Planet-Friendly Denim Makes a Fashion Comeback | Eva Klimkova by Andreas Ortner for Gala Magazine

Planet-Friendly Denim Makes a Fashion Comeback | Eva Klimkova by Andreas Ortner for Gala Magazine

Czech model Eva Klímková is styled by Birgit Schlotterbeck in fashion-forward s(he)-leaning, feminine mixes with plenty of denim. There’s no doubt that denim is making a comeback. Even the Duchess of Sussex wore denim jeans and a denim jacket on her recent trip to South Africa.

In this well-styled, directional, denim-rich fashion editorial, Andreas Ortner is behind the lens for Gala Magazine’s October 2019 issue./ Beauty by Peggy Kurka

Edie Campbell Shoots Zara 'Keep It Uptown Campaign', While Accepting Fast Fashion Complicity

Edie Campbell Shoots Zara 'Keep It Uptown Campaign', While Accepting Fast Fashion Complicity

Manly or not? Top model Edie Campbell suits up in Zara’s latest fall 2019 trend campaign, heading to Manhattan’s Upper East Side in faux fur jackets, bourgeois plaid skirts, printed dresses and pussy-cat bow blouses — with lace collars, no less. Miss Manners is on the move.

AOC has spent time recently reflecting on the hypocrisy of writing about the critical need for sustainability in fashion — while simultaneously promoting it through blog posts. I’ve concluded that silence — or stopping the posting of fast fashion — it not the answer. But we will use each fast fashion post to search for and report on any sustainability-related updates by the brand — in this case Zara.

We will also use the same post to share any new industry info or essays around fast fashion. This compromise allows us to give readers what they see in terms of fashion trends and photography, while using the post to remind us that all of us fashionistas, and the insatiable lust for something new — are part of a very serious problem for our planet. Together, we must also be part of the solution.

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Edie concludes her essay — after citing glimmers of hope around sustainability in the fashion industry — with choice words, and not ones that will always get her more work.

“I would be proud to work with brands that shoot on a Norfolk beach, rather than flying a European crew to Mexico. I would love there to be more transparency on clothing labels. I would love the fashion industry to produce less and invest in more sustainable manufacturing methods and materials. Mostly, I would love people to buy less. Even if that would put me out of a job.”

Fast fashion lies: Will they really change their ways in a climate crisis?

Fast fashion lies: Will they really change their ways in a climate crisis?

By Anika Kozlowski, Assistant Professor of Fashion Design, Ethics and Sustainnability, School of Fashion, Ryerson University. First published on The Conversation.

Recently Zara introduced a sustainability pledge. But how can Zara ever be sustainable? As the largest fast-fashion retailer in the world, they produce around 450 million garments a year and release 500 new designs a week, about 20,000 a year. Zara’s fast-fashion model has been so successful it has inspired an entire industry to shift — churning out an unprecedented number of fashion garments year-round.

We live in an era of hyper-consumption in the middle of a climate crisis.

Clothing production doubled from 2000 to 2014. The average consumer bought 60 per cent more clothing in 2014 than in 2000, but kept each garment half as long. Apparel consumption is projected to to rise by 63 per cent in the next 10 years. And less than one per cent of all clothing produced globally is recycled.

With production numbers like these, can any fast-fashion retailer claim sustainability?

Elsa Hosk Unveils New J Brand Collab Promoting Latest Denim Innovations In Sustainability Drive

Elsa Hosk Unveils New J Brand Collab Promoting Latest Denim Innovations In Sustainability Drive

Victoria’s Secret Angel Elsa Hosk shares a new Fall 2019 denim collaboration with J Brand. Photographer Zoey Grossman flashes Elsa in key pieces that are original designs and revived classics from the Swedish beauty’s closet. /Makeup by Stacey Tan; hair by Kali Kennedy

J Brands is part of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd, a Japanese company that also owns UNIQLO and is the world’s third-largest casual clothing retailer with annual sales of $19bn. Other brands include Comptoir des Cotonniers, GU, Helmut Lang, Princesse tam.tam, and Theory.

In 2016 Fast Retailing Co. unveiled plans for its Fast Retailing Jeans Innovation Center in Gardena, Calif. next door to the Japanese-owned Caitac Garment Processing location. Caitac has been washing jeans for local denim makers for years — and most of us know that iconic denim is one of the most unfriendly to the environment products in the fashion industry.

Wrangler Launches Indigood™ Denim Revolution In Denim Dyeing, Production Process

Wrangler Launches Indigood™ Denim Revolution In Denim Dyeing, Production Process

Denim manufacturing is known for producing iconic, must-have products grounded in an ‘everyman’ , unpretentious sensibility. In reality, denim manufacturing has a deadly reputation when the focus is sustainability and being good stewards of the environment.

US jeans brand Wrangler is determined to change the anti-environmental reality of denim manufacturing and especially creating excessive levels of water waste.

Wrangler’s corporate parents Kontoor Brands have partnered with Texas Tech University (TTU) and the Valencia-based fabric mill Tejidos Royo to create a foam-dyed, water-free process, eliminating the waste generated from the traditional dyeing processes.

Asos Launches New Initiative With London College To Educate Its Design Teams On Sustainability

Asos Launches New Initiative With London College To Educate Its Design Teams On Sustainability

In mid-June, Asos, which sells over 850 labels including its own clothing and accessories lines, confirmed that it will ban  cashmere, silk, down and feathers across its entire platform by the end of January 2019.

"People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) applauds Asos for leading the charge for compassion in fashion," director of corporate projects, Yvonne Taylor, commented. "In response to PETA's campaigns, consumers are changing the face of the industry by demanding that designers and retailers ditch animal-derived materials in favour of cruelty-free alternatives that look great without causing suffering."

Asos joined over 140 brands, including Topshop, H&M and Marks & Spencer, by halting its use of mohair after PETA released a video exposé of mohair production in South Africa in May 2018.

Trump Revokes National Ocean Policy As Britain Launches Audit Of Fast Fashion Impact Environment

Trump Revokes National Ocean Policy As Britain Launches Audit Of Fast Fashion Impact Environment

Donald Trump cares little about the environment, and that was never more clear than when issued an executive order Tuesday revoking the 2010 National Ocean Policy of the Trump administration. Economic development is Trump's top priority, and if he puts the entire global ecosystem in peril, he could care less. That includes local quality of life as well. His mentality is drill baby drill. As for massive guts of plastic floating in the oceans and killing our fish, basta! Trump insists that it is RIGHT to pollute, to desecrate, to kill the earth in the name of consumption and economic development.

The Obama administration’s goal was to guide a more coordinated, sustainable management of the oceans and coasts in collaboration with states and tribes. Republican opponents call such a plan the liberal bureaucracy in action.  On Tuesday, conservation groups voiced strong opposition to Trump’s action, which, among other things, ensures “federal regulations and management decisions do not prevent productive and sustainable use of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes waters,” according to the executive order.

The difference between Trump's attitude on consumption and sustainability could not contrast more with Britain's. While Trump practically demands that we pour more chemicals and plastic into the ocean, Britain's House of Commons has launched an environmental audit to assess the impact of fast fashion in the UK.