Fashion. An industry with two conflicting and diametrically different masks. One mask is beautiful. It is a mask of vibrancy, self-expression, and individuality. The other mask? It’s dark with smog seeping through. It is ridden with a horrible and chronic disease. A disease called environmental impact. This disease allows global warming to run rampant. It allows oceans to drown in plastics. It allows landfills to be suffocated with clothing. This disease accounts for 10% of all of humanity’s carbon emissions and releases 500,000 tons of microfibers into the ocean each year.
Many companies including Stella McCartney, Rothy’s, and Patagonia have committed to focusing on finding the remedy for this disease by providing more sustainable and environmentally-conscious clothing. Global sports company, PUMA, has recently begun a new journey to find the remedy with their RE: GENERATION Initiative. Founded this past April, the initiative aims to empower a group of young voices and help them identify important areas for improvement by giving them a voice with leading stakeholders. Whether it be through Conference of the People events or other means PUMA seems to hold consumer feedback as an important source to determine how to engage with the public. This has resulted in new techniques to inform the public on the importance of sustainable fashion, such as the RE: GEN Reports podcast created to engage younger generations. Also, with the recent addition of Indian sustainable fashion advocate, Aishwarya Sharma, the initiative’s geographical reach is expanding to areas beyond the West. She has made a name for herself for her beliefs around women’s rights, fashion, and climate change and intends to continue to work passionately for a change towards a more sustainable fashion industry.
It is interesting to think about what activewear companies like PUMA will do to explore new and innovative remedies for the disease. Environmentally friendly fabrics, such as organic cotton or recycled fabrics, have proven successful in curbing the fashion industry’s environmental impact. However, in an activewear company garments must still be moisture-wicking, breathable, and stretchable while still maintaining a low footprint. Alternative, organic fabrics are not always able to perform in this way, but a fabric such as recycled polyester is a palpable possibility. Using post-consumer plastic bottles to make these fabrics checks off all of the important boxes and creates garments perfect for exercise. Techniques like this are proven to be successful in moving towards a more sustainable future.
So, as the fashion industry continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how they adapt and change to fit a more sustainable world, and how they will go about ripping the dark and horrible mask off to showcase the beauty and vibrancy being pushed underneath.
Words by Ashley Bandiero.
Graphic by Aubrey Lauer.