Sustainable Fashion and the case for Made-To-Order, customizable shoes

 
 
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Typing “Sustainable fashion” on Google yields 8.5 million results. As a term of comparison, searching for “Gluten-free ice cream” (just to measure against one of the most popular foods in the world served in one of the trendiest ways) yields only less than 1 million. 

So, no doubt sustainable fashion is a hot topic. Sustainability can mean several different things, not always aligned with each other. Sourcing ethically in far away regions definitively helps economies and people in developing countries. However, it worsens carbon footprint when comparing it with local sourcing.

It also touches on both environmental and ethical labor considerations.

 
 

Environmental considerations in the fashion industry

The fashion industry is considered as one of the most environmentally challenging ones. If either the second most polluting industry in the world1,2 after oil or the fourth worst in terms of environmental impacts after housing, mobility and food3 , it does not really matter much. Probably more conclusive, comprehensive analysis would be needed, as pointed out by Alden Wicker of EcoCult4. 

However, when nearly 20% of global waste water is produced by the fashion industry5 and 20,000 liters is the amount of water needed to produce one kilogram of cotton, equivalent to a single t-shirt and pair of jeans6 the environmental case is hard to miss.

Every year more than 150 billion (and rising) garments are produced, the equivalent to 20 new items per person2.

With fast fashion clothes worn on average 5 times and kept for only 35 days (vs. 10 times for the average garment7) and, as an example, the average American disposing on average of 35kg of clothing per year2, it is no surprise that about half of the purchased items are thrown away within one year only7. 

Also, some high-end brands send unsold items directly to incineration for fear of brand equity dilution. 

On top of it, additional waste comes from transforming raw materials into fabrics, with cotton alone being the world’s single largest pesticide-consuming crop, using 24% of all insecticides and 11% of all pesticides globally5, while another 15% of waste is left on the factory floor at the time of cutting8.

So all in all, this is quite an environmental challenge for an industry that accounts for 5% of EU household expenditure split 80/20 between clothes and shoes9 and bound to grow by 63% through 20307. 

 
 

Labor practices in the fashion industry

Even more important than the already crucial environmental concerns are the labor conditions of those involved in the manufacturing of apparel and shoes. When recalling the tragedy of Rana Plaza10, it is hard to avoid the quest for equitably and fairly made products. On top of the 1100+ victims at that time there are still several million people employed in production countries in Asia more than 50% of whom not being paid the minimum wage, which in turn is half of what is considered a living wage in the region11. And this is on top of pervasive child labor exploitation and unsafe and hazardous working conditions for all. 


 
 

A more sustainable way forward

Fortunately, positive initiatives toward a more sustainable apparel manufacturing and shoemaking have been blossoming further to changes coming from some consumer segments. 

Recycling is no longer limited to planet-conscious millennials but has become a common feature also in the rhetoric of major fast-fashion brands.

New business models such as renting clothes are gaining traction.

Thrift shops selling second-hand clothes seem to be popular with some customer segments. 

However, all of this is no easy solution and also comes with some hurdles and contradictions that are hard to solve. 

Recycling is easier said that done. As many items are manufactured mixing different fabrics, recycling them is not possible. The vast majority of disposed of items (82%) ends up in incineration or landfills11 with only 1% providing recycled material for new garments12. Also, recycling requires additional energy, water and chemicals to be employed.

By the same token, over the last several years, many initiatives have been announced to provide better working conditions in manufacturing sites in developing countries. 

In this domain, major changes cannot happen overnight in view of the millions workers employed in workshops in developing countries, the complex supply chains developed and refined over the last decades and the financial incentives for brands to keep labor costs as low as possible to the benefit of marketing budgets and dividends. So it is not completely unheard of that some working-conditions-improvement initiatives ended up with creating additional screen companies between brands and manufactures and/or relocating manufacturing in other Asian or African countries with lower wages and fewer regulations and checks. 

All in all, implementing all of these initiatives yields only a fractional improvement over time, as they provide only a very marginally better way of keeping on mass-producing items that is per se unsustainable. Recycling does not necessarily stop or slow down overproduction of items that end up too soon and too often into incineration and landfills. It gives at best only a very marginal hand or, at worst, it provides a green-washing smoke screen to keep on employing the same old practices.

So, would there be a different model that would have a step-change effect in a very short timeframe? 

 
 

An even better model : Made-To-Order + Customization 

Think of the following: a garment or a pair of shoes that is made-to-order, based on customer’s specs and handcrafted by top-notch artisans being fairly paid to create high quality, timeless items in a country with solid and fair labor laws in the European Union.

In one shot, no more overproduction and the pollution that goes with it (only what is ordered is actually produced), no more mass-produced items not matching market demand ending up in incineration facilities or landfills, no more waste associated with items not being worn or worn only a few times, no more labor exploitation, no more items that fall apart after being worn only a few times.

So, while this practice may not solve all of the sustainability issues in one shot, we believe that handcrafting only made-to-order, customized shoes and garments is a major step-change into the right direction. 

Would you agree?

 
 
 
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