It is said that the fashion industry could use a quarter of the world’s remaining global carbon budget to keep warming under 2C by 2050, and use 35% more land to produce fibres by 2030.
Today, as a matter of fact, fashion represents up to 10% of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions — more than global flights and shipping consolidated, as per the United Nations Environment Program. It likewise represents a fifth of the 300 million tons of plastic created around the world every year globally. Polyester, a pervasive type of plastic that is gotten from oil, has superseded cotton as the foundation of textile production, which also is a primary source of microplastic pollution in our oceans, which is particularly destructive to marine life.
More apparel is being created right now than any other time in history, as retailers and their clients stir through styles at rapid speed. Only a fraction of what’s manufactured gets recycled. 87% of the all out fiber input utilized for dress is eventually burned or shipped off a landfill.
This is not sustainable for not only our planet but our garment workers.
Not only that, but the fashion industry keeps accelerating at a frantic pace. Fast fashion is being replaced by ultra-fast fashion, releasing unprecedented volumes of new clothes into the market.
Today, fast fashion has taught us to expect that a top should cost less than $10 and that new collections should constantly be dropping— McKinsey has observed as many as 52 “micro-seasons” in a single year.
Since the start of the year, fast fashion giants H&M and Zara have launched about 11,000 new styles combined. At the same time, ultra-fast fashion brand Shein has released a staggering 314,877 styles. This acceleration is producing a tremendous amount of waste.
The cheap prices we are so used to seeing from large fast fashion companies do not take into account the hidden costs of producing such large quantities of clothing in such short amounts of time, including utilising child labour and paying factory workers pennies.
In fact, the fashion industry funnels more money towards modern slavery than any other industry outside of tech.
Why we do what we do?
At Wild About, we embrace slow fashion.
Slow fashion encompasses an awareness and approach to fashion that considers the processes and resources required to make clothing. It advocates for buying better-quality garments that will last longer, and values fair treatment of people, animals, and the planet along the way.
Taking into consideration the amount of clothes we are producing, We intend to produce only the minimum required quantity from the factory. This allows us to keep our production rate as low as possible such that we don’t have any deadstock that would end up in landfills while also being able to work with a factory that is ethical and requires a certain amount to also be able to pay their garment workers fairly.
The alternative fast fashion is to have a sustainable and transparent supply chain, which means producing less and selling at a higher price point.
All our pieces at Wild About take into consideration everything that goes into making our pieces ethical and sustainable including:
- Making our clothes out of premium recycled fabrics that last for a long time - we encourage reusing your pieces as much as possible and buying only what you need :)
- Fair pay and ethical treatment for all our garment workers
- No child labour
- The cost of regenerated nylon fabric vs raw nylon - the process of regeneration can cause a cost hike in the fabrics we use
- Taking into account all our carbon and plastic consumption by purchasing offset credits
- Recycled packaging, FSC-certified tags and OEKO TEX 100 certified threadings
While shifting fashion from a perpetual growth model to a sustainable approach is not easy and we are not perfect, we hope to be able to help shape the future of fashion and work towards an industry good for people and planet.
