Fashion Sustainability Midterm prep

living wage

What is sustainability?

Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

What are the 3 main pillars regarding the matter of sustainability?

Social (people), Environmental (planet), Economic (profits, value, consumer spending)

What is fast fashion?

Low cost clothing produced quickly to keep up with trends.

What are the 4 main characteristics of fast fashion?

Frequent new collections. Low prices. High production volumes. Short product life span.

What is slow fashion?

Quality, longevity, ethical production.

What does circular fashion entail? Name the 4 R’s.

Repair, Reuse, Resell, Recycle

What is Greenwashing?

When a company makes misleading or exaggerated environmental claims to appear more sustainable than it actually is.

2 examples of Greenwashing:

Vague eco claims. Unsupported sustainability marketing.

How much carbon footprint does the fashion industry contribute to compared to the aviation and maritime emissions?

2-3x times higher

What are the 4 main stages of the Product Lifecycle Management? (PLM)

Concept, Design, Production, and Distribution.

What are the 6 stages of the Apparel Design Process?

1) Design and concept development, 2) Materials sourcing, 3) Product development, 4) Production, 5) Distribution and Retail, and 6) Consumer use and end of life.

What does Stage 1 of Apparel Design Process (design and concept development) entail? Name 6 steps.

Trend research, consumer research, sketching, color palettes, fabric selection, sustainability planning.

What is Stage 2 of Apparel Design Process?

Materials sourcing (fibers/textiles)

Natural fibers:

Silk, Cotton, Wool, Ramie, Linen, Cashmere, Hemp, etc.

Synthetic fibers:

Polyester, Nylon, Spandex, Acrylic, Rayon, etc.

Preferred alternative fibers:

Organic cotton, Recycled polyester, and Tencel.

What does Stage 3 of the Apparel Design Process (Product development) entail? Name the 6 steps.

Technical flats, tech packs, pattern making, samples, fittings, and revisions.

What does Stage 4 of the Apparel Design Process (Production) entail? Name the 7 steps.

Marker making, fabric spreading, cutting, sewing, finishing, quality control, and packaging.

What does Stage 5 of the Apparel Design Process (Distribution & Retail) entail? Name the 5 steps.

Packaging, warehousing, transportation, retail merchandising, and e-commerce fulfillment.

What does Stage 6 of the Apparel Design Process (Consumer use and end of life) entail? Name the 6 steps.

Washing, repair, resale, donation, recycling, and landfill.

What does CSR stand for?

Corporate Social Responsibility

3 Core concepts of fashion CSR

• Environmental Stewardship: Reducing water use, cutting carbon emissions, and shifting to organic or recycled materials.

• Ethical Labor Practices: Guaranteeing safe working conditions, fair wages, and basic rights across global supply chains.

• Voluntary Action: Going beyond basic local laws to achieve long-term ecological and social well-being.

3 Main roles of transparency in sustainability

• Traceability: Publishing factory lists, tier-1 to tier-4 supplier origins, and material audits so practices can be tracked.

• Anti-Greenwashing: Using public sustainability reports and tools like the Fashion Transparency Index to prove actual impact rather than marketing hype.

• Consumer Trust: Empowering buyers to make informed choices through clear product lifecycle data.

What years are we analyzing when it comes to the pre-industrial era in regards to garment making/fashion?

1600-1860

Fashion related characteristics of the pre-industrial era?

Fabrics came from natural sources only (flax is the oldest and was the most commonly used to make linen), unused parts of fiber went into sacks, mattress covers, etc, clothing was handmade, expensive, and not mass produced, clothing was mended and repaired often, and people owned fewer garments overall. The wealthy had more garments than the average person.

Cotton from India had what impact in the pre-industrial era?

Once cotton from India became the fashion rage in Europe, it impacted wool sales in UK and silk in France which caused import regulations until mid 1700s.

Pre-industrial fashion (before 1760) characteristics (cont’d):

Clothing was primarily functional rather than trend driven. Clothing was handmade by tailors, dressmakers, and family members. Clothing was produced locally. Clothing was frequently repaired and altered. Clothing was expensive because of the effort, cost, skill, and labor that went into sourcing and making the fabric and garments. Fabrics/Clothes were made from natural animal and plant fibers. Luxury and status reflected more so through textiles rather than style.

What were sumptuary laws?

Laws that regulated clothing based on social status.

3 Notable fashion centers in pre-industrial era.

London, Paris, and Florence.

Sustainability impact of the pre-industrial era?

Long product lifestyles, minimal textile waste, local production, and repair and reuse culture.

Limitations of the pre-industrial sustainability methods:

Labor intensive production and limited access to clothing for many consumers.

Circular fashion methods in pre-industrial era:

Repair, alteration, hand-me-downs to family members, upcycled garments/textiles remade into children’s clothing and/or household textiles, and nothing was discarded without a purpose.

5 Major fashion innovations in the industrial revolution (1760-1900):

Spinning Jenny (1764), Water Frame (1769), Power Loom (1785), Cotton Gin (1793), and Steam Powered Mills (circa 1785 or 1789?). We see mechanized weaving, textile mills, and mass production emerging in this time period.

Industrial revolution innovations led to mass production. What are the 3 main outcomes?

Greater output, lower costs, and expanded access (fashion became increasingly available to middle class consumers).

During WII there was what kind of restriction regarding the fashion world? What were the 3 main outcomes?

Resource restrictions which led to fabric rationing, utility clothing, and simplified design.

What 4 sustainability methods were used during WWII restrictions?

Repair, Reuse, Mending, and Upcycling.

What was the “New Look” in postwar fashion?

Designer Christian Dior created the “New Look” post WWII (1947). It was a cinched waist and hourglass figure silhouette in his garments. A move away from boxy silhouettes from previous times. Characters of the new look also include: full skirts, greater fabric use, luxury and abundance. This represented a shift away from war time conservation.

What were the main 4 synthetic fibers that emerged during and post WWII? (Synthetic Revolution)

Nylon (1938) created by DuPont, Acrylic (1940s) created by Monsanto, Polyester (1950s), and Spandex (1958). Celanese produced various kinds of synthetic fibers.

What impact did synthetic fibers have on garments in the fashion industry?

Cheaper/affordable clothing, easier to maintain, and faster to produce.

Polyester is made from?

Petroleum.

Benefits of synthetic fibers and their challenges/cons?

Benefits: Affordable clothing, durable materials, and performance applications. Challenges/Cons: Petroleum dependence, microplastic pollution, High production volumes (pollution/waste/overconsumption), and difficult to recycle.

Fashion and Consumerism (1950-1960s). What changed?

Fashion increasingly became a lifestyle, a symbol of identity, and market driven. Consumers began consuming more frequently.

Anti-fashion movement (1960s-1970s). What was it and what were the characteristics?

It was a movement rejecting mainstream fashion. Characteristics: Handmade clothing. Second hand fashion. DIY Culture. Individuality.

When did environmental awareness increase among the masses?

Environmental concerns increased during the 1960s and 1970s. There was a growing concern regarding: Pollution, Mass production, waste, and consumer culture. This movement paved the way or provided the foundation for modern day sustainability movements.

When did fast fashion emerge?

2000’s to present time.

Major fast fashion brands:

Zara, H&M, Forever21, Fashion Nova, Shein, etc.

Characteristics of fast fashion?

Rapid trend turnover, weekly new products, ultra low cost production, and social media influence.

Environmental issues of fast fashion:

Textile waste, water consumption, carbon emissions, microplastic pollution, overproduction.

Social issues of fast fashion:

Supply chain transparency, wage concerns, labor conditions.

Social responsibility in fashion sustainability regards which 3 pillars?

Labor rights, animal welfare, and industry accountability (e.g. environmental protection/safety and transparency)

What does social responsibility mean?

Planet: sustainability and environmental care. People: Community, diversity, and community well being. Animals: Wildlife protection and animal welfare. Profit: Financial growth and economic value.

Textile mills and early factory labor had:

Women workers, child labor, 75-hour work weeks, and dangerous working conditions.

Sweatshops had what temperatures?

Facility temperatures in 90+ degree weather for good cotton conditions. Workers were subjected to this high temp.

Lowell Mill girls:

1840 about ¾ of the labor force of 8,000 employees. Paid half as much as the men. Earned only $3-4 per week. Company temped the girls into buying fashion forward pieces on sale. Resulting in the girls buying, spending, working, and barely having enough to live, and the cycle repeats.

Lowell Female Labor Reform Association:

First union of working women in the US (1845).

One of the biggest turning points in labor rights history in fashion?

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (1911). Shirtwaist was the first fast fashion product that was mass produced. It was sold for $0.48 cents up to $2.50 by the Stanley Shirt Company. 45,000 women and girls were working for this company in New York.

What happened during the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire?

146 workers killed. Contributing factors: Locked exits, inadequate safety measures, and crowded factory conditions due to lack of rights, protections, and cruel and apathetic managers and bosses.

Labor rights in fashion timeline:

-1900 ILGWU (international ladies garment workers union) founded. Made up of a lot of recent jewish and italian immigrants workers. Majority of whom were women. Triangle shirtwaist factory fire happened after in 1911.

-1938 Fair Labor Standards Act. Law that created the federal wage floor (minimum wage). Was initially $.025 cents to now $7.25/hour. Included overtime. Banned oppressive child labor, restricting work hours and dangerous jobs for minors.

In 1990s there was global apparel outsourcing. California is the largest manufacturer of clothing in America.

-2022 California SB 62; aka Garment Worker Protection Act (Goal of this law is to eliminate wage theft in apparel manufacturing). Eliminated most piece-rate pay. Requires hourly minimum wage. Expands liability to brand guarantors. Strengthens wage theft enforcement.

What does the current workforce in the fashion industry look like?

90+ Million workers. 75-80% are women. 2.1 Billion Informal workers globally. 300 million workers in extreme poverty. Less than 2% of garment workers earn a living wage.

What are the ways in which Fashion Act and SB 62 are similar and different?

Both support human right and brand accountability. While both regard worker pay, Fashion Act is partially involved. SB 62 is focused on social aspect of sustainability (people/workers) and not environmental. And it is limited when it comes to supply chain transparency compared to the Fashion Act.

Fashion Transparency report card (reported by Fashion Revolution):

Climate transparency: 14%

Overall transparency: 24%

Failure to disclose living wage transparency: 96%

Failure to disclose annual production volume: 85%

Animal Welfare in Fashion:

-1866 ASPCA Founded (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). Initially to prevent abuse to horses.

-1880s bird protection campaigns due to feathered design hats that led to the slaughter of 5 million birds annually (murderous millinery).

-1911 Fur seal treaty. Stop the overhunting and protect declining populations of northern fur seals, and sea otters. First international treaty dedicated to wildlife preservation.

-1966 Animal Welfare Act. Lyndon b Johnson signed this act into law. First law in US to set minimum care standards for certain animals used in research, teaching, testing, exhibition, transport, or sold by commercial companies.

-1990s certification systems. Before centralized, global systems like GOTS emerged in the 2000s, the 1990s relied on regional agricultural frameworks, chemical safety labels, and early human rights protocols to standardize transparency in apparel.

-2020s bio-based alternatives. Driven. by climate awareness, desire to eliminate fossil fuel derivatives like plastics. Biotech companies and fashion houses are trying to leverage agricultural waste.

Business frameworks for sustainability and social change:

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) - businesses that have built in a business plan to contribute to sustainability development. Sticking to laws and regulation and taking a step beyond that too.

Triple bottom line framework - developed by british management consultant John Elkington in 1994. It shifts corporate performance evaluation from a singular financial focus to three interconnected pillars: People, Planet, and Profit.

People (Social Equity): Measures a company's social impact and treatment of all stakeholders, including fair labor practices, safe workplaces, human rights, diversity, employee retention, and community benefit.

Planet (Environmental Stewardship): Measures ecological and environmental impact, such as carbon footprint reduction, resource conservation, waste reduction, and regenerative practices.

Profit (Economic Value): Measures traditional financial performance alongside broader economic contributions, such as job creation, livable wages, ethical sourcing, and stable economic health.

Conscious capitalism - Original founder of Whole Foods John Mackey and sustainability consultant Raj Sisodia co-founded the Conscious Capitalism movement and co-authored the bestselling book Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business. This philosophy serves as the foundational framework for Whole Foods' business model, prioritizing ethical sourcing, environmental stewardship, and sustainability.

Certified B Corporations:

Is a for-profit business that meets high standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit with purpose. B Corporation means Benefit corporation.

Cotton production involves:

Environmental impact (heavily used in fashion. 250 million people total amongst 35 countries employed in cotton industry, 2.5% land use to grow cotton, accounts for 16% of all pesticides/insecticides used globally in industries which ends up in soil and water sources), child and forced labor (Uzbekistan for example is known to force citizens/kids to pick cotton), processing (chemicals used that harm health and environment. Residual chemicals on clothing even when it arrives in retail), organic cotton (eliminates use of pesticides and fertilizers, reduces water usage, healthier/safer), and fair trade (global minimums met for global labor forces).

Wool production involves:

Environmental impact (second most produced natural fiber), treatment of animals (often animals are mistreated/harmed), and certifications and standards (for safety and protection of animals involved of this process).

Lyocell

Is a semi-synthetic, plant-based fabric made from regenerated wood cellulose, most commonly derived from eucalyptus, birch, or oak trees. It belongs to the rayon family of textiles, acting as a modern, more eco-friendly evolution over traditional viscose. Tencel®: The most famous trademarked brand of lyocell, produced by the Austrian company Lenzing AG.

Conflict minerals

Several minerals mined under conditions that violate human rights like tungsten, gold, etc.

3TG, which stands for four specific metals extracted from corresponding ores:

• Tin (extracted from cassiterite): Used as a solder on circuit boards and in electronics manufacturing.

• Tantalum (extracted from columbite-tantalite or coltan): Used to make heat-resistant capacitors found in smartphones, computers, and medical gear.

• Tungsten (extracted from wolframite): Used for high-density applications, drilling equipment, and vibration weights in phones.

• Gold: Used for coating wiring, circuit boards, and in jewelry and currency.

While these minerals can be mined globally, regulations primarily focus on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and its surrounding countries in the African Great Lakes region, where prolonged conflicts have frequently involved armed militias seizing control of mines and trade routes. However, U.S. and international legal definitions apply to the 3TG metals regardless of where they are physically extracted.

Elements of Diversity

Age, Gender, Culture/Race/Ethnicity, Socio-economic status, Disability, and Ideals of attractiveness.

Equity

Is a goal, not a process. The goal is to promote justice, impartiality, and fairness within the processes and distribution of resources by systems and/or institutions within the society.

Social justice

Is a goal and a process. Goal: full and equal participation. Process: ensure the distribution of resources is equitable.

Inclusive and equitable fashion products:

-Universal design

-Advancing cultural and ethnic sustainability

Components: equitable use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive use, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort, size and space for approach and use.

Universal Design entails:

Ability inclusive, size inclusive, and gender inclusive.

Advancing cultural and ethnic sustainability entails:

-Traditional dress

-Cultural appreciation versus cultural appropriation

Principles of responsible marketing

Responsible marketing in the fashion industry focuses on.

• Truthfulness and Verifiability: All advertising claims, material compositions, and eco-credentials must be accurate, transparent, and backed by verifiable data. Exaggerating or falsifying environmental or social performance is strictly prohibited.

• Anti-Greenwashing: Brands must avoid misleading consumers with vague "eco-friendly" buzzwords or false claims regarding circularity, carbon neutrality, or organic sourcing. Communication must faithfully reflect actual supply chain practices.

• Supply Chain and Labor Transparency: Marketing campaigns should honestly represent the working conditions, fair wages, and ethical treatment of garment workers, moving away from hidden exploitation.

• Honest Influencer and Sponsored Content: Paid partnerships, gifted apparel, and affiliate links must be clearly and prominently disclosed so consumers are never misled by hidden endorsements.

• Body Positivity and Realistic Representation: Responsible brands avoid excessive digital alteration or unrealistic photoshopping of models, reducing harmful impacts on consumer self-esteem and body image.

• Discouraging Hyper-Consumption: Rather than fueling fast-fashion overconsumption and trend cycles, responsible marketing promotes slow fashion, durability, repairability, circularity, and second-hand/rental models.

• Data Privacy and Consumer Protection: Customer data used in digital and personalized fashion marketing must be gathered transparently, using plain language about how information is tracked and stored.

Human centered design

A creative problem-solving approach that is an empathetic, user-driven process. Instead of designing clothes based purely on a designer's inward-looking vision or mass-market assumptions, HCD places the actual wearer—their physical bodies, daily routines, emotional needs, and accessibility requirements—at the very heart of the development process.

Requires observation, participant observation, interviews, data analysis, social media as a tool, etc.

1. Inspiration (Research & Observation): Designers spend time with wearers to understand their environment, movements, and frustrations—such as Levi exploring the emotional responses evoked by a jacket line, or studying how people interact with retail spaces.

2. Ideation (Brainstorming & Prototyping): Teams sketch, drape, and build rapid, low-fidelity mockups, testing concepts quickly with real-world users instead of waiting for a finished runway sample.

3. Implementation (Testing & Iteration): Garments or retail experiences are refined through multiple feedback loops to balance aesthetics, ergonomics, and accessibility before scaling production

Real-World Examples

• Inclusive & Adaptive Wear: Programs like the curriculum at Jefferson pair fashion students directly with clients who have physical disabilities or sensory sensitivities to create accessible clothing.

• Functional Problem Solving: Independent and corporate studies have used HCD to design specialized commuter wear—such as bags or modular garments built to solve specific logistical struggles for women on the go.

• Retail Experience: Brands like Kate Spade have applied HCD principles to ideate and redesign in-store guest experiences

Power of Design

-People as the focus in the design process

-Moving from target markets to individual consumers

-Well being: a basic concept of sustainability (aesthetic and function)

-Approaches to discovering design opportunities (observations, data analysis, interviews, etc)

-Creating well being through design

-Looking good: Expression visual style

-Feeling good: Comfort and fit

-Working well: Meeting wearing requirements

Social Media for Change

#Whomademyclothes (raise awareness) makes hidden industry practices visible

#secondhandseptember (create a community) gives people a shared challenge and identity

#Payup (pressure institutions) uses collective consumer voices to pressure companies

#30wears (change behavior) gives consumers a simple action to adopt

#Haulternative (flip an existing trend) turns a popular social media behavior into a sustainability practice

Notes from Riverblue documentary:

overview: textile dyeing, water pollution, wastewater, human health impacts, sustainable alternatives.

notes:

-World watch institute wrote that 70% of China’s lakes and rivers are contaminated

-China is the largest exporter of goods in the world

-Pollution in water in China is harming and threatening biodiversity and impacts the health of hundreds of millions of people

-Ma Jun director at the Institute of Public & Environmental affairs (and environmental activist)

-Polluted water ways = high risk of liver cancer

-Tianjie Ma is a toxics campaigner

-Dyes for jeans contain hazardous materials/heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium, and lead.

-Local industry accused of polluting China’s “Pearl River” via its waste water

-Chemicals in the waste water are carcinogenic, impact hormones, and can even change the sex of the fish

-Chemicals can travel as far as the northern arctic and be found in the body of the polar bear

-Brands whose operations in China contribute to the issue: Nike, Adidas, Puma, Zara, H&M.

-Dhaka, Bangladesh is second leading clothing exporter after China

-Mark Angelo is an international river conservationist

-River Buriganga one of the most polluted rivers in the world

-Outflow from Bangladesh’s garment and tannery industries has contributed heavily to the water pollution

-2/3 of the Buriganga river pollution stems from the tannery industry

-Pinaki Roy daily star reporter investigating the industry pollution from the garment industry (dyeing, tannery, etc)

-Claims local industries have never set up an ETP (effluent treatment plan)

-Hazari Bag in Bangladesh pollutes the most (home to more than 200 tanneries)

-Syeda Rizwana Hasan is Bangladesh’s chief environmental lawyer

-Underage children/minors working at tanneries with no PPE

-School children near/exposed to the tanneries and their pollution have lost their ability to smell these chemicals

-Western retailers look to Bangladesh for low cost, high output leather products and clothing

-This contributes to human and environmental harm. Pollution does not get equal attention as human rights violations.

Notes from Riverblue documentary part 2:

-India, Delhi the Ganges river is impacted

-Yamuna river is impacted too

-Sunita Narain is a director general at the centre for science and environment

-Tannery district is built along the Ganges river during british colonial rule and is Kanpur’s economic mainstay and major source of pollution

-Kanpur has 400 leather factories and tanneries

-Tanneries use dyes such as chrome sulfate and other heavy metal containing chemicals that leak or pour into local waterways (tannery base water). The large pipes with this toxic waste lead to the Ganges river.

-Zafar Lari accused of untreated contaminated tannery water leaking into waterways

-Chromium reported to be detected in cattle milk and agricultural produce therefore impacts animal and human health

-Indonesia, Jakarta has one of the most polluted rivers in the world. The river is called Citarum.

-Citarum river bubbles because the pollution sunk to the bottom and is off gassing

-Jakarta has more than 500 factories, most of them producing textiles that require chemical treatment and line the banks of the 200 mile river and spews waste into the water

-Anonymous shared pipe of waste water flows into the Citarum river. Many businesses use it so it is hard to identify whose pollution belongs to who.

-Environmental activists collected waste water samples discharged by the PT Gistex Factory in Bandung (an area known for textile manufacturing)

-Green peace find that big brands such as Adidas, Brook Brothers, Gap, H&M, and Marubeni have a business relationship with at least one part of PT Gistex Group

-Von Hernandez is the executive director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia

-Kumi Naidoo is an international executive director at Greenpeace

-Activists pressured companies like Levi’s to detox their products

-Orsola De Castro is a sustainable fashion designer. She said there was a “joke” stating you can tell the “it” color of the season by looking at the color of the river in China.

-1960s-1990s El Paso Texas held title of blue jeans capital of the world producing almost 2 million jeans per week until the signing of the free trade agreement by president Clinton allowing brands to outsource the labor to other countries for lower cost of labor and production (also often these are countries with weaker pollution regulations and laws).

-After the NAFTA signing, manufacturers headed out to Mexico, China, Indonesia, and Bangladesh

Notes from Riverblue documentary part 3:

-Jobs for jeans left US and headed to Xintang, China

-Xintang is the blue jeans capital of the world

-Xintang produces 300 million jeans per year

-Levi’s discovered data about producing just one pair of their jeans. It takes 920 gallons of water, 400 mega joules of energy, and expels 32 kilograms of carbon dioxide. Levi’s said this is the equivalent of letting a garden hose run for 106 minutes, driving 78 miles, and powering a computer for 556 hours.

-This industry is having one of the lowest rate of water recycling

-On average a single large fashion brand uses the equivalent of 43,000 olympic-sized swimming pools

-Textile industry is one of the largest consumers of water in the world using 3.2% of all water available to humans every year

-Orsola De Castro makes her clothing line entirely from discarded materials

-Eric Dickstein is a designer at Dutil Denim

-Peter Golding is a denim designer. Creator of the stretch denim.

-Harmful chemicals and pollution occur when creating distressed/aged/faded denim

-Sand papering the denim requires a lot of labor and workers are doing it at 98% humidity

-Acid sprayed onto denim is harmful to human health

-Francois Birbaud is a denim designer. He is the creator of stone wash denim.

-Enrique Silla is the president of Jeanologia

-80 billions of gallons of clothes delivered out of factories but the amount that do not get delivered out are in large numbers too = waste

-Thames river in UK (England specifically) was once polluted 40 years ago and has since been treated and revived.

-Italdenim (denim company in Milan, Italy). Luigi Caccia is the president.

-Italdenim invested in denim technology and water treatment and embraced Greenpeace’s detox campaign

-Italdenim eliminates chemical usage and reduces water usage by up to 80% by utilizing the exoskeleton of discarded shellfish leftover by the food industry in the powdered form of chitosan to enhance the dyability of denim. This is an example of circular economy.

-Chitosan is a natural and strong fixing agent that reduces amount of chemicals used to make your jeans blue. No need to use plastics like PVA.

-Italdenim has a water recycling process, reduced their waste footprint, recaptures steam, and produces its own power, etc. These methods save money in the long run and produce fabric that is only pennies more than the average brands’ fabrics.

-Spain, Valencia. Jeanologia uses light and air to distress their jeans (dry processing which typically involves sand blasting which is forbidden in most or all places, potassium permanganate spraying which is dangerous to breathe in, and manual scrapping

-Alex Penades is from the marketing team of Jeanologia

-Jeanologia uses lasers to distress jeans and also takes water out of the equation by converting O2 to O3 and using Ozone (O3) for the stone washing process. These methods save money and reduce waste/pollution/harm.

-Francois works with a company in LA to teach/encourage people in the industry to adopt cleaner/safer/better methods of distressing jeans

Fast fashion:

• The term was first used at the beginning of the 1990s, when when Zara landed in New York. “Fast fashion” was coined by the New York Times to describe Zara’s mission to take 15 days for a garment to go from the design stage to being sold in stores. The biggest players in the fast fashion world include Zara, UNIQLO, Forever 21 and H&M.

Three main drivers of the industry’s global pollution impacts are:

-dyeing and finishing (36%), yarn preparation (28%) and fiber production (15%)

How much does the average consumer buy clothing per year as a collective?

• Consume around 80 billion new pieces of clothing every year, 400% more than the consumption twenty years ago.

How much textile waste does the average consumer contribute?

• The average American now generates 82 pounds of textile waste each year.

Fashion industry’s water consumption:

• The fashion industry is also the second-largest consumer of water worldwide.

• The fashion industry consumes 1/10th of all of the water used industrially to run factories and clean products. It takes 10,000 liters of water to produce one kilogram of cotton or approximately 2,700 liters (713 gallons) of water for one cotton shirt. That's enough water for one person to drink at least eight cups per day for 2 ½  years.

• In Uzbekistan, for example, cotton farming used up so much water from the Aral Sea that it dried up after about 50 years. Once one of the world's four largest lakes, the Aral Sea is now little more than desert and a few small ponds.

Dye impact in water:

• Textile dyeing requires toxic chemicals that subsequently end up in our oceans. Approximately 20% of the wastewater worldwide is attributed to this process, which accumulates over time. 

• As many factories moved overseas, they may be in countries without strict environmental regulations, resulting in untreated water to enter the oceans. 

• Regrettably, the wastewater created is extremely toxic and in many cases, cannot be treated to become safe again. 

Impact of microplastics:

• A 2017 report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimated that 35% of all microplastics — very small pieces of plastic that never biodegrade — in the ocean came from the laundering of synthetic textiles like polyester.

• Overall, microplastics are estimated to compose up to 31% of plastic pollution in the ocean.

Laundering impacts:

• Washing clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibers into the ocean each year = 50 billion plastic bottles. Depending on fabric used, released microplastics too.

• Polyester is found in 60% of garments.

Plastic microfibers:

• Synthetic materials are the primary culprits that cause plastic microfibers to enter our oceans. 

• Approximately 35% of all microplastics are from these synthetic materials.  Producers turn to materials that may be of low quality. 

• For example, many of the fibers are made of polyester, consisting of plastic and tend to release far more carbon emissions than cotton.  Plastic is slow to degrade in the ocean & when it finally breaks down, it creates a toxic substance with a harmful impact on the marine ecosystems.

• Enter food chain ultimately, originating from the washing machine.

Energy:

• The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of humanity's carbon emissions.

• Emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined. 

• On average, people bought 60% more garments in 2014 than they did in 2000 and they only kept the clothes for half as long.

• Clothing production has roughly doubled since 2000.

• A lot of this clothing ends up in the dump/landfills. The equivalent of one garbage truck full of clothes is burned or dumped in a landfill every second.

Consequences of overconsumption:

• As of 2019, 62 million metric tons of apparel were consumed globally. 

• 57% of all discarded clothing ends up in landfill, 85% of all textiles is discarded.

• Incinerated:  This process poses multiple public health and environmental dangers to the people who live in nearby communities as toxic substances or large amounts of  poisonous gases are released as a result of burning landfill.

Viscose:

• Made in 1890 to replace cotton (Rayon).

• Common cellulosic fiber made from wood pulp.

• Carbon disulphide that is used in viscose fiber production leads to lethal health side effects on workers.

• Greenhouse gas emission.

• Usage of harmful chemicals and the unethical resourcing for the material.

Alternatives to viscose:

• In Finland, a company named Spinnova has transformed wood fibers into recyclable fibers without harmful chemicals such as caustic soda, carbon disulphide, and sodium hydroxide that are commonly found in viscose.

• The company states its process uses 99.5% less water than conventional cotton production and has a 74% smaller carbon footprint than conventional cotton.

Net Zero and Carbon Accounting

-The net zero goal is to halve global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and to reach net zero by 2050.

-Carbon Tracking Framework:

Scope 1 (Direct Operations): Onsite fuel combustion and company vehicle fleets.

Scope 2 (Indirect Energy): Purchased electricity, heating, and cooling.

Scopes 1 and 2 regard the company’s immediate facilities.

Scope 3 (Supply chain): Raw material extraction, textile mill processing, garment assembly, and logistics. (accounts for over 80% of a fashion brand’s carbon footprint).

Side note: Polyester, nylon, acrylic (petroleum derived plastics) contributes directly to scope 3 carbon emissions.

Man-made cellulosic fibers (MMCF):

Viscose, rayon, lyocell, (derived from wood pulp; risk of deforestation)

Natural fibers:

Cotton, linen, wool, silk (land and water intensive, agricultural runoff)

Synthetic fibers:

Polyester, nylon, acrylic, spandex (derived from petroleum, non-biodegradable).

GOTS and OEKO TEX:

GOTS certified means a textile product meets the Global Organic Textile Standard, the world's leading benchmark for organic fabrics and sustainable textile manufacturing.

What GOTS Certification Covers

Unlike basic "organic" labels that only track how a raw material (like cotton) is grown, GOTS tracks and verifies the entire lifecycle of a product:

• Organic Fiber Content: Products labeled "GOTS Organic" must contain at least 95% certified organic fibers. Products labeled "Made with Organic" must contain at least 70% organic fibers. The fibers are grown without synthetic pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, or GMOs (genetically modified organisms).

• Chemical Restrictions: Toxic and hazardous inputs—such as formaldehyde, chlorine bleach, heavy metals, and carcinogenic azo dyes—are strictly prohibited throughout the entire processing chain. Only low-impact, approved chemical inputs are allowed.

• Environmental & Wastewater Standards: Facilities must maintain active environmental management plans, and wet-processing plants must treat all wastewater before discharging it.

• Social & Labor Standards: Every facility in the supply chain must adhere to International Labour Organization (ILO) guidelines. This guarantees fair wages, safe and clean working conditions, freedom of association, and a strict ban on child labor or forced labor.

• Full Supply Chain Audit: Every single business that touches the product—from the spinning and weaving mills to the wet-processing and final cut-and-sew factories—must hold an independent GOTS license.

How to Verify a GOTS Product

You can verify a product's authenticity by looking for the official Global Standards GOTS logo, label grade, and a unique license number on the item or brand packaging, and then searching that number in the official online database

OEKO-TEX certified means a textile or leather product has been independently lab-tested and proven free from harmful levels of over 1,000 toxic chemicals and substances.

The most common label is OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100. Here is what the certification means and covers:

Key Facts About OEKO-TEX®

• Every Component is Tested: Every single thread, button, zipper, inner filling, and dye in a finished product must pass testing—not just the primary fabric.

• Substances Screened: Tests check for heavy metals (like lead and cadmium), formaldehyde, banned azo dyes, pesticides, phthalates, and certain PFAS chemicals.

• Product Classes: Safety limits depend on how close the item gets to the skin:

• Class I: Babies and toddlers (strictest limits)

• Class II: Direct skin contact (bedding, shirts, underwear)

• Class III: No direct skin contact (jackets, belts)

• Class IV: Decoration and furnishings (curtains, rugs)

Certificates expire every 12 months, and laboratories re-evaluate and update the restricted substance list yearly.

What OEKO-TEX Does Not Mean

• It is not automatically organic: A product can be made from 100% synthetic polyester and still be OEKO-TEX certified as long as it passes the chemical safety tests. (For organic fiber verification, look for GOTS instead).

• It does not rate eco-friendliness or fair trade: Standard 100 only measures residue safety on the item. (To check factory sustainability and labor practices, OEKO-TEX offers separate labels like STeP or MADE IN GREEN).

How to Verify a Label

You can check if a product's tag is real by typing its unique certificate number or scanning its QR code on the official OEKO-TEX Label Check tool.

Cost of overproduction:

$37.8 million value of finished goods physically destroyed by Burberry in 2018 to preserve brand exclusivity.

Backlash and pivot:

-Public pushback led by organizations and activists (e.h. ThredUp open letter)

-Transitioned away from burning deadstock and instead toward donation, mechanical recycling, and sustainable packaging commitments by 2025.