Sustainable Fashion...more challenges for the Industry

I've blogged a little about consumption and how we could control it more responsibly (very long way to go on this) http://fashionauntie.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-sustainable-fashion.html

....................and I have glimpsed at one top end designer who is remaking and recycling magnificently http://fashionauntie.blogspot.com/2012/02/make-fashion-sustainable-by-recycling.html

........but what else are fashion professionals looking at to make fashion more sustainable? Becky Willan, director of Given, London sums this up for me

Sustainability principles are becoming simply the best way to run a business on any measure.  But this isn’t based on a checklist of things to tick off or do’s and don’ts.  It’s a way of thinking. 


This is a long road to travel, where every decision will need to be questioned:

• Where are your raw materials coming from?
• How do your suppliers measure up in the sustainability debate? 
• How do your suppliers measure up on environmental questions - consider dyeing and finishing.
• Ethical issues - how is the work force treated; conditions, hours, salary, age?
• What about your suppliers' suppliers??
• If you are selling to a retailer, how do they answer your sustainability questions?  
• If you work in an organisation which is larger than you alone, how will you get colleagues singing from the same sustainable sheet? 
• What about transparency - can you create a transparent supply chain?
• How will you market your sustainable business?  

You can use the consultancy services for the Centre for Sustainable Fashion to assist in your quest

http://www.sustainable-fashion.com/challenging-what-we-do/consultancy/

Having worked for a number of suppliers where I can't influence decisions in sustainability, I am now going to start a small sustainable fashion business myself, to see how all of the theory works in the real world  ....I'll keep you posted............