Over 90% Fashion Brands Continue To Use Non-biodegradable Fibers: Abhishek Pathak, Greenwear
Sustainable fashion should be treated as a movement rather than a trademark, linked with a localised and circular economy and there should be tools to ensure traceability of the work process, workers and raw materials, says Abhishek Pathak, Founder and CEO, Greenwear in interaction with BW Businessworld.
Pathak speaks about the need for sustainable fashion, the growing trends in this field, and how individuals can practice sustainability. Edited excerpts:
Why do we need sustainable fashion brands?
The fashion and textile industry is the second largest polluter in the world (after oil and gas), there is no secret that this industry is adversely impacting the environment. Globally more than 5 per cent of landfill is just poly-based textile waste. To meet the high demands of the latest fashion trends, many retailers produce or procure cheap and non-durable clothing.
This also leads to unfair wages and poor working conditions for the primary producers living in developing countries. Even now, more than 90 per cent of the fashion brands continue to use non-biodegradable fibres and participate in the fast fashion movement.
These are enough factors to figure out the damages caused by the fashion industry to our mother Earth, the environment and the ecosystem at large. Hence, a change is much needed to minimize these damages before it is too late to act. This may also deviate from the economic projections of the industry, but bringing consciousness into fashion is becoming mandatory day by day.
In order to make the fashion industry cares about the earth, we need sustainable fashion brands. Sustainability is required to be ensured at every step of the textile value chain, starting from the process of raw material procurement to the display and sales of the final product and its life. It must be remembered that clothes being our second skin, leave a high impact on our lifestyle and hence on humanity.
Some people believe sustainable fashion is a hoax. Your comment?
It’s true that ‘Sustainable Fashion’ has become a buzzword and a darling term for marketing. It’s also true that the onus is on the industry itself to make sustainability an actual goal rather than a marketing strategy. Many times, mainstream brands have failed to bring transparency or could not explain to its ‘conscious consumers’ how exactly they are bringing or causing sustainability through their collections. That’s when people started believing that the term sustainable fashion is exaggerated, false or deceptive.
We must also understand that ‘sustainable fashion’ is a very inclusive term adding product, processes, raw material, stakeholders, livelihood and lifestyle. It is very difficult for a brand to be ticking all boxes of sustainability in one go; however, they must be transparent about what exactly they mean when they call their collection a sustainable one.
Sustainable fashion should be treated as a movement rather than a trademark. It should also be linked with a localized and circular economy. There should be tools incorporated to ensure traceability of the work process, workers and raw materials.
What are the sustainable fashion trends in 2022-23?
The sustainable fashion trends in 2022-23 will be highly influenced by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The general mood is shifting from uncertainty to adaptability. The appreciation is shifting from glamour to raw crafts. Consumers are likely to be conscious about what exactly they are purchasing to wear and how it was produced. Thus slow fashion will rise and the consumers will start educating themselves about how to look for elements of sustainability.
The colours preferred will be pure and will have a direct resemblance to natural phenomena. Imperfections will be respected and ‘organic’ will be searched for. Natural colours for unprocessed silks, hemp, cotton, and linen will be most preferred. However, this won’t mean boring. The mindset will be lifting spirits, sparking joy and including all. Just like revenge travelling, revenge shopping might see a rise, but this will include careful purchase and respectful usage.
What steps are you taking to ensure sustainable trends?
Greenwear procures cotton yarns spun on solar-charkhas and weaves them on solar- looms to create a range of fabrics which are either 100 per cent cotton or mixed with other natural fibres. More than half of our fabric catalogue is presented in natural colours. We ensure fair wages to each artisan working with us.
Our garment manufacturing unit is operated by local tailors and most of them had come back to their hometowns during the lockdown period from industrial areas. Our stores provide bespoke tailoring solutions to minimise the risk of dead inventory and our packaging consists of fabric bags made of scraps from the production unit.
How is it impacting the landfill situation?
Since we at Greenwear only work with natural fibres, it is ensured that our products are biodegradable and can be up-cycled over a period of time. Hence, the question of contributing adversely to the landfill situation does not arise in our case.
How has being a part of the powering livelihoods program helped Greenwear to grow while focusing on sustainability and scale?
Greenwear is one of the six cohort enterprises supported by the powering livelihoods programme, a CEEW-Villgro joint initiative. The initiative aims to boost India’s rural economy by scaling up the penetration of clean energy-powered appliances for livelihoods.
The powering livelihoods program has helped Greenwear survive through two consecutive lockdowns due to the pandemic, providing necessary mentorship and support to grow. The program facilitates decentralized livelihood generation with a gender-inclusive focus.
Under this program, Greenwear is working to establish a decentralized textile value chain powered by renewable energy resources e.g. solar charkhas, solar looms and solar sewing machines. Greenwear manufactured more than 10 lakh masks made of solar-vastra, engaging 500 rural women who stitched these masks from their households.
Currently, we are working with traditional chikankari artisans to develop handcrafted products using solar-vastra as base material. The Powering Livelihoods program is helping us achieve skill, scale and speed to achieve sustainable production and procurement practices.
How can individuals be conscious and practice sustainable fashion choices?
There are many ways by which individuals can practice sustainable fashion choices. The first step is to buy only the necessary stuff and look for natural ingredients. Examine the production process and enquire about its sources. Have an even mix of branded and locally-sourced clothes in your wardrobe.
