion industry is making a considerable contribution to warming the planet. The industry was responsible for 1.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2015, according to the Pulse of the Fashion Industry report and is increasing everyday.
The demand for fast fashion has become more prominent in recent years, high street brands are churning out new styles every single day. We all need to acknowledge our accountability in funding these fast fashion retailers and must understand that it is crippling our climate.
The climate should be of everyone’s concern thus everyone should do their part in trying to reduce their carbon footprint. There are many forms of sustainable fashion: second-hand and vintage clothing, on demand and custom made for example expensive bespoke items, DIY, green and recyclable clothes, clothing that is fair and ethical and upcycling old clothes.
The choices we make when we go shopping and how we look after our clothes can make a massive difference to the environment, especially now more than ever.
Featured image by Tess Belgrove.