
Sustainable Fashion Campaigns
There are several ethical clothing campaigns that have a zero-waste ethos and strive to reduce the environmental impact of clothing. Among these campaigns is Fashion Revolution Week, launched in 2013 (24 April) to commemorate the deaths of over 1,100 people and 2,500 injured in the Rana Plaza Collapse – an eight-story building which housed a number of clothing factories and around 5,000 employees, The Campaign sees demand for greater transparency in the fashion supply chain, where people can use the hashtag on Twitter #whomademyclothes to gain insight into the industry.
Taking Part
Fast fashion brands have begun to take part, and are now producing clothing lines that claim to be ethical such as H&M with their Conscious Collection range, and ASOS with ‘Responsible Edit’. As people are becoming more conscious of their fashion purchases, the option to buy clothes with an ethical ethos (not to mention brand new) is in a sense, killing two birds with one stone. ZaraMia, owner of ZaraMia Ava – a zero-waste exclusive independent label – said: “Quite a lot of fast fashion brands are greenwashing, saying they are ethical and sustainable but are lying just to follow the growing trend. They need to have transparency and credibility. “More and more brands are understanding the importance of sustainability and consumers are becoming more aware. It’s all about education and for people to see the benefits.” Another way to take part in shopping for clothes sustainably is by heading to a charity shop, or attending a local Kilo Sale – a preloved sale, bought by the kilo. ZaraMai said that this is one way of being ethical as it helps the circular economy, and prevents huge amounts of garments from going to landfill.

Clothing gone to landfill
*According to Wrap, the value of unused clothing we own is estimated at around £30 billion.
*350,000 tonnes which equates to £140 million worth of clothing goes to landfill each year.
*In the UK, the average lifespan for a garment of clothing is roughly two and a half years. Extending this by nine months can significantly reduce its environmental impact.
*ClothesAid’s statistics claim that 700,000 tonnes of clothing in the UK is recycled – which is enough to fill 459 Olympic-size swimming pools.
Leia Gurnhill, a student at Leeds Art University said: “I think that people are taking their shopping choices more seriously, although buying clothes brand new because they are more ethical doesn’t make sense.” She goes on to explain how conscious clothing decisions can also include reusing and repurposing clothing, which is a sustainable and ethical choice. The idea of sustainability and fashion cannot be said to be a new one, as it is seen from the exhibition, that three centuries ago it was a necessity. Now it’s becoming a trend, the norm. We are more conscious in the choices we make so that we so that we can protect the environment.