The Importance of Sustainable Fashion

Fashion is something that we all think about on a day-to-day basis. Everyone in the world needs clothes to wear, and that means manufacturing more and more every day. Just take a moment to imagine the amount of effort and resources required to manufacture fashion for the entire planet. Moreover, rather than being a necessity, fashion has now become a way for people to show off their style. The need to look unique and trendy makes fashion go out of fashion (excuse the pun!) pretty quickly. What’s hot today may be boring and uncool tomorrow. This has led to the big brands (and many small ones) adopting a method of manufacturing called fast fashion. 

Fast fashion is a business practice where labels churn out vast amounts of clothes as fast as possible to keep up with the market hype before it goes bust. As you might have realized, this leads to companies neglecting quality and prioritizing cost-effective manufacturing.

What you may not have realized is the damage that the fast fashion industry as a whole is causing to the environment. 

Here are just a few ways that this industry is compromising sustainability for profits.

• Manufacturing the number of clothes that these companies do, at the rate that they do it, requires vast amounts of energy and raw materials. The energy has to come from somewhere, right? If you think that they use renewable sources, you’re sorely mistaken. Almost all big companies manufacture their products in countries with lax environmental regulations. This means that their energy output contributes massively to global warming.
• Fast fashion has long championed the use of cheaper fibres. These include polyester, nylon, and the like. These fibres are not only non-biodegradable, but they also contribute to the already large amounts of microplastics found all around us. Microplastics affect not only our health but also plant life and other resources beneficial to us.
• Clothes back in the day were built to last. The emergence of social media has led to fashion going out of style faster than you can buy it. People want to wear stuff only if other people think it’s cool. The cheaper quality of these clothes also makes them vulnerable to tearing and unremovable stains. Once that happens, the only solution people think of is throwing the clothes away - which, as you may have realized, is not great for the environment.

There are a few ways that you can take small steps and keep your wardrobe free of fast fashion.

• Shopping for clothes secondhand is a great starting point!
• Shop from brands that take an effort to make their clothes sustainably. 
• Tailors might be a bit expensive but it’s better than sacrificing our Earth!
  
  

Change the planet, starting right from your own wardrobe. If enough people stop purchasing from these big brands, they’re eventually bound to turn tail and start producing clothes that take the environment into consideration. Until then, it’s you and your fashion against everyone else!

Sure, switching to a sustainable clothing lifestyle is good, but do you know what’s better? Switching to a completely sustainable lifestyle. This switch starts right at home, or rather, right at your dining table! Sustainable fashion for your home. Don’t get it yet? Irida Naturals brings you sustainability and practicality in dinnerware - truly the best of both worlds! With our wide catalogue of dinnerware, for your home or the road, we’ve got you covered all the time. We make your kitchen look good, your plates unbreakable, and the world a better place to live!