Textile industry is unaware of its impact on the planet

Through its industry engagement programmes, Redress collaborates across the entire fashion supply chain to catalyse positive change. However, the biggest challenge at Redress, which is working towards reducing waste in the fashion industry, is lack of time and money. "Other overarching challenges that we encounter as we work to combat the reduction waste in the fashion industry are lack of awareness within the three groups of industry, consumers and fashion students. There are so many people to reach with information and we are a small team, so increasingly we aim to create engaging content and useful tools that can be easily shared with large audiences across the world," Lane told Fibre2Fashion.

The challenge is to provide the information that consumers need in a positive way to encourage change rather than fatigue people into inaction with all the bad news so that they just keep shopping with the same patterns, she said. "I think it is less about a particular segment and more about a general mindset and commitment from the top of the organisation. We often find that there are motivated people within fashion brands who are not able to enact change as it is not part of the core mission of that brand. However, it is the brands that have the biggest influence. If more brands encourage their supply chains to become more sustainable, the rest of the industry will follow," added Lane.

The non-governmental institution has been working consistently to bring awareness about sustainability and through various methods such as an industry roundtable and panel discussions, and the creation of educational materials and video content including the recent documentary, Frontline Fashion. It has been showcasing the work of sustainable emerging designers through the EcoChic Design Award platform, and though consumer campaigns, exhibitions, workshops and content such as the new consumer guide, Dress with Sense.

As fashion has sped up rapidly, the industry has lost many traditions. Lane explained, "We encourage any tradition that helps people fall in love with their clothes again, and something that has a respect for the environment and the people who are involved in making clothes. It helps drive our overall mission to reduce waste and every day, we are coming across fantastic initiatives that make us believe in fashion again. (RR)

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Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India