Sustainable fashion (also known as eco-fashion) is an all-inclusive term describing products, processes, activities, and actors (policymakers, brands, consumers) aiming to achieve a carbon-neutral fashion industry, built on equality, social justice, animal welfare, and ecological integrity.

1. SUSTAINABLE FASHION

3. •HIGHLY DEBATED
•COMPANIES ARE TRANSFORMING THEIR BUSINESS
MODELS
•REDUCE OVERALL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS,
IMPROVE SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN FACTORIES
•GROWING AWARENESS AMONG CONSUMERS

7. FORMS OF SUSTAINABLE FASHION
PROMOTING MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY, SOCIALLY AND ETHICALLY CONSCIOUS PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION

8. Ideally, all aspects of the figure above should be combined for every new
garment produced. Hence each garment should first be manufactured on
demand or custom-made (No. 1), in high quality and timeless design (No.
2), in an environmentally friendly manner (No. 3) and with consideration to
various ethical aspects (No. 4). Thereafter, it should be used long and well
through good care, repair and perhaps redesign (No. 5). When the product
is no longer desired, it should be handed in to a secondhand shop, donated
to charity or handed over to friends, relatives or perhaps a swap-shop, to
prolong its active life (No. 6 and 7). When the garment is completely worn
out, it should be returned to a collection point for recycling of the textile
material, which can hence be reused in the manufacturing of new clothes
or other textile products. Ideally, instead of buying newly produced clothes,
one should consider renting, borrowing or swapping clothes (No. 6), or to
buy secondhand or vintage (No. 7).

9. WHEN WE LOOK MORE CLOSELY
AT THE THREE CONCEPTS
”CONSCIOUS FASHION”,
”COMPASSIONATE FASHION” AND
”CIRCULAR FASHION”, WE SEE
THAT THEY HAVE INTERESTING
RESEMBLANCE WITH THE THREE
DIMENSIONS ”MIND, HEART AND

11. • WHILE ”CONSCIOUS FASHION” PRIMARILY EMPHASIZES WHAT
WE SHOULD DO BASED ON REASON, LOGICS, KNOWLEDGE,
SKILLS AND AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGIES, ”COMPASSIONATE
FASHION” EMPHASIZES WHAT WE WANT TO DO BASED ON OUR
HEART-FELT VALUES, ETHICS AND COMPASSION FOR OTHER
BEINGS, BOTH HUMANS AND OTHER ORGANISMS.
• LASTLY, ”CIRCULAR FASHION” LOOKS AT THE NATURAL
ECOSYSTEM AS A COMPLEX CIRCULAR SYSTEM ON WHICH WE
DEPEND AND ALWAYS INTERACT WITH, AND HOW WE CAN
CREATE HEALTHY CIRCULAR SYSTEMS WITHIN SOCIETY BASED
ON NEW DESIGN PRACTICES, BUSINESS MODELS AND

15. CIRCULAR FASHION
•A CIRCULAR FASHION INDUSTRY IS ONE IN
WHICH WASTE AND CONSCIOUS FASHION
POLLUTION ARE DESIGNED OUT, PRODUCTS
AND MATERIALS ARE KEPT IN USE FOR AS
LONG AS POSSIBLE, INCLUDING THROUGH
REUSING AND RECYCLING, AND WHERE
NATURAL SYSTEMS ARE REGENERATED.

16. THE KEY PRINCIPLES OF CIRCULAR
FASHION CONCERN THE ENTIRE LIFE
CYCLE OF A PRODUCT, FROM DESIGN
AND SOURCING, TO PRODUCTION,
TRANSPORTATION, STORAGE,
MARKETING AND SALE, AS WELL AS THE
USER PHASE AND THE PRODUCT’S END

17. CONSCIOUS FASHION
CONSCIOUS FASHION, ALSO CALLED
ECO FASHION, ETHICAL FASHION, OR
SUSTAINABLE FASHION, IS A PART OF THE
GROWING DESIGN PHILOSOPHY AND TREND OF
SUSTAINABILITY, THE GOAL OF WHICH IS TO
CREATE A SYSTEM WHICH CAN BE SUPPORTED
INDEFINITELY IN TERMS OF HUMAN IMPACT ON
THE ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL

20. HOW DOES FAST FASHION AFFECT WATER
POLLUTION?
THE TEXTILE TREATMENT AND DYEING PROCESS
PRODUCE AN AVERAGE OF 20% OF ALL
INDUSTRIAL WATER POLLUTION. THROUGHOUT THE
WORLD, THE FASHION INDUSTRY USES AROUND
8,000 SYNTHETIC CHEMICALS TO TRANSFORM RAW
TEXTILES INTO WEARABLE ITEMS. MANY OF THESE
CHEMICALS REACH FRESHWATER SOURCES. MANY
ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO CLEAN/REMOVE.

23. WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?
• CHOOSE CLOTHES MADE IN COUNTRIES WITH STRICTER ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS FOR
FACTORIES (EU, CANADA, US...).
• CHOOSE ORGANIC FIBERS AND NATURAL FIBERS THAT DO NOT REQUIRE CHEMICALS TO BE
PRODUCED.
• CHOOSE FIBERS WITH LOW WATER CONSUMPTION SUCH AS LINEN, RECYCLED FIBERS, ETC
• CHOOSE NATURAL OR SEMI-SYNTHETIC FIBERS.
• BUY LESS, BUY BETTER QUALITY, MEND CLOTHES, AND RECYCLE.
• CHOOSE SUSTAINABLE BRANDS.
• ALWAYS WASH NEW CLOTHES BEFORE USING THEM FOR THE FIRST TIME.
• LOOK FOR GARMENTS WITH CERTIFICATION LABEL CONTROLLING CHEMICAL CONTENT SUCH
AS OEKO-TEX®, GOTS, OR BLUESIGN®.

27. INHUMANE WORKING CONDITIONS
MOST OF OUR CLOTHES ARE MADE IN PLACES WHERE WORKERS’
RIGHTS ARE NONEXISTENT

28. MISERABLE WAGES

29. ENDLESS WORKING HOURS

30. UNACCEPTABLE HEALTH & SAFETY
CONDITIONS
THE COLLAPSE OF THE RANA PLAZA IN 2013, KILLING 1134
GARMENT WORKERS IN DHAKA, BANGLADESH, HAS REVEALED THE
UNACCEPTABLE WORKING CONDITIONS OF THE WHOLE FASHION
INDUSTRY TO THE WORLD.
EMPLOYEES USUALLY WORK WITH NO VENTILATION, BREATHING IN
TOXIC SUBSTANCES, INHALING FIBER DUST OR BLASTED SAND
IN UNSAFE BUILDINGS. ACCIDENTS, FIRES, INJURIES, AND DISEASE
ARE VERY FREQUENT OCCURRENCES ON TEXTILE PRODUCTION

31. DISASTERS

35. FREQUENT USE OF CHILD LABOUR
• 168 MILLION CHILDREN IN THE WORLD ARE FORCED TO WORK.
BECAUSE THE FASHION INDUSTRY REQUIRES LOW-SKILLED
LABOUR, CHILD LABOUR IS PARTICULARLY COMMON IN THIS
INDUSTRY.
IN SOUTH INDIA, FOR EXAMPLE, 250,000 GIRLS WORK UNDER THE
SUMANGALI SCHEME, A PRACTICE WHICH INVOLVES SENDING
YOUNG GIRLS FROM POOR FAMILIES TO WORK IN A TEXTILE
FACTORY FOR THREE OR FIVE YEARS IN EXCHANGE FOR A BASIC
WAGE AND AN LUMP SUM PAYMENT AT THE END TO PAY FOR THEIR
DOWRY. GIRLS ARE OVERWORKED AND LIVE IN APPALLING

38. SCANDALOUS USE OF FORCED LABOUR
• MANY CASES OF FORCED LABOUR HAVE ALSO BEEN
REPORTED ALONG THE SUPPLY CHAIN OF THE FASHION
INDUSTRY.
• THE MOST INFAMOUS EXAMPLE TAKES PLACE IN
UZBEKISTAN, ONE OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST COTTON
EXPORTERS. EVERY AUTUMN, THE GOVERNMENT FORCES
OVER ONE MILLION PEOPLE TO LEAVE THEIR REGULAR JOBS
AND GO PICK COTTON. CHILDREN ARE ALSO MOBILIZED
AND TAKEN OUT OF SCHOOL TO HARVEST COTTON.

42. PROHIBITION OF WORKERS UNIONS
• IN MOST OF THESE FACTORIES, GARMENT WORKERS ARE NOT
ALLOWED TO FORM UNIONS TO DEFEND THEIR RIGHTS
COLLECTIVELY.
GOVERNMENTS LAW AND SPECIFIC REGULATIONS IN EXPORT ZONES
WHERE FACTORIES ARE ESTABLISHED OFTEN RESTRICT THE
CREATION OF UNIONS, LIKE IN BANGLADESH, WHERE ONLY 10% OF
THE 4,500 GARMENT FACTORIES HAVE A REGISTERED UNION.
FACTORIES ALSO THREATEN AND PHYSICALLY ATTACK UNIONS
MEMBERS OR FIRE THEM WITH TOTAL IMPUNITY, WHICH DOES NOT
ENCOURAGE EMPLOYEES TO FORM UNIONS.