The whole world seems to be teetering on the edge of some great cavernous precipice of global doom. The economy is shot, international conflict is rampant and the environment… well, it seems we’ve almost lost that too. So is there any hope? Is there any silver lining? Other than waiting with baited to breath to see what the maestros of fashion – think Alexander McQueen – are daring enough to pull off? Well, yes, there is.
Sustainability is a catch cry at current which seems to be getting batted around quite a bit. And with just cause too. It’s a philosophy that is permeating through every industry in a race to beat the environmental clock and offer up a set of solutions to at least one of the major problems humankind faces at current: how to save the environment before it’s too late. So what is sustainability?
‘Sustainability relates to looking at the whole process within the production and life cycle of the object or product,’ explained Anne Farren, the Fashion and Textile Design Course Coordinator over at Curtin University. ‘You’re not just looking at using materials that are sustainable in their production in terms that they are not effecting the environment badly but you’re looking at the growth of the fibre and the production of the fibre.
‘For example, cotton uses a huge amount of water both for its growth and its production. There are issues related to the processing of that cloth and the creation of that cloth and there are huge issues related to dying cotton. So sustainability is just looking at all of those processes and what their impact is and whether or not it’s having a negative impact down the track. If it’s costing more to fix up the pollution created by producing a product than it’s just not sustainable. And then it’s looking at once the product is used or worn what happens to the garment after and whether the fabric will be recycled.’
Vintage and up-cycling are both topics that have been examined in previous Recessionista articles, and both are forms of sustainability. They both presents opportunities for the longevity of the garment beyond the one season mentality that is so imbued and embedded within fashion as a whole. Yet beyond these, how does sustainability extend itself to fashion? Particularly when the two seem to operate in completely conflicting arenas: one within the scope of the ephemeral and the need of being habitually replaced, the other as more of a projection into the future, one where the term investment applies not only to the individual but the environment too.
‘Other fashion trends are much more specific to the design output and the visual appearance of the object,’ added Farren. ‘This is actually built in to the full production life cycle of a product. Some of the sustainability issues that impact directly on design do contradict what we think of as good fashion because the cycle in fashion is very short and in terms of turnover we only want the object to be worn for one season and then we want people to go out and buy another piece from a different look, the new look from the next season.
‘Sustainability challenges that notion about fashion. It’s a different paradigm. It looks at the product from a slightly different perspective, challenges the notion of the quick turnover of the product and examines principals of design and how that design can have longevity. It’s something that has moved through all industries in the fact that we are much more concerned about what’s happening with the environment. If it has a negative impact on the environment then it’s not sustainable. It’s almost a contemporary zeitgeist. It all has an impact throughout so many different realms and we can’t see what we do as acting in isolation.’
Sustainability has many manifestations. Some local labels practice sustainability by producing garments which act as fundamental, yet incredibly directional, fashion pieces, items that are essentially trans seasonal at their heart. Elsewhere and stores such as Gorgeous and Winifred & Bance promote sustainability by selling exclusively vintage clothing. Even La La Orange in Northbridge has moved across to exclusively selling vintage clothing, although they still have all your designer and accessories on hand. Harry Highpants down the road also dabbles in a bit of vintage.
Local menswear label Stand, stocked at Method Clothing in Mt Lawley, uses a blend of sustainable fabrics, which includes the supposed holy grail of sustainable fabrics, bamboo. ‘We have not made the transition into 100% sustainable fabrics as yet though,’ explained Stand CEO and designer Paul Fields. ‘The issue is cost and availability of these fabrics, as well as their use, feel, function which sometimes does not suit street wear.’
Bamboo is also used extensively by Boris Bidjan Saberi, stocked at Dilettante. It’s a naturally rampant growing plant, often dubbed the fastest growing plant in the world. Actually, it’s more like a weed, particularly since it grows without the assistance of pesticides or fertilizers. Within approximately three months it reaches maximum height and matures within three years. It’s quickly replacing cotton as the sustainable fabric d’jour.
‘You can’t always get all the data that you might need to make a decision and there are always issues embedded in trends,’ Farren quickly pointed out. ‘Take bamboo for example. It’s been considered sustainable because it can grow so rapidly and has a supposedly low impact on the environment. So we can make fabric from this product efficiently and effectively because in terms of growth and reaping of that product it all appears good. At the moment bamboo is in favour because of such sustainable issues – but do we really know yet? We used to think because cotton was a natural fibre therefore it must be good. But if you look at the production of that fabric it uses too much water to produce. Will bamboo turn out like cotton and prove not to be such a sustainable fabric?’
Only time will tell, naturally. But one thing is certain: we are starting to make the steps toward saving our planet. We can only hope that by doing so we recreate an industry that is ephemeral and in its stead create something that has a greater, longer and more far-reaching vision.
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
TURNING A NEW LEAF… Developing Sustainable Fashion
‘I use water based printing techniques on most of my garments… the fabrics themselves are made from cotton fibres milled in sustainable environments, using non-harmful chemicals and processes to ensure our planet is not harmed.’Aaron Darcy from Queensland menswear label Aaron Darcy (www.aarondarcy.com.au).
Obviously Underwear (www.obviously.com.au) uses Modal material in the production of its undergarments, which is made from 100% beech wood sourced from sustained forestry plantations. Modal production uses less water, approximately 500 litres to produce 1000 kgs. Cotton, on the other hand, uses 6000 litres to produce the same weight. 
For the more adventurous there is farmed fur. Springbok Handbags by Mimitu (www.themainartery.com.au/mimitu), stocked at Libertine in Mt Lawley, are one example. Rather than sourcing the pelts from the wild, bags are produced from animals who are farmed for their meat, leather and fur, with the latter dyed using natural vegetable dyes.
‘Conscience plays a big part in (our clothes). We keep our manufacturing in Australia where possible and always strive to do business ethically. With the options of organically grown fibres becoming more available to us, it was pretty much a no-brainer that this was the way we would take our label. Giving (our customers) the choice of organic cotton and sustainable – and Australian Made – products has given us some very positive feedback.’Antoine Ryan from Sydney fashion label Pete Versus Toby (www.peteversustoby.com).
