We all know that fast fashion sucks, this is not something new. But today every company knows and uses that to market new collections as ethical, conscious or sustainable. It is getting harder to be 100% sure which campaign is true or not and what we should believe. I just watched Seaspiracy, and honestly, I used to think we should believe in certifications however this movie proved us wrong, unfortunately.
Due to the lack of transparency we do not know any better, and therefore don’t look into these companies enough, it is quite hard to know how the employees of the brand are treated or the conditions of the employees working for the suppliers, how are their social skills as a company. But there is something we can do. You can look into ethical fabric. Everygarments have to have the fabrics they are made of.
This is also something you have to look into if you want to create your ethical brand.
What do we consider ethical fabric?
Those fabrics are the safest for the environment, do not harm any workers whilst being produced. They should be easily recyclable and most of the time biodegradable. We often think about organic cotton nowadays when we want the most ethical fabric however you can also find hemp, linen and more.
I will not consider those fabrics sustainable because of their use of energy. Cotton for example is known to need a shocking amount of water. however organic cotton is way more ethical and sustainable in its production leading to it being ethical.
Ethical fabric and the energy consumption:
Cotton: sustainable if organic
Cotton is a natural material. It is considered that growing cotton is the most resource waisting textile. For 1 kg of cotton, more than 10 000 litres of water is used. Unfortunately because of the increasing use of it and the competition, a high number of pesticide are used to ensure a high production per acre. This is only for the growth of the plant. You also have to consider the energy use to then process it into a piece of actual fabric.
However, this industry is slowly changing and offering us an alternative: organic cotton. Its price can be +30% the price of normal cotton due to the lack of pesticide and conservator used during its production, the salary paid to the worker and the certification to ensure proof of transparency. The production is recognised to also use less water and energy than basic cotton. Companies also, most of the time, use certifications to be as transparent as possible with their company. This logo needs to be paid every year and the most common for this industry is GOTS.
Recycled cotton is also starting to become more and more popular. This type of cotton helps with reducing fashion waste in landfill however it is hard to know if it is a 100% recycled cotton fabric or if it is mixed with other fibres.
Organic cotton is vegan however non-organic cotton is not always. Cotton comes from a plant, the product in itself is vegan however a lot of pesticides are used and a lot of product which can harm nature, hence even if it is vegan its production can hurt a lot of animals.
Hemp: sustainable
It is a natural and an ethical fabric. Hemp requires barely any pesticide to be grown and is as sturdy as a canvas yet as soft as cotton.
According to hempshop.co.uk, it uses only 2300L of water for 1kg of fibre compared to more than 10 000L for 1 kg of fibre of cotton. Yes, the difference is quite impressive. It is also known to not only help the soil it is grown in but also produces less carbon than it absorbs during its growth.
Overall hemp is our winner: it is less energy wasteful, more durable than cotton and, thanks to innovation, can now be as soft as silk.
However, hemp is still considered quite a pricey fabric.
Hemp is considered the new Wool for vegan people as it has a lot of its quality and offers a vegan alternative to the latter.
Linen: sustainable
Linen is a fabric made out of the flax plant. You would mostly see linen on summer clothes as it is a breathable and light material.
Chemicals are not widely used in the production of linen. Make sure you use organic linen for the cleanest linen products.
According to the European confederation of linen and hemp, “across its lifecycle, a linen shirt uses 6.4 litres of water compared to 2700 litres for a cotton shirt”. Linen is very versatile and can be used as a strong yet light and easy to use fabric.
As it is derived from a plant this fabric is a vegan and natural fabric.
Tencel: sustainable
As seen previously one this article, Tencel is a versatile material and a sustainable one. This fabric is a semi-synthetic one that is made from a eucalyptus tree ( which does not need a lot of water to grow) and is processed without pesticides.
Tencel lyocell uses no toxic chemicals and most of the dissolving agents are recyclable. Compared to cotton it also uses half as much water.
This fabric comes from plants is cruelty-free, vegan and sustainable.
Denim: not sustainable
Ah, denim… Loved by fashionistas, hated by environmentalist. This material is created from the cotton fields. The high use of water and chemicals already use in the production of cotton is significant. To that, you have to add, the dyeing used for the different denim. After dying, every piece of clothing is washed several times to not have the die bleed. This leads to even more water used and contamination of water. Also, a lot of times the dye is done by hand to give it a more natural look however they are not natural nor always safe leading to sick workers.
This picture above shows a current issue happening in China on the east river of Xintrang, where factories produce hundreds of millions of denim pieces per year and after dyeing them dispose of the rest of the dye irresponsibly, leading to the river turning deadly blue. Incredibly enough doing my research on those pictures, some people say it looks gorgeous, I wonder if they understand the impact it has on any life around.
So no denim is far from being a sustainable fabric. However, some companies are trying to make a difference such as Levi’s. They implement a new production reducing the use of energy as sourcing only organic cotton.
Even with those new processes I still recommend buying your denim pieces in a second-hand shop or in a shop that reuses old denim pieces such as ELV denim.
Unfortunately, as we do not always know where the cotton is from with denim you need to look into the brand to see if the denim is vegan.
Silk: somewhat sustainable
Silk is not a vegan fabric as it comes from worms. If you look online you will find that silk is quite an expensive fabric as it is praised for its benefits: silk pillow help reduces early ageing, are more sanitised.
Silk is a bit of a weird fabric, even if it considered one of the prettiest fabric and getting more and more famous it is also one extremely cruel. In fact, for its production you need to boil the worms just before they go out of their cocoons, hence they are never getting out alive of their cocoons.
Silk is “natural” biodegradable, organic, and renewable and its use in energy is minimum but it is not cruelty-free nor vegan.
Vegan fruit/vegetable leather: sustainable
Have you heard about mushroom leather, Pinatex or apple leather? A lot of vegans love the leather texture however cant use it since it represents dead animals for them. Thanks to innovation, several kinds of leather have been created to offer a new range of fabric for vegan consumers.
Pinatex is made out of the waste of the pineapple plant. When pineapple is harvested the full plant is cut and wasted. This waste is now used to create a new type of fabric looking like leather and called Pinatex.
The same process is used for mushroom leather or apple leather.
There is a bit of controversy looking at the sustainability of those products due to some of the chemicals that can be used for the process of the fruit leather. It is also considered less sturdy than real leather however, it is using a significant amount of waste which helps with reducing the trash issue we have today, and it is not harming any animals. It is also helping communities around the harvest area and help them find new opportunities.
This article is only a first part of several post about ethical fabric.
