The sustainable fashion industry has been around for more time than people think. It started being part of a bigger movement, the hippie revolution. It was back then when hippie people started shifting towards using more naturals fabrics, in general a simpler lifestyle including fashion itself. This mindset was soon later followed by the punk and goth movements in the 70s and 80s. Second hand and vintage clothing was the move among these people, rejecting traditional fashion. These were the first sparkles of sustainable fashion.

The industry has definitely progressed a lot since then. More sustainable practices are now applied to produce materials, more companies sell sustainable clothes, larger variety of products, better transparency on labeling, and certainly a more aware society on environmental responsibility. Thus, the sustainable fashion industry has grown, and it will continue growing, but what is its future?

MORE COMPANIES, bigger industry

The sustainable fashion industry is getting bigger and this trend will not stop. Fashion consumers are more aware of the terrible effects that fast fashion has on the planet. This is why people are switching their habits and investing on more sustainable clothing, and these habits will stay on the consumers. In the future, sustainable fashion will be a must in order to respect the environment and avoid damaging it. Therefore, in order to fulfill this rise in demand more and more companies will start up in the sustainable fashion industry increasing its size.

Some of the small and bigger companies that have already started up and have opened the way to a more sustainable consumption are Everlane, Boden and Kotn.

BIGGER INDUSTRY, more options

MORE OPTIONS, provide opportunities

All these new sustainable fashion companies will invest not only on getting sustainable materials and their production but also on ethical fashion. Meaning that they see beyond a product and its profitability. They care about the people who are behind the fashion industry and they invest on making their lives better. Therefore, all these people who nowadays work in terrible conditions and earning way below minimum wage, unable to financially support their families behind the fast fashion industry, have an opportunity. In the future, the sustainable fashion indutry will help millions of people getting out of super poverty levels and have a better life, a future.

In the future, the sustainable fashion industry will be the only fashion industry and not the alternative.

Entrepreneruship is a very extended concept right now in the world of business, specially in the fashion industry. Thus, tired of buying clothes from big multinationals supporting the now called fast fashion, many entrepreneurs have created their own clothing brands. These small sustainable clothing brands create products that fit with their style, but most important with their values. Thereby, entrepreneurs have taken over the sustainable fashion industry, creating small brands that sell sustainable and socially ethical clothes.

Starting a company is not an easy thing. There are many things that must be taken into consideration. Moreover, the entreprenurs that enter in the sustainable fashion industry face a lot of difficult challenges. These are some of the difficulties:

>Funding

Getting funding to start up a company is very difficult, and even more when you are a young entrepreneur. Usually, banks refuse to lend money becaue of the high risk of failiure that any new business carries, specially looking at the long run. Not to mention that only 50% of the small businesses make it pass the fifth year. Also, banks fear young people´s lack of commitment to new projects. Creating a sustainable fashion company is a big investment, there are a lot of areas that need financing. For instansce, traveling to find suppliers, manufacturing the first pieces, digital or physical platforms for product selling ,and shipping.

>Getting Sustainable raw Materials

This is a very difficult taks because there are not that many companies that supply sustainably grown materials, such as cotton. Cotton is the most important material used in the production of clothes. Big multinationals use cotton that has been grown in mass production, not respecting the environment in the process. Pesticides that contaminate the water are applied, so it makes impossible to reuse that water, increasing the amount used in the fields and contaminating rivers and water . Finding companies that grow sustainable cotton is hard to find because it is not as profitable.

>Finding Factories following Ethcal Standards

Consumers often times forget about who has produced the piece of clothing that they just bought. However, for sustainable fashion entrepreneurs it is a must when it comes to finding suppliers. They want to get their raw materials and products from companies that respect and protect their workers. Unfortunately, most of the time the people who produce clothes are located in third world countries in which workers´rights do not exist or are not followed. Therefore, these new green fashion companies want to improve these people´s lives by not only providing them a job but also a healthy and safe environment to work. Abolishing child labor and respecting workers´ rights.

Here it is a video created by BASK (<-their link), a basque entrepreneur who has started up in the sustainable fashion industry. This video shows the tragic situation that one of those third countries suffer due to the fashion industry, Bangladesh. (Turn on english subtitles)

>Sending the Message across

After setting the company´s vision, it is crucial to send the message that the vison carries across to the consumers. However, this task has been difficult in the sustainable fashion industry. This is becasue the public has not changed their habits on shopping fashion. Low prices drive people crazy without paying attention to the story that is behind that clothing piece. Sustainable fashion entrepreneurs want to change it and make every material and person that is behind each piece count.

Life is full of choices, we spend all our lives choosing between two or more options. And at times, those decisions become very difficult and can certainly change our lives. Furthermore, the decisions we make not only affect us personally but also the world we live in. Thus, the type of fashion we chose to consume also does influence the environment around us. If the lifestyle followed is aligned with environmental consciousness, then sustainable fashion is the perfect match. Enjoying the joy and creativity that fashion provides its consumers with but in a sustainable way. However, all options have its pros and cons, and for those who are on the edge about filling their wardrobes with sustainable clothing, here is a list of pros and cons of sustainable fashion.

~Respeting the Environment

Most people want to be active in the fight of climate change but do not know what to do or where to start from. Well, involving themselves in the sustainable fashion industry is a great beginning. By buying sustainbale clothes, products that have been produced by recycled or sustainably grown materials are supported which means that the less harm has been done to the environment in the process. For example, buying products that has been made of sustainably grown cotton or recycled denim.

~Longer Usage to Clothes

It is always nice when we find a good deal and we get a piece of clothing cheaper than its original price. However, how many times that piece did not last as long as we expected? When we invest money on sustainable fashion we are buying products which will meet our expectations and more since they have been made with high quality raw materials.

~More Space in the Closet

It is not ususal to buy a lot of products from sustainable fashion stores because of the high pricing and durability of the products. Thus, by buying less clothes we will have more room in the closet to fill it up with more clothes in the future and we will be able to organize it better.

~Money Management Skills

Today, it is super important to have good money management skills. Since usually a few pieces are bought at a time and buying sosteinable clohes involves an important investment, it is essesntial to research and compare different options and prices before making a decison. In this process, money management skills are improved.

~Difficult to Follow Trends

Unfortunately, the sustainable fashion industry is not as big as fast fashion industry. Due to this fact, there are less companies who offer sustainbale clothes and therefore there is less choice when it comes to selection. Moreover, for the most part these companies are small sized so it is very difficult for them to offer the last fashion trends.

~ Less Choice

Apart from the trends, it is also more difficult to find clothes that might fulfill different types of styles. However, the industry is getting bigger and it will soon be able to provide a wider bariety of clothes.

~Spending More Money

A higher quality also means a higer price. Sustainable clothing is, in general, more expensive than fast fashion. This is due to the size of the industry, the high quality materials used in the production and the investment in social ethics that many many sustainable fashion companies do when buying their prdocuts and raw materials.

Companies in the sustainable fashion industry use different approaches to reach their specific market targets and they also make business in different ways. On the one hand, some companies have started up with business ideas based on only selling sustainable clothes and making sustainability their base standard. On the other hand, other companies, usually big multinationals, have shifted their mission statements towards sustainability and adjusted their business ideas by either selling whole new lines of sustainable clothes or making little adjustments to their actual products and procedures.

Who are the green shoppers?

These are the characteristics that sustainable fashion consumers portray:

• Young. Since sustainability is a new concept, the younger generations represent almost all sustainable fashion consumers. Young people are the ones who created it and turned it into a social movement which now goes beyond fashion and reaches other industries. The age range is between 15 and 35. However, due to affordability matters, most consumers are above 20 years old since these products are usually quite expensive and the youngest ones mainly do not work yet and still attend school.

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• Middle Income. Most of the consumers are young and do not have high disposable income. They are students or are just entering the work force which interferes with their purchasing power, and therfore with buying sustainable clothes. This is why they do not buy a large number of clothes at a time but a few pieces occasionally.

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• Environmentally Aware. Turning fashion into a sustainable industry started with the environmental awareness that the population developed during the last years. The consumers are conciuous of the changes that society must make in order to sustain the world. One of them is the consumption habits. Responding to this important action, sustainablity was brought to the table and impacted the purchasing decisions of millions of consumers around the world. Green consumers buy sustainable fashion based on their environmental awareness.

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• Determined. They know what they want and they ask for it. These kind of consumers want to see that companies really do their job and give them sustainable products, not only environmentally friendly but also ethically sustainable. Consumers want to contribute to the world´s fight against social and environmental unsjutice and they do not do it only by buying sustainable fashion in this case, but also taking the streets. This is why is very important for companies to be transparent in the sustainable fashion industry.

It is definitely a LIFESTYLE.

Green consumers who buy sustainable fashion are young with middle income and very determined about changing the world because of their environmental awareness. More and more consumers are shifting their purchases into more sustinable options and this trend will only keep increasing. At the end of the day it all comes to a lifestyle and not just buying a piece of clothing. These consumers do not want to fulfill their fashion needs at any cost, they follow their values first and then decide on which company invest their money in. Thus, their goal in life is to be as sustainable as possible and this includes their dressing code.

The fashion industry is huge, it moves around 406 billion dollars globally. Until a couple years ago, nobody really paid attention to the ethical part of this big industry. However, recently a movement started arising in order to change the overall fashion industry . Now, this movement is called sustainable fashion, and its volume of products has grown 508% from 2016 to 2018. A lot of small businesses emerged and started to produce and sell sustainable clothes which have had an incredible positive answer by the consumers. Following the trend, many big multinational companies have also shifted their mission and joined the movement.

Levi Strauss & Co has been one of the main multinational corporations addressing the ethical and environmental issues that the fashion industry has and also taking action on them.

The company has created many different campaigns in order to become a more sustainable company. The most important campaigns involve using raw materials that have been grow in a sustainable way such as cotton, and imporving their prodcution techniques reducing water usage. By carrying out these initiatives, the company has not only secured loyal customers but also gained new ones who are into the sustainable fashion movement.

Levi´s is a very good example of a company which has adjusted to the trends and also to the issues that the world is facing. However it is not the only one. Along the lines, other companies have also joined the shift. H&M, Patagonia and Zara are some among others that have applied sustainable practices and created campaigns promoting sustainability.

Big companies who wants to increase their market share and and attract new customers look at the new trends that younger generations follow who might potentially become customers one day. One of the most important trends nowadays is sustainability which companies are leaning to as well. Thus, they reinforce their status in the industry and improve their image towards the public opinion, gaining customers. Corporations will continue to adjust as long as it helps their bottom line.

Eneritz Larranaga

My name is Eneritz Larranaga, I am 21 years old and I am from Spain. Currently, I am studying in the U.S. at Eckerd College which is located in St. Petersburg, Florida. My major is International Business with a minor in Marketing and Chinese.

I have always enjoyed fashion; however, my fashion consuption habits have shiffted along with my environmental awareness. Therefore, I created this blog in order to spread awareness about sustainable fashion and share my thoughts and ideas on a different platform other than Instagram.

Sustainable fashion is an industry which we must lean on as fashion consumers in order to enjoy both fashion, and the planet. This blog will give me and my readers the opportunity to exlpore this new industry which will eventually become essential to sustain the world.

Eneritz Larranaga

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