Sustainable and Ethical Fashion: The Environmental and Morality Issues
Sustainable and Ethical Fashion: The Environmental and Morality Issues
Abstract: Presently sustainability of fashion in the worldwide is the major considerable issue. The much talked
concern is for the favor of fashion’s sustainability around the world. Many organizations and fashion conscious
personalities have come forward to uphold the further extension of the campaign of good environment for
tomorrows. On the other hand, fashion for the morality or ethical issues is one of the key concepts for the
humanity and sustainability point of view. Main objectives of this study to justify the sustainability concern of
fashion companies and their policy. In this paper concerned brands are focused on the basis of their present
activities related fashion from the manufacturing to the marketing process. Most of the cases celebrities are in
the forwarded stages for the upheld of the fashion sustainability. For the conservation of the environment,
sustainability of the fashion is the utmost need in the present fastest growing world. Nowadays, fashion is
considered the vital issue for the ecological aspect with morality concern. The research is based on the
rigorously study with the reading materials. The data have been gathered from various sources, mainly
academic literature, research article, conference article, PhD thesis, under graduate & post graduate
dissertation and a qualitative research method approach has been adopted for this research. For the
convenience of the reader and future researchers, Analysis and Findings have done in the same time.
Keywords: Sustainability, Aesthetics, Appearance, Uniqueness, Acquisition, Vintage, Dress, Fashion industry,
Textile industry, Supply chain management, Five‐R analysis, Green supply chain, Sustainable, Case analysis,
Sustainable clothing, Clothing retailers, Consumer behavior, Ethical consumerism, Fair trade, Choice editing,
Focus groups, Qualitative research, Retail trade, Corporate social responsibility, Ethics, Fashion industry,
Buying behavior, Customer satisfaction, Germany, United Kingdom, Supply chain, Sustainable fashion, Fashion
operations, Slow fashion, Consumption, Fast fashion, Apparel, Environmental impacts, Life-cycle assessment,
Stakeholder analysis, Ethical Consumer, Environmental Consciousness, Clothing, Waste.
I. Introduction
Now in Bangladesh fashion is a topic for much discussion as like whole over the world. Consciousness
have there been grown up for the day to day use of clothing and fashion as well. From 1987 the much talked
issues about fashion is eco fashion or sustainable fashion as a term in the fashion world. It is a part of growing
design philosophy and trend of sustainability that environmentally friendly with social responsibility.
Sustainable fashion is the part of larger trend of sustainable design where a product is created or produced with
the consideration of environment and social (even moral) impact throughout the total life span including its
„carbon footprint‟. According to the fashion magazine, Vogue (May, 2007); sustainable fashion is not merely a
short term trend but one which could last many seasons. Here environmentalism used to manifest itself in the
fashion world by a donation of percentage of sales of a product to a charitable cause. Fashion designers are eco-
conscious and re-introducing environment friendly methods through using eco-friendly material and socially
accountable production process. Designers say that they are making effort in incorporate sustainable practices
into modern clothing rather than dusty, hippy clothing. But, sustainable fashion is typically more expensive than
clothing made by conventional methods. Several like Bono and Stella McCartney have recently drawn attention
to the socially conscious and eco-friendly fashion; Edun show is showcasing sustainable fashion in songs about
war, climate change and use of gasoline. Since 2005, Portland Fashion Week has been featuring sustainable
designers‟ works in apparel. An increasing number of Hollywood celebrities have been associated with
sustainable Fashion like Natalie Portman, Cameron Diaz, Alicia Silverstone, Jennifer Aniston, Selma Hayek,
Jade and Jess.
morally produced clothing. The findings from his research demonstrate little evidence that ethical issues have
any effect on consumers' fashion purchase behavior. This research paper gives insight into ethical fashion
purchasing behavior among UK and German consumers and provides information to improve the potential of
ethical fashion. (Joergens, 2006)
In the article, „Sustainable Fashion Supply Chain: Lessons from H&M‟, Bin Shen shows the structure
of sustainable fashion supply chain including eco-material preparation, sustainable manufacturing, green
distribution, green retailing, and ethical consumers based on the extant literature. In this study the case of the
Swedish fast fashion company, H&M, which has constructed its sustainable supply chain in developing eco-
materials, provides safety training, monitoring sustainable manufacturing, reducing carbon emission in
distribution, and promoting eco-fashion. Moreover, based on the secondary data and analysis, the researcher
learns the lessons of H&M‟s sustainable fashion supply chain from the country viewpoint: I. The H&M‟s
sourcing managers want to select suppliers in the countries with lower degrees of human well beings; II. The
H&M‟s supply chain manager may set a higher level of inventory in a country with a higher human wellbeing;
and III. The H&M CEO may consider the degrees of human wellbeing and economic wellbeing, instead of
environmental welfare when initiation the online shopping channel in a particular country. (Shen, 2014)
In the year 2010, Eleonor Johansson said that the fashion industry is today a global industry and has a
huge effect on our environment as well as on people. It is dominated by fast fashion and just‐in-time production
that has lead to increased seasons and mini‐collections in season, which generate new low price items in store
every week and even every day. This in turn has lead to an escalation in fashion trends that spurs our desires for
new experiences and leads to overconsumption where consumers buy more than they need, which in the end
results in fashion waste. However, the supply chain, the industry has problems with worker exploitation, such as
low wages, unpaid overtime as well as toxic chemical use and environmental pollution."In his thesis, he made
the study on the concept of slow fashion to see if this could be the answer for a sustainable fashion industry.
Nowadays, there is no direct explanation of what the concept of slow fashion is or how a slow fashion company
runs its business. This study objective was to research and study on what the concept for slow fashion entails,
for sustainable fashion (Johansson, 2010)
In their article, Anika Kozlowski, Michal Bardecki and Cory Searcy offer a conceptual and analytical
framework by conflating life-cycle and stakeholder analyses to develop responses for the fashion industry. They
exemplify that identification of stakeholders and their interests, responsibilities and accountability that can
provide a basis for the development and implementation of appropriate policies and programmes to respond to
environmental and social concerns within the circumstance of corporate social responsibility (CSR of the
Company). (Anika Kozlowski, 2012)
In the AUTEX 2011 Conference, 8th – 10th June, 2011, Mulhouse, France, titled „150 Years of
Innovation and Research in Textile Science‟, C. Morais, C. Carvalho, C. Broega found that there is a strong
involvement of individuals in fashion, when the environmental concern has been evolving and the strong need
for action in the field of clothing sustainability, especially through the services of Designing or Redesigning,
where the collection of textile waste should be incorporated into all stages of product life cycle to better
maximize reuse and recycling. (C. Morais, 2011)
In the research paper, „Discursive Confusion over Sustainable Consumption: A Discursive Perspective
on the Perplexity of Marketplace Knowledge‟, the aim has been to conceptually elaborate and practically
exemplify the nature and insinuation of the diversified polyphony and the bewilderment of information and
knowledge that consumers face when striving for ecologically sustainable lifestyles and consumption practices.
This study proposes that the discursive (not succinct) confusion that arises from these struggles over suitable
approaches to continuous development that sustainable consumption may significantly limit and constrain
consumers‟ possibilities to engage in more sustainable consumption practices. The analysis also illustrates how
in the midst of these discursive struggles consumers simultaneously mobilize alternative strategies for
sustainable consumption, in their search for more positive self-identities as “responsible consumers.”
(Moisander, 2012)
In Paris (2011), Angela L Finn presented an article titled „Luxury Fashion: Innovation as a key role for
contributing the factor in the progress of luxury fashion goods and sustainable fashion design‟. In the paper the
researcher wrote that contemporary fashion researchers interested in exploring ways in which to realize a more
continuous developed fashion industry are faced with a major problem – consumer behavior. He has notified,
the „un-sustainability‟ of these practices is now considered to be common knowledge in the field of fashion
design and in the wider academic community. This paper discovers the theory that essential characteristics of
luxury goods contribute to a link between the maker and the user of a product and directly contribute to the
when and how of its disposal. In this research paper, a different connection has been made between luxury,
craftsmanship and innovation. The connection between maker and consumer is evidenced in the signifiers that
remain as a result of the production of the garment: in this case the evidence of hand sewing emphasizes the
human maker as opposed to the mechanization of mass production methods. These indicators are also involved
in making judgments about the quality of a garment. That highlights for Sustainability which has been for
companies to continue to make a profit, considering the environment and the people. In governance this means
that business have bearded a large part of the responsibility for ensuring they have policies that hearten
sustainable practices. If anybody replaces the ideas of profit with those of prosperity, it could follow that
consumers might be inclined taking more active, participatory role. However, luxury branded goods, whether
high quality or perceived to be high quality, are considered to be more valuable than goods purchased in the
mainstream market. A move away from large scale manufacturing to a more traditional workshop environment
may result in fashion garments having more imperfections when the result from being „handmade‟ and in turn
have more perceived value with the consumers who buy them. In case of the existing „luxury goods tax‟ in
Australia perhaps we can consider a „non-luxury goods tax‟ be introduced for goods that are of a lesser quality
in terms of manufacture, materials or design. A qualitative multi-method approach has been adopted for this
research. A literature and related review of works relating to iconic fashion design associated with luxury
brands, in conjunction with the analysis of individual luxury fashion objects (object analysis) have been used to
explore an untried method of identifying key factors that settle on luxury in designer fashion. (Finn A. L., 2011)
Monsoon is committed to ethical compliance and checks the Code of Conduct regularly to set out the
minimum requirements on working conditions, for pay and employees‟ other rights.
„Osborn shoes‟ is a Brooklyn based Brand. Aaron and Carla Osborn, the design-duo use Latin
American sources of fabrics and materials from special store as well as working collaboratively for making
handmade shoes.
Pachacuti means „world upside down‟ which works in the Andean region to improve the livelihoods of
those areas to help and preserve the rich cultural heritage of Latin America.
For producing sustainable fashion goods, People Tree is famous in the developing countries. It works
with the artisans and the farmers to produce look good and feel good clothing.
Polly Wales is famous for creating flawed jewelers. It products are unique by using vintage and rough
jewels. It works for revive or reuse the fashion items to save the environment.
Sea salt makes cloth locally in the South West, Guernsey and across the UK with used garments and
jewelers.
Stella McCartney is set by a lifelong vegetarian Stella who doesn‟t use any leather of fur in her design.
She makes the campaign to save the wild life and environment. She prefers ethical fashion for the ecological
balance.
Mainly H& M works for the High Street sustainable fashion and for the exclusive collection made out
of hemp, organic linen and organic leather. It makes the campaign to save the nature to save the world. It has
own water management policy and recycle plan. It sells about 550 millions products every year around the
world. It has entered in the WWF (World Wild life Fund). It is the first of its kind in the fashion industry. It uses
organic cotton and hundred percent renewable resources in fashion. Its goal is to minimize the wastages and run
the business economically, socially and environmentally sustainable.
Made mainly works with artisans and jewelers, and it has collaboration with Lois Vuitton, Tommy
Hilfiger, Edun, ASOS, Topshop and many more. It teaches local new skills and provides long term employment
and environmentally sound materials.
Beaumont Organic makes sure that no harmful material is used in the production process of fabric or
garment or even in its raw materials collection. Beaumont Organic foundation pledges to donate one percent of
its profit to the Niusawa School in Taveni, Fiji where Hanna, Its founder taught in 2002.
Beyond Skin is dedicated to lowering its carbon foot print through sourcing fabrics locally in its
factories in Spain. It produces high quality faux leather shoes in a range of variety.
Matt & Nat uses hundred percent of vegan and sustainable materials. It creates most of the stylish and
ethical accessories known to man. Many people are fan of the brand nowadays.
Chitni & Parker works for „buy better‟ philosophy. It produces it clothing in carefully selected factories
which actively compensate their carbon emission through the Carbon Neutral Company guidelines.
VI. Conclusion
This is the time for the rapid change of Fashion in the global environment. There is a competition
among all Fashion related people, celebrities, the brands; those are working with the fashion related
organizations. The term „Sustainability‟ is not merely for the consideration for fashion but also its continuation
and further development of the new concept amongst all the people for the sustainability of the environment to
check global warming, ecological balance, reduce natural calamities, conservation of vegetation, conservation of
wildlife, etc. Most of the world famous brands have discussed here are famous for the sustainability of fashion
by its environmental and ecological conservation policy. Fashion concern consumers are searching sweat free
labor, energy efficient process in the fashion in a sustainable, ethical ground whereas, all the brands are very
much conscious for the same in the western world. For the recycle of fashion items, using less water and land,
less emission of toxic materials to the environment, minimum use of gases that produce green house gases are
policy of the sustainability in the fashion arena. On the other hand, for ethical aspect, fashion brands are very
much conscious about the compliance issues of the labor law, against child labor and for the congenial
environment of work for the workers.
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