This article is part of an examination series responsible fashionand innovative efforts to address issues facing the fashion industry.
Who decides what is green or green? Is it good that more celebrities and reality stars are embracing the pre-loved outfit? How far should governments get involved when it comes to sustainability? What protections do garment workers have?
These are just some of the questions that will dominate the debate in 2022 about how the fashion industry can reduce its impact on the planet and protect hundreds of thousands of workers in poor countries.
By 2023, there is a sharp rise in energy prices in Europe, disruptions to the global supply chain, and rises in the cost of living in many parts of the world. These factors are all expected to pose challenges for an industry that is under pressure from regulators and consumers to quickly find beneficial solutions.
Here are some of the most memorable moments when it comes to responsible fashion in 2022.
Shein continued her dominance of fast fashion
Many people do not know how to pronounce it is in (it's "He In"), the Chinese fast-fashion giant, but it's possible they've heard of it, shopped for its clothes or maybe boycotted it.
it is in It made a lot of headlines in 2022: There were labor abuses investigations and allegations elevated levels of lead in some products. At the Copenhagen Fashion Summit in June, Sheen pledged $15 million over three years to the UR Foundation, a charitable foundation that operates at Kantamanto, the world's largest second-hand clothing market, in Accra, Ghana. This pledge prompted proposals for green laundry as the company continued to make a fortune selling extremely cheap clothing.
It is difficult to know whether these negative reports affected the company. According to the research collected Money.co.uk And published in December, Shein was the most popular fashion brand in the world this year. After analyzing a year's worth of search data on Google, Shein topped the list of most searched brands for 113 countries in the world, overtaking Zara at the top.
The founder of Patagonia dedicated his company to fighting climate change
Patagonia has long positioned itself as a brand at the forefront of the fight against climate change, Giving away 1 percent of its sales to environmental causes since 1985. But this year, the founder of the outdoor clothing retailer, Yvon Chouinard, took a bold step: He gave up his company.
He and his wife and children turned Patagonia over to a nonprofit group, which aimed to ensure that all of the company's profits - About $100 million a year Used to fund conservation efforts around the world. While it is a move that, according to Bloomberg, would allow the Chouinard family Avoid a big tax levyIt may also set a precedent for many other mega-wealthy fashion dynasties.
The stars took on a different role on the red carpet
In 2022, the message has spread that for the fashion industry to reduce its environmental impact, more brands will need to incorporate repair, resale and rental services into their business models. Spurred by the rise in popularity of rental clothes, which influencers have already embraced, a handful of megawatt starlets have also begun renting couture outfits for red carpet appearances. Highlights of this year's outing? earlier this month by the Princess of Wales, who wore a green Kermit dress by Emilia Wickstead to Earthshot Awards Gala in Boston, which I rented for £74, about $90, from the UK site Hurr.
Big questions about how fashion measures progress
The Sustainable Apparel Alliance has been one of the strongest trade groups focusing on sustainability in fashion. Its tools, known as the Higg Index, are used by companies including Walmart, Nike and H&M Group, and were seen as a de facto industry standard for measuring environmental and social impact. Until it was not.
The organizers are in Norway He said this spring that Higg's data wasn't enough for environmental marketing claims. a Quartz realization It found H&M's environmental ratings to be "misleading" and "downright deceiving". and The New York Times Article He said the index strongly favors synthetic materials made from fossil fuels over natural materials such as cotton or leather.
Fueled by other controversies such as audit fraud Organic cotton from IndiaThe debate over how fashion can create a standardized way to measure and prove sustainability claims by companies is heating up, with no clear solution in sight.
New laws aimed at reforming the fashion industry
This year many governments seemed to have woken up to the fact that companies are They don't fix themselves in pace and scope that will beneficially combat climate change. In January, the organizers Fashion law He introduced a bill that, if passed, would make New York the first state in the country to pass legislation that would establish broad sustainability regulations.
In May, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand filed a federal vote textile law, with the goal of offering better labor protections to garment workers in the United States as well as manufacturing incentives. In November, the European Commission Proposed new rules to reduce packaging waste That would affect things like perfume bottles and e-commerce packaging.
Strengthening government oversight may be a messy and slow process, but getting started has encouraged climate advocates.
A changing relationship between fast fashion and reality television
The symbiotic relationship between reality TV shows and fast fashion brands like Fashion Nova, Shein, and Boohoo is well established. But in May, Love Island, the British reality dating show that has turned dozens of contestants into influencers, adopted a new sponsor, eBay UK.
For several years, "Love Island" contestants have dressed up for the fast-fashion brand I Saw It First, which sells clothes for just $3. But this season, the contestants donned pre-loved clothing and accessories to promote responsible shopping.
In September, the internet went into a frenzy when Boohoo unveiled Kourtney Kardashian Barker as its newest collaborator and ambassador for sustainability. But, in general, there seems to be more scrutiny of how reality TV and fast fashion promote false equality, or a way for ordinary people to embody aspirational lifestyles.
Stella McCartney, who has invested in Mylo, mycelium material produced by Bolt Thread, As part of the 2020 Consortium Including Kering, Adidas, and Lululemon, they have introduced a new project with Protein Evolution that will process nylon and polyester waste into a new material for use in new apparel. Innovative textiles such as seagrass tapestry, mushroom skin, and pea silk have also gained momentum, as well as Spinnova, a natural, compostable, recyclable fiber made without water or any harmful chemicals.
Garment workers stood up for their rights
fashion Brands rarely own the factories that make their clothes. The vast majority of orders for clothes and shoes Outsourcing to suppliers in emerging markets, where the overhead is cheap and the human labor cost is cheaper. In 2022, hundreds of thousands of garment workers, who power the global apparel trade, take to the streets to protest wages and working conditions as inflation and canceled orders take their toll. in a HaitiAnd the ThailandMyanmar, Bangladesh and Pakistan, many have used social media to alert the world to their cause.
The news in December that factory workers in Pakistan were protected under the International Convention, a legally enforceable health and safety agreement, was an important step. But the fuss at the start of the World Cup about The mistreatment of the thousands of workers who make soccer uniforms for the likes of Adidas and Nike It was another stark reminder that there was still a long way to go.
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