The Sustainable Fashion Glossary
The Sustainable Fashion Glossary is our long-standing commitment to drive change in the world of fashion, design, and style, bringing together academic rigour and Condé Nast’s diverse point of view.
It has been created by Condé Nast, in partnership with the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, London College of Fashion, University of Arts London.
Glossary
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Introduction
The power of fashion is in its double role as both a reflection and a vanguard of its time. As more and more people are taking bold steps to tackle the climate crisis, fashion needs to lead the way and use its ability to tell compelling stories to amplify the impact of such actions. The definitions of fashion are also changing in these turbulent times, and so we must first ask what kind of fashion does the future need.
The sector increasingly acknowledges its accountability for global heating and social and environmental injustice. In the current climate emergency, the industry needs an urgent and radical paradigm change to show a firm commitment to respect and care for people and planet. The concept of sustainable development recognizes that meeting present needs must not compromise the well-being of future generations, and so the logic of constant growth and overconsumption in the finite limits of this planet is no longer an option. However, while the framework for sustainable development has been in place for over thirty years, it has not yet brought the desired results. We are still witnessing acceleration of unsustainable practices that do little to challenge the politics and the business logic that are at the core of the climate crisis. Instead, they carry on with a false premise that business can go on as usual while the planet will be saved. It is now clear that the last thirty years of incremental changes in sustainable materials, resource efficiency and recycling did not bring the desired results. Innovation in products, materials, manufacturing processes and end-of-life solutions are all insignificant in a system where the rates of production, consumption and waste generation constantly escalate. Therefore, to make a true impact in fashion and sustainability, we must stop focusing on temporary fixes and symptoms and instead commit to finding long-term solutions that address the underlying causes of the extremely high environmental and social costs of fashion.
We must now be bold in questioning the status quo of the industry that still prioritizes profit over vital social and environmental concerns. We need to revolutionize the ways of thinking and practices of design, production, communication, wearing and enjoying fashion that value the diversity, prosperity, well-being and interdependence of human and natural systems. This means a radical “unlearning of fashion-as-we-know-it” by uprooting the logic of endless growth, overproduction and overconsumption. We need to find new and richer ways of enjoying and giving value to fashion.
- Centre for Sustainable Fashion
4.1 Values & mindsets
Accountability
Accountability is an aspect of governance which requires that public and private organizations as well as individuals assume the responsibility for their actions and impact. In the context of the fashion industry, accountability means that companies must identify, assess, and measure the impact of all their activities on people and the environment worldwide. The principles of accountability extend well beyond compliance with minimum legal requirements. Accountability relies on companies' voluntary commitment to deliver on high social and environmental standards in their operations, especially with regards to human rights and sustainable development. The relatability of fashion makes it particularly well placed to lead by example in its accountability.(1-4)
See also: Externalized costs, Stakeholders, Respect, Traceability, Transparency, Supply chain, Corporate social responsibility (CSR), Trust.
- Crowther, D. & L.M. Lauesen (Eds.) (2016). Accountability and Social Responsibility: International Perspectives. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing.
- Accountability & United Nations Global Compact (2013). Growing Into Your Sustainability Commitments: A Roadmap for Impact and Value Creation.
- Accountability 2020.
- United Nations Global Compact (2013, June 6). AccountAbility – UN Global Compact Study Demonstrates Value of Voluntary Corporate Responsibility Commitments.
Care
Care means attentiveness and consideration for people, things, and the environment. To care means to take responsibility for the cause and effect of our own actions, recognizing the interconnectedness of the world and the human agency in it. The importance of care in relation to designed objects (these would include clothing and other fashion products) was emphasized by the designer and educator Victor Papanek in his influential book Design for the Real World (1971). Papanek argued that normalizing disposability of things we use has damaging consequences for the environment, social justice and also for our personal relationships. “Throwing away furniture, transportation vehicles, clothing, and appliances”, he believed, “may soon lead us to feel that marriages (and other personal relationships) are throwaway items as well, and that on a global scale, countries and, indeed, entire subcontinents are disposable like Kleenex”.(1) As the effects of the climate crisis caused by the culture of disposability in the Global North are now acutely affecting multiple regions in the Global South, Papanek’s view of care seems especially relevant, not least in relationship to fashion.(1-3)
See also: Respect, Well-being, Interdependence, Global inequality, Accountability, Corporate social responsibility (CSR), Systems thinking.
- Papanek, V. (1985 (1971)). Design for the Real World. Human Ecology and Social Change. London: Thames & Hudson, p. 87.
- Walker, S. (2011). The Spirit of Design: Objects, Environment and Meaning. London: Earthscan.
- Vaughan-Lee, L. (Ed.) (2016 (2013)). Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth. The Golden Sufi Center.
Collaboration
Collaboration is an active strategy of working together and sharing knowledge, resources and experiences between individuals, teams, and organizations to achieve a shared goal. In the context of fashion, pre-competition collaboration between micro, small and large players across all levels of the value chain is now considered a key enabler of the necessary systems change towards more sustainable ways of producing, communicating, selling, using and engaging with fashion in the future.(1-7)
See also: Accountability, Care, Corporate social responsibility (CSR), Paradigm change, Prosperity, G7 Fashion Pact, United Nations Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action.
- European Commission (2019). Mapping Sustainable Fashion Opportunities for SMEs.
- United Nations (2018). Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, p.2.
- Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2017). A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning Fashion’s Future.
- Greenpeace International (2017). Fashion at the Crossroads.
- Ecopreneur.eu (2019). Circular Fashion Advocacy Strategy Towards a Circular Fashion.
- Accenture & Global Challenge Awards (2018) Circular x Fashion TechTrend Report 2018. Accenture.
- C&A Foundation (2019). The Future of Sustainability in the Fashion Industry. (A Delphi study).
Further resources:
Fischer, A. & S. Pascucci (2017). Institutional incentives in circular economy transition: The case of material use in the Dutch textile industry. Journal of Cleaner Production, 155 (2017) pp. 17-32.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
Corporate social responsibility is an evolving concept of corporate governance that requires businesses to extend their responsibility from managing their own resources, to also considering the long-term impact of their practices on the resources of the society, including environmental resources. The concept has especially evolved since the 1990s with the global expansion of supply chains. Its more mature versions demand that companies behave proactively, using their values, day to day practices, operations as well as a proportion of profits to contribute to positive social change. Corporate social responsibility requires long-term strategies with regards to workplace environment and company culture, the entire supply chains, customer base, wider communities, and the environment. It is underpinned by triple bottom line accountancy, that measures business performance not only on financial transactions and profit (bottom line) but also on its impacts on people (social bottom line) and the environment (environmental bottom line).(1-4)
See also: Accountability, Respect, Externalized costs, Environmental costs, Social costs, BCorp.
- Crowther, D. & Lauesen, L.M. (Eds.) (2016). Accountability and Social Responsibility: International Perspectives. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing.
- CORE: Putting People & the Planet at the Core of Business (2019).
- Certified B Corporation (2019). About B Corps.
- Elkington, J. (1997). Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business. Oxford: Capstone.
Further resources:
Elkington, J. (2018, June 25). 25 Years Ago I Coined the Phrase “Triple Bottom Line.” Here’s Why It’s Time to Rethink It. Harvard Business Review online. Forbes (2019, January 14). Corporate Responsibility: What to Expect in 2019. ISO 26000: 2010: Guidance on Social Responsibility Business for Social Responsibility™ (2019) Rubin, J. & Carmichael, B. (2018). Reset: Business and society in the new social landscape. New York: Columbia Business School Publishing. Shamir, R. (2011). Socially Responsible Private Regulation: World-Culture or World-Capitalism? Law & Society Review, 45 (2), pp. 313-336.
Craft of use
Craft of use is the ability to draw a deep satisfaction from resourceful ways of wearing, repairing, re-making and looking after old and familiar clothes. The concept of craft of use resulted from an international research project led by Professor Kate Fletcher, collecting people’s stories of their favorite clothes across six countries and three continents. Fletcher argues that while clothes are sold as products, they are lived as a process. Craft of use highlights that the current fashion system lacks a long-term perspective and ignores the connection between the making and use of clothing. The ways in which people engage with and enjoy clothes are often far removed from the constant turnover of pristine looks that drives the prevailing fashion narrative. This is why understanding how clothes are worn, laundered, and cared for during their lifetime is key for a more sustainable fashion future. Craft of use offers an extended understanding of fashion that challenges the market-driven overconsumption, showing that satisfaction and pleasure can also come from lasting relationships with the clothes we already have.(1)
See also: Post-growth fashion, Care, Diversity, Localism, Respect, Inclusion, Prosperity, Sufficiency, Well-being, Extending clothing lifetimes.
- Fletcher, K. (2016). Craft of Use: Post-Growth Fashion. Abingdon: Routledge.
Further resources:
Fletcher, K. (2007). Clothes That Connect. In J. Chapman & N. Gant (Eds.), Designers, Visionaries and Other Stories: A collection of sustainable design essays (pp.118-132). Abingdon: Routledge. Heti, S., Julavits, H., & Shapton, L. (2014). Women in Clothes: Why We Wear What We Wear. London: Particular Books. Spivack, E. (2014). Worn Stories. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. Fletcher, K. (2019). Wild Dress: Clothing and the natural world. Axminster: Uniform Books.
Decolonization
The term decolonization, in its literary sense, refers to the withdrawal of imperial powers from colonies and the restoration of political and economic independence to the colonized regions. At present, it is used especially in connection to the dismantling of European colonies in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific, after the 2nd World War. However, decolonization does not stop with reclaiming political and economic control. It is a complex and gradual process, that is never quite finished because the legacy of the colonial rule, especially with regards to culture, continues long after the emancipation took place. For this reason, the term decolonization is increasingly used to refer to the emancipation from cultural dominance, or what is sometimes called the ‘decolonization of mind’(1).(1-4) The issue of decolonization is now also widely discussed in connection to fashion, highlighting that the Western fashion system has enforced a global fashion identity that is seen as a universal norm. The dominance of Western fashion decimated the diversity of other fashion expressions and suppressed the richness of indigenous fashion forms that do not fit into the Eurocentric aesthetic.(5-9) The homogenized view of fashion also contributed to the loss of regional artisan and heritage crafts traditions with damaging knock-on effects on local economies, cultures and the environment. The global climate crisis urgently requires that we “imagine and propose ‘differently’ dressed worlds”(6) that allow for multiple fashion narratives, as the global expansion of the Western fashion system has proved socially, culturally and environmentally unsustainable.(8) The narratives presented in the fashion media have a critical role to play in this respect, as they can potentially transform and decolonize the fashion system from the inside out.(9)
See also: Inclusion, Localism, Respect, Prosperity, Interdependence, Globalization, Global inequality, Cultural appropriation, Indigenous rights, Sustainability, Sustainable fashion.
- Rothermund, D. (2006). The Routledge Companion to Decolonization. London, New York: Routledge, p. 2.
- Jansen, J. C. & Osterhammel, J. (2017). Decolonization: A Short History. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Clifford, J. (2013). Returns: Becoming Indigenous in the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- Craggs, R. & Wintle, C. (Eds.) (2016). Cultures of Decolonisation: Transnational productions and practices, 1945-1970. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
- Jansen, A. (2019). Decolonising Fashion: Defying the ‘White Man’s Gaze’. Vestoj: The Platform for Critical Thinking on Fashion.
- Greef de, E. (2019, December 10). Keynote: Fashion, Sustainability and Decoloniality. Research Collective for Decolonising Fashion.
- Greef de, E. (2020, January 15). Reflections on Decolonising Fashion in the Face of Climate Change. Research Collective for Decolonising Fashion.
- Niessen, S. (2019, June 8). Giving a Damn and Hyperopia: Decolonizing for Sustainability. Research Collective for Decolonising Fashion.
- Gaugele, E. & Titton, M. (2019). Fashion and Postcolonial Critique. Berlin: Sternberg Press, p. 25.
Further resources:
Research Collective for Decolonising Fashion (n.d.) Behnke, A. (Ed.) (2017). The International Politics of Fashion: Being Fab in a Dangerous World. London: Routledge. Jansen, M. A. & Craik, J. (Eds.) (2018). Modern Fashion Traditions: Negotiating Tradition and Modernity Through Fashion. London: Bloomsbury Academic. Betts, R. (2004 (1991)). Decolonization. London, New York: Routledge. Mignolo, W. (2011). The Darker Side of Western Modernity: global futures, decolonial options. Durham: Duke University Press.
De-growth
See Post-growth economy.
Diversity
Diversity refers to the recognition of and respect for the differences between individuals, communities and cultures. These may include, but are not limited to, differences in race, ethnicity, culture, religious beliefs, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, age, physical abilities, health issues, political views, value systems and socio-economic status. All such differences may be reflected in a variety of perceptions and unique individual expressions. Exploring and nurturing the differences in a safe environment enables everyone to make a valuable contribution to their community and society as a whole. In the context of fashion, diversity also means creating an environment where multiple narratives and forms of aesthetic expression can flourish side by side. This can include a shift in focus from runways and star designers to equally considering the subjective experiences of people who make and wear clothes.(1-2) Diversity also requires preserving the rich traditions of fashion and textile production, many of which are now close to extinction due to the competition of cheaper, homogenous, mass-manufactured products. Fostering diversity enables us to draw strength from multiple sources and so it enables a