Sustainable fashion and the fashion of sustainability

February 9, 2010

Recently the Financial Times published an article “Sustainable fashion: what does green mean?”(February 5th 2010) It concludes that the drive towards sustainability can be classified as a paradigm shift in the fashion industry! However, there is still a lot of unclarity about what sustainable fashion is. “No one knows. And the more you try to figure it out, the more confusing it becomes. While words such as “sustainability”, “green”, “eco”, “organic”, and “ethical” are increasingly a part of the fashion conversation, the lack of clarity is becoming a problem. “As consumers demand more from the companies they do business with, they’ll want ... more scrutiny on ethical claims than ever before.” As a brand then, it’s not enough to attach a word to your actions – you have to understand specifically what you mean by that word, and be able to prove it. A fashion brand may say it is “eco” but, in the mind of the consumer, this means something entirely different to what the brand itself intends. The article explains that the fashion industry has approached sustainability defensively rather than offensively. “It has so far taken an approach best summed up as: we are doing what we can but we don’t talk about it unless asked.” Everyone has done their own thing, and used words their own way. And now that we need a common tongue, it doesn’t exist.
“This lexicographical fuzziness” is not a problem unique to this industry as the article rightly claims. Not only has the food industry been wrestling for years with the slippery nature of terms such as “lite”, “organic”, and “grain-fed”. Even on a more macro level there is a lot of confusion. Especially since sustainability has turned into a fashion item itself there is an increasing level of sustainability inflation. It looks goods and sounds nice but it is often no more than thin icing on a muddy cake.
If a company, or a sector is dealing with sustainability in such a way, the risks are much bigger than a reputational issue. Because sustainability is causing a paradigm shift for every part of the economy. Resource availability, pricing of environmental costs, social standards and critical consumers will define success and disaster in any business. Therefore boards should not treat sustainability as a fashion item, but as one of the features that will define the competitive advantage of their companies. Not in broad conceptual terms, but in very specific focus areas that are material to their company’s situation. Don’t talk fashionably, but act rationally. If they don’t they will soon be out of fashion,… and out of business.

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