Eco-Luxury Fashion Issues - Essay Example

ID Number & Eco Luxury Fashion 2 According to Matthews, “fabric is not the only partof fashion that can be sustainable. The longevity of your finished garmet is also important” (119). For this reason, Frida Giannini – the creative director of Gucci revealed that sustainable fashion means “quality items that stand the test of time... a timeless handbag that you wear again and again, and can pass on” (Friedman). On the other hand, Oscar de la Renta explained that “sustainable fashion implies a commitment to the traditional techniques, and not just the art, of making clothes” (Gould-Simon). Since it requires a special skill and talent to be able to create clothing that can be use and re-use for decades, our future fashion designers, seamstresses, and tailors are being challenged to design and manufacture creative pieces of fashion designs that are classic and elegant. Also known as the “earth-friendly fashion”, “ethical fashion”, or an “eco fashion” (Fletcher); a sustainable fashion is a significant “part of the fashion industry that recognizes social and environmental responsibility” (Matthews 117; Preston 150). In general, there are some designers who would design and create garments for the purpose of “wear, wash, and throw away” (Matthews 119). Since the main purpose of promoting sustainable fashion is to enable the local and international fashion designers to establish a system that will indefinitely be supported by the public in terms of becoming an environmentalist and a responsible member of the social, sustainable fashion designers should avoid creating garments of poor quality and low class design. The concept of a sustainable fashion is slowly becoming a special part of the continuously developing trend in sustainable design. As part of a sustainable design which aims to decrease levels of carbon emission in our environment, a lot of people started creating different products that are environmental friendly (The Economist). In order to save the mother Earth, the concept of “environmentalism” has been adopted in the world of fashion. For instance, to actively participate in charitable work, some members of the fashion industry are giving out a small percentage of their total sales as a donation to non-profit organizations who are reaching out to the less fortunate individuals. Likewise, there are some famous fashion designers around the world who are actively promoting the use of environmental friendly materials such as the “natural and renewable fibers” that does not use pesticides (i.e. organic cotton, recycled cottons) when creating their fashion designs (The Economist). The reason why people are promoting earth-friendly fashion is to encourage our future fashion designers to make use of chemical-free fabrics (Matthews 117; Preston 150). Commonly used in the manufacturing of commercial wools, the chemicals used in the creation of fabrics include fertilizers, pesticides, and flame retardants in crops (Hunter 63; Wilson and Piepkorn 318). As a common knowledge, excessive use of fertilizers, pesticides and flame-retardants in crops can trigger not only health detriments like cancer but also a serious destruction to the environment (Huff). Aside from Esprit, Patagonia, and the Conscious Earthwear, Katharine Hamnett is one of the well-known personalities who started questioning the “environmental standards and ethics” with regards to the use of textile in fashion industry (Steele 256). In 1980s, a British designer named Katharine Hamnett started protesting the manufacturing and selling of T-shirt that uses non-organic cotton (Ha 181). Ever since the use of chemicals in fabrics became a major public concern, the concept of earth-friendly fashion was increasingly promoted in the fashion and textile industry. The concept of ethical fashion is all about treating each employee well and providing them with good working environment where employees could manufacture new garments (Matthews 120). In relation to ethical fashion, the on-going campaign against the use of international sweatshops aims to put an end to labor exploitation and violation of labor codes such as the hiring of children below the age of 18, below the minimum wage pay, long working hours like 12 to 16 hours a day and 7 days a week, and poor working environment among others (Allhoff and Vaidaya 155; Matthews 121). Specifically Levi Strauss, Nike, and the Gap are few of the famous brands in the fashion industry that was subject to a lot of criticism due to the issue on “bourgeois exploitation” (Allhoff and Vaidaya 155; Faith and McCallum 56; Matthews 121 – 122). In relation to the social and environmental issues related to the unfair labor treatment and the use of chemicals in the manufacturing of fabrics, sustainable fashion designers exerted an effort to produce and design fashion clothing that are not only stylish but also uses organic and recycled materials, observe the practice of fair trade, and continuously protecting the animal welfare (Hindson and Webster 68; Pride, Ferrell and Lukas 421). In most cases, it is the entirely new generation of fashion designers and entrepreneurs who are trying to create a competitive advantage out of selling sustainable fashion designs within the fashion industry. As we enter the new era in sustainable fashion, we can expect more designers to gradually switch to the concept of promoting the importance of social and environmental responsibility. It means that the ethical issues with regards to social and environmental responsibility in earth-friendly fashion will become a significant part of the growing fashion industry all over the world. Therefore, “think green” becomes an important element in a successful fashion design (Harvard Magazine). In fact, sustainable fashion design is not limited among the small time fashion designers in London. Other luxury brands like Chanel, Giorgio Armani, Hermès, Louis Vuitton (LV), and Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) are also in support of creating sustainable fashion designs (Doran). For example, Stella McCartney is one of the famous small time fashion designers in London who is active in the practice and promotion organic cottons or yarns, natural or low-impact dye, biodegradable or non-leather handbags, and recycled paper products in her fashion collection (Emerald Traveler; Hearst). Aside from supporting the animal rights (Emerald Traveler), the young fashion designer invested in the use of wind power and solar-system in generating electricity in their stores and offices as part of her environmental-friendly campaign (Hearst). Another well-known fashion designer that uses eco-fashion labels is Vera Wang. As a fashion designer, Vera Wang is more focused in the use of eco-friendly clothing materials for wedding gowns (Myers). Among the other well-known fashion designers who are known for their interest in supporting the promotion of sustainable fashion designs include “Giorgio Armani, Gucci, YSL, Paul Smith, Valentino, Roger Vivier, Alberta Ferretti, Ermenegildo Zegna, Stella McCartney, Tom Ford and Dolce & Gabbana” among others (NICE News). The future fashion industry is shifting towards a more sustainable fashion design. In moving towards the development of a more ethical and high-end garments, Suno is more focused on creating quality and luxury fashion design that uses earth-friendly materials. Aside from designing high-end clothing in different colors, the company is more focused on producing embroidered and beaded garments as part of its sustainable fashion design (Flam). To encourage the young fashion designers to be accustomed of creating worthy fashion designs through the use of recycled materials, the Livia Firth together with the Oscar season’s Green Carpet Challenge for 2012 requires all candidates to create their masterpiece using recycled polyester and other eco-certified fabric (Green Carpet Challenge). Unlike the small time fashion designers, it is the company that manufactures luxury clothing that has the financial resources and strong public figure needed to influence the public consumers to patronize fashion designs made by fashion designers who strongly support sustainable fashion. For this reason, the World Wildlife Federation-United Kingdom (WWF-UK) is strongly encouraging all luxury brands to support the process of promoting fashion designs that are focused on developing “social and environmental excellence” (Bendell and Kleanthous 6). In the report entitled “Deeper Luxury – Quality and Style When the World Matters”, a total of ten (10) publicly-traded luxury brand worldwide were tested using grade A (best) to grade F (worst) particularly with regards to their social and environmental performance (Bendell and Kleanthous 2). Unfortunately, the research survey result shows that there is no single publicly-traded luxury brand worldwide (i.e. Gucci, IWC, Garnier, Louis Vuitton, Tod’s, YSL and L’Oreal among others) who was able to receive a rank higher than a “grade C+”. Deeper Luxury made quite a lot of criticism with regards to the social and environmental performance of each of the ten largest luxury brands worldwide. Since the manufacturers of luxury brands are being held socially and environmentally responsible for their individual green initiatives and sustainable practices, Bendell and Kleanthous acknowledged the fact that there has been quite a lot of changes that took place over the last five years. For instance, Louis Vuitton in Japan is offering repair services to encourage the public consumers to continue using their previously owned luxury items. The same strategy is being used by these companies in order to improve their existing customer retention strategy and customer satisfaction (Bendell and Kleanthous 32). One of the commonly used theories in fashion is the “trickle-down theory”. Basically, this particular fashion theory strongly suggests the idea that it is the upper class society that passes down their fashion ideas to the lower class society. With this in mind, it is clear that the manufacturers of luxury brands could trigger a significant impact with regards to the future direction in fashion design. For this reason, the manufacturers of luxury brands are considered as the best organization to disseminate the practice of social and environmental sustainability. This can be done by increasing the public consumers’ awareness with regards to eco-conscious consumerism. According to Levy and Weitz, once the lower class society has adopted certain fashion design and styles, the fashion leaders within the upper class society losses their interests in a particular fashion design. For this reason, the manufacturers of luxury brands should create more fashion ideas that are sustainable in design. By doing so, the manufacturers of luxury brands could avoid the risk of market stagnation As compared to the use of commercially made cottons and wool, it can be more expensive to use fabric materials that are organic. Without making its price less attractive to the public consumers, it can be difficult on the part of the young fashion designers to create a balance between the use of sustainable fabric materials and the vision for aesthetic designs. Therefore, it will always remain a challenge for the young designers to create an entirely new and sophisticated line of sustainable fashion collection. For instance, fashion brands like the Maiyet is able to create a special eco-aware appearance to the public consumers (Hearst b). Even though Maiyet is able to highlight the significance of sustainability in their fashion designs, the company is able to maintain elegance in fashion designs. The use of this strategy made Maiyet able to create a luxury brand in garments. There are several ways to incorporate the idea of going green in the fashion industry. Aside from integrating the idea of going green into luxury brands within the fashion industry, the young designers are also encouraged to focus on the importance of quality. Through the use of locally-sourced organic fabric and non-fabric materials, the small group of young fashion designers who are able to create good quality clothing is already a huge step towards the development of a green luxury five years from now. The second step towards a successful green luxury is to increase the consumers’ awareness with regards to the social-economic and environmental benefits associated with the use of sustainable fashion designs in clothing. Basically, the second step can be easily done through the strong support and active participation of the local and international manufacturers of luxury brands. Five years from now, the concept of sustainability will increase its importance in the luxury fashion industry. For this reason, more and more companies would eventually consider the concept of sustainability as part of its competitive advantage. Since it is more expensive to make use of carbon-free fabric materials in clothing, luxury brands should continuously search for new ways on how they can keep their fixed operational expenses low. References Allhoff, Fritz and Anand J. Vaidaya. Business in Ethical Focus: An Anthology. New York: Broadview Press, 2008. Bendell, Jem and Anthony Kleanthous. "WWF." 2007. 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