Sustainable fashion: the biggest myth of all?

Jan 6, 2021

One of my final assessments at university was the individual project. We were given a choice of format for the project and I chose to produce an extended multimedia investigative piece using Shorthand.com, looking into whether fashion can ever truly be sustainable. Below is the introduction to my piece, Sustainable fashion: the biggest myth of all?:





In fashion, trends come and go but there’s one trend from recent years that appears to be sticking: sustainability. The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world and, according to a United Nations study, the industry is responsible for around 10 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, 20 percent of all waste water and consumes more energy than the airline and shipping industries combined. 

 

With this being said, it’s quite right that sustainability has quickly become one of the most important buzzwords in both mainstream society and the fashion industry. 

 

The industry has been long problematic in terms of its effect on the climate and, with the growth of ‘fast fashion’ (cheap, trendy clothing that copies styles from the catwalk and celebrity culture and is quickly pumped through stores to maximise on current trends), the problems don’t seem to be going anywhere soon. 

 

In fact, if it’s business as usual for the fashion industry, the clothing industry’s climate impact is – according to the Global Fashion Agenda - projected to increase by 49 percent by 2030 and, by 2050, the industry will be responsible for 25 percent of the world’s carbon consumption. So, understandably, there have been loud and consistent calls for change but, can fashion ever really be sustainable? 


                         


To read the rest of my piece, you can go to the Westminster World Shorthand site

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