Slow Fashion As a Future for Fashion Industry

Introduction:

Today’s mass production and fast consumption cause environmental problems in sustainability, therefore, slow fashion has emerged against fast fashion as a solution with different sustainable methods. This essay will criticise how slow fashion sustains profitability through several business approaches. But how slow fashion makes a profit against successfully attained economic sustainability of fast fashion? This is still questionable how low quantity of production and higher price can compete with the fast production cycle. This might give business to have a shorter lifespan by lacking customers’ demands. However, the essence of sustainability on timeless design draws attention in eco-conscious customers’ mind, the term ‘Sustainable Fashion’, falls under slow fashion’s philosophy. According to Fletcher, the phrase was stated: “Slow is not the opposite of fast – there is no dualism – but a different approach in which designers, buyers, retailers, and consumers are more aware of the impacts of products on workers, communities, and ecosystems” (p.61). Even though slow fashion may not guarantee absolute economic efficiency, it has promising environmental and social sustainability which helps to resolve negative consequences what fast fashion faced. Moreover, this essay aimed to criticize how slow fashion trends causes long and short-term business well run via sustainable strategies. Eileen Fisher’s social and environmental responsibilities cover below three sustainability practices under slow fashion movement to maximize profit ethically.

Slow Fashion Movement:

1. Ethical production & Working conditions
2. Recycling
3. Eco-Activism

Slow Fashion Movement

Fast speed in fashion movement is defining a characteristic of today’s fashion industry. Large companies make capital, labor, and natural resources squeezed together to make their profit as much as they can. This might provide consumers with more abundant productions with a lower price, however, it also brought an easy come, and easy go consumption style, which causes some problem like wastes of resources and environmental disruption. Therefore, the slow movement trend has been emerged in slow fashion (Fletcher, 2008). Slow fashion was a movement appeared as an anti-fashion, based on the same principals of the Slow Food movement, as the alternative to mass-produced clothing and consumption of them. The concept of slow fashion has come from a slow food movement, which was founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy 1986 (Muthu, 2019). This movement brought a positive impact on the wealth of society and cultures behind the pleasure of food (Fletcher, 2008).

As demands in consumers continuously rising, leading time has been reduced to fulfill consumers’ needs accordingly. This has been reflected in manufacturing speed also, it only takes a few weeks to delivery to the stores from designing products. Global fast fashion companies such as H&M, Top shop, Forever 21, Zara; they are core companies using this concept for fast production cycle. Mass production, low-price, now they are even capable of producing high-end designs for consumers. Regardless fast fashion has advantages of rapid-production, they neglect working conditions which far outweigh the benefit of having expedited manufacturing (Mercer, 2014). Moreover, the product’s life cycle has to shorten to keep up the continuously changing trends. By the end of every season, faded out styles of clothes tend to dispose to landfill purposefully, which increasing the waste in the environment constantly. Fast fashion boosts people to purchase multiple clothes at once since low pricing and low quality of fast fashion product is hard to survive in long-lasting wearing (Fletcher, 2010).

Kate Fletcher was the first person to coin the term ‘fast fashion’ and it was referred by slowing down the fashion cycle and production to improve sustainability. Qualitative slow production cycle enables workers to work in a beneficial environment, and it eliminates unfair working conditions such as forcing workers to do overtime with an unmanageable deadline (Fletcher, 2007). Therefore, high quality and durable garments can be produced with prolong the life expectancy of garments. It is also significant that implicative meaning of ‘high quality’ also represents the design of garments behind the physical of garments which are by dominant trends. With these long-lasting design, people do not throw away them easily due to strong durability and life expectancy. Ultimately, this longer lifespan reducing environmental damage by going ethical.

Ethical Production and Working Conditions

Ethical production and working condition are concerning parts of ethical fashion, which basically associated with terms such as fair trade, no child labour, no excessive worktime, and guarantee of worker empowerment. However, not most of the companies being an ethical, due to complex supply chain differentiated by each company and unrealistic consumer demands to commodities. According to the magazine ‘Raconteur’, forcing labour keeps increasing, and now going global. The report says “71 percent of companies admitted to likelihood (add a or the) of modern slavery in their supply chain” (McClellland, 2017), following to the research of Ashridge Centre for Business and Sustainability, and Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI). Nevertheless, NGOs and trade unions against child labour, the majority of countries tackle behind differentiation of their law and when it comes with monetary consideration. Granting that shortage for supply chain, exploiting child labour needs positive transformation for ethical future (McClellland, 2017).

Bespoke of working commitments, Eileen Fisher ensures human rights to be preserved between brands and customers relationship, as a member of eco-activists. Regarding Amy Hall, director of Social Consciousness in Eileen Fisher, the Brand is one of the companies in SA8000, guided by Social Accountability International committee (SAI). In this SAI’s advisory board, brands include NGOs, Gucci, Gap, and Hewlett-Packard. SA8000 regulates the working standards such as consent of worker empowerment, and prohibition of overtime, child labor, human trafficking within the United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Labor Organization. These standards are necessary for the country to be more sustainable because laws and enforcement are not the same in all countries. To raising customer awareness, the brand started to promote SA800 by putting hangtags in particular garments which were manufactured from SA800 factories. Moreover, brands are still reflecting SAI’s mission from 1997, as the human right movement for long-term positive impact (Eileenfisher, 2019).

The other example of ethical production and working condition is Fairtrade commitment. Eileen Fisher aimed to provide best fair wages and a safe working environment as a positive economic system. This commitment was made from respect for cultural identity and both environmental sustainability and community empowerment. “Peru project”, this project is highlighted to ensure higher fair-trade wages and investments to 600 families in the community which calls “Arequipa”. This alternative supply chain was operating since 2005, as one of the brand’s sustainable strategies. Hand-operated industrial knitting machines and given one free knitting machine were used to train the workers, also supporting additional looms with no purchasing interest. This supply chain was aimed to maintain family and community relationships. Their fair-trade knitting distributed by small workshops which are operating by family and friends. According to the company, they are considering as families, rather than hired employees, and which are approximately count 600. Knit products such as organic cotton and alpaca are made from these communities. The brand wants all knitters to be entrepreneurial, training can be provided if they want to improve the skills of knitting, it doesn’t offer interest loans for supplementary knitting machine to them. According to Victor Scott, technical services analyst from Eileen Fisher (no date: online), “Living, breathing system” which implicates creation of spaces which workshops are distributed widely, final product needs longer time than ordinary order from the factory. As a progressive result, the partnership with Peru went very successful, and now knitters are professionally producing brand’s most complex designs which were placed in a variety of ads for Vogue, InStyle, NY Times, and Fast Company (Eileenfisher, 2019).

Recycling

Recycling is another crucial sustainable strategy. Mainstream recycling covers upcycling or re-use of materials to turn into new products without harmful waste. Outcomes produced from upcycled fashion goods value higher than originally recycled goods in retail (Han et al., 2015). Since recycled fashion garments require the necessity of craftsmanship, the value of goods going higher than normal goods. By Eileen Fisher websites, practical sustainable recycling strategies implied through ‘Waste No More’ (Eileenfisher.com, 2019) initiative, which includes renewing, repair and care program to utilize garment waste to create sustainable products. Being innovative, responsible, and sustainable initiatives are executing promptly through recycling production process.

First example Eileen Fisher establishes the ‘Renew’ (Eileenfisher.com, 2019) strategy that they take unwanted clothes back from customers, and resold them from newly cleaning to perfect condition. A lifetime commitment, they claim to help to build a better circular industry. More than 1 million pieces of clothing have been renewed by Eileen Fisher since 2009 through ‘Renew Program’. However, this program can’t be successfully executed by the brand itself unless customers bring the clothes back to the store or shop renewable clothes. This might give a glimpse to customers following by unconventional way. To reduce this gap, the brand offers $5 renew rewards card for each item they bring back with any condition of clothes, which available at online, Eileen Fisher in store and Renew stores. Explicit responsibility presents in this rework process following by their vision of 2020, as one of the business practices. Brand renewing process undertakes over ‘Renewed, Overdyed, Mended, Resewn, Felted, and Regenerated’ (Eileenfisher.com, 2019).

By gently worn clothes, they make a perfect condition of clothes and resold over 800 items to eco-conscious women, girls to encourage positive change in the environment. Then what about damaged clothes? As mentioned before they willing to take fair to great conditions of clothes to recycle them. Following by Eileen Fisher website, they also renewing damaged clothes to the new designs beside resewing and felted. Nevertheless, it requires more hand techniques to create from the initial stage of redesigning, concerned about sustainability makes brand developing in a finding of the new technique to upcycle. However, what if pieces of the garment cannot overdye, mend, resew, or felt? Eileen Fisher also thought about last defensive mechanism such as ‘Regenerated’ (Eileenfisherrenew, 2019), technique explains that creating new fiber (regenerate fiber) from fashion waste. Furthermore, regenerated fiber substitutes for raw materials in Eileen Fisher designs, this reflects the brand’s vision of building circular industry and promising long-term growth of business (Eileenfisherrenew, 2019).

Second example brand using for upcycling is repair and care program. Renewing ‘One-of-a-kind clothes’ (Eileenfisherrenew, 2019), these clothes utilise by overdyed and mended. In the overdyeing process, only natural resources used, such as eucalyptus, indigo, and madder root for preserving the environment. It is obvious Eileen Fisher going eco-concern brand, however, it is also significant brand consciously cares about resources they are using. The other technique operating by repair program is mended. From tiny tears to big holes, they repair silk or knitted garments by using reweaving and patching techniques for a revival of garments. The brand also initiates the several methods of how to care about the garments on the website to encourage the customer to keep them for a longer lifespan. The sites are distinctively guided customers from self-washing tip such as how to hand wash easily damaged garments to basic self-repairing tip for garments, and these are beneficial to not only customers but also brands. Because customer awareness raises through diverting from waste, therefore brand awareness also raising by this relationship (Eileenfisherrenew, 2019). Consequently, the upcycling program in Eileen Fisher brought economical profit, the company earned $3 million over $450 million in annual sales. The idea that Eileen Fisher’s reuse program makes customers become more eco-conscious to think first before purchasing the garments if they want to keep products long lasting, and brand takes this consumer minds to repair and resell them which increases company’s revenue in an ethical way (Engel and Engel, 2018).

Eco-Activism

When eco-activism comes with the fashion side, the words turning into an umbrella term of ‘Fashion Activism’ in environmental conscious view. With fashion perspective, designing eco-activism enriches the environment with various sustainable strategies such as slow fashion, up-cycling, and participate in eco-fashion campaigns (Hirscher, 2013). In this paragraph, it will be discussed how sustainable imperative implementing by Eileen Fisher as a fashion-activists. Environmental Activism in Eileen Fisher seen through being as an active member of sustainable organizations through partnerships. With this policy engagement, brand leveraging business influence to support economic development with environmental protection and social responsibility. Brand joined two public groups which are Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP), and the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC) to shaping legislation and regulations (Eileenfisher, 2019). Being an active member with sustainable partners, brand constantly engages social consciousness through all facets. One policy network is Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP), this network established to publicize issues of the environment which involves climate and clean energy supports, along with the risk of global businesses. Environmental issues are not only relevant to sustainable matters, but also significant to raise economical profit in businesses. Therefore, becoming a member of BICEP provides business to have competitive advantages by achieving intelligence of climate change and further progressive solutions (Ceres, n.d.). The other policy group is the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC). It develops public policies to make a sustainable economy by communication through media, policymakers, business, and it engages partners to involve in public debate (Asbcouncil.org, n.d.). This fellow partnership with ASBC aim to supports Eileen Fisher through guidance toward social awareness in public, it gives qualification to belong part of the community with mutual importance of business, and able to have a voice in public policy (Quinn, n.d.).

The Sustainability Imperative: Triple Bottom Line Success

Frameworks of successful business come from core economic profit, then social and environmental pillars. And when these performances got incorporated, firms move towards their sustainability goals. This is called ‘Triple Bottom Line’ (TBL), it is first coined by John Elkington and comprised with three pillars such as environmental (planet), economic (profit), and social (people), (Slaper and Hall, 2011). It is within bounds to say that significant success in Eileen Fisher company comes from advanced TBL approach, as being a quadruple bottom line business. This symbolises that brand values not only environment, financial interests, human rights, but also purposing employee well-being in the supply chain. Consequently, this advanced bottom line approach rooted from TBL turned out to certified by benefit corporation (B-Corp), (Eileenfisher.com, n.d.). To wind up, engaging in people’s consciousness about sustainability is crucial to help business to go circular along with economic profit. The main criticism is that businesses must aware that not to look only bottom line, and rather perceive more in environmental and social aspects to establish a successful business model.

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