In her text, the author, Alice Payne, talks about the life-cycle of fashion garments in the Australian market. Even though this study was done in Australia, I believe, the findings in general can apply to the whole fashion industry. The first step of the life-cycle of clothes is FIBER. In Australia, the most used fibers are cotton, polyester and regenerated fibers. Cotton is a natural fiber, however it requires a lot of water to grow the plant to in large quantities it is harmful for the environment. Companies have to start at the level of fibers, they need to choose ones that are not environmentally harmful however those are often more expensive. The next phase is TEXTILE PRODUCTION. Spinning, weaving, dyeing and finishing phases of textile production often involve poor labor practices and toxic waste is reduced to the environment. Companies have to think about designing clothes in the phase of DESIGN that are made from textiles that are colored and made in a way that is not harmful. Thus, whatever kind of textiles are available and can be made in a sustainable, natural way could influence trends. According to the reading, “waterless dyeing techniques are important innovations, but are currently prohibitive in the mass market due to cost and volume.” Decision are made in the level of design that will impact the whole cycle. Manufacturing is the next phase of the garment’s life-cycle. Often said to exploit the lives of workers. The next phase is distribution which is an important phase, as this is where the product?company will interact with the consumer. According to the reading, ” in design for sustainability, retail is an opportunity to engage with consumers in new ways, whether through co-design or through implementing product service systems (PSS).”
The phase that has the biggest environmental impact. It was shocking to read how harmful my t-shirts are for the environment. “purchasing a 250g cotton T-shirt implies purchasing 1,700g of fossil fuel, depositing 450g of waste to landfill and emitting 4kg of CO2 into the atmosphere.” These numbers are very shocking to me.
The last step is disposal. In order to create sustainable fashion, designers have to keep in mind what happens with the clothes we do not want to wear anymore. Can they be recycled or repurposed?