Plastic Clothing

I actually knew most clothes were made from ~not cotton but I came to know that in a strange way. Someone passed down a sweater to me a couple of years back and it was distinctly of low quality. Not because of age but it felt very plastic — I could see the individual threads and they didn’t have the normal worn look of cotton but more like electric wires threaded together. A quick google search that followed led to me to the realization that most of my clothing is plastic. Heather Kaye’s guest talk was in this realm. I think loop swim represents the direction the manufacturing industry has to take. It seems a critical factor producers have to grapple with is closing the cradle to cradle loop. 

 

Luckily, producers respond to consumer needs. As Kaye points out, there is need for an attitude change on the consumer to seek more long term items as part of their lifestyle. This is not a radical shift – much of the disposable culture is quite young in contrast to clothing. I’m not objected to buying clothing made from plastics, but I think the simple act of owning less for long goes a long way in making fashion sustainable.