Can Fast Fashion be Improved?

The article below highlights an announcement from Shein about creating a “sustainable blue jean” that significantly reduces the amount of water used in its production. While on its surface this sounds like a good idea, the article raises a lot of questions about the industry of fast fashion and the definition of sustainable fashion.

While I’m sure there are more announcements, this is the second major announcement on circular jeans I’ve read about this year (in 2022, Levis announced a Circular design for a 501 blue jean designed to be deconstructed and reused at end of life). While I’m a staunch bear on fast fashion like Shein, Zara, H&M and Forever 20 because of the low quality, high waste / pollution and labor practices of these companies, I try to embrace the value of positive addition and be “for something” versus “against something”. Thus as we aspire to showcase success stories in waste to value and circular economy solutions, I hope we can be optimistic that this may be a step in the right direction. Let’s dig into how to determine if this is a good innovation or not, as always the devil is in the details.

For a solution to be a good #wastetovalue / #circulareconomy solution, there needs to be more than just one item (in this case, the amount of water consumed) that is considered. For a company practicing in #fastfashion , we’d expect a significant improvement in labor, manufacturing, distribution, durability and end-of-life management to be part of any real effort to clean up the industry. Additionally, while saving water is always a good thing, understanding the implications of the added chemicals to the fabrics is also a concern. Bottom line, a #lifecycleanalysis of the product is most likely the best way to determine.

At the end of the day, consumers here have the power to drive change. Consumers can vote with their dollars to see the change the desire in the market. Those that appreciate the convenience of fast fashion, but want the industry to be more responsible, can send a message by asking more questions about the product before purchasing it. Those who eschew fast fashion, can provide messaging to the companies that they demand better and can seek out other brands that reflect their values and deliver on the economic, environmental and social benefits of embracing a more responsible business model.

I’m asking you, our friends and colleagues in this industry to share your perspectives of these moves towards a more sustainable fashion industry. At Thruline Networks, we believe that we likely don’t need to be creating new fabrics at the rate we’re doing now to clothe the world…we can likely reuse what we have in ways that create new businesses and revenue streams (The Ellen MacArthur Foundation has an amazing butterfly diagram that showcases how this can work). We could then use the land, energy and other resources focused on growing crops for clothing and instead shift them for food, energy or better yet, rewilding of critical areas to restore local biodiversity (Note - we’d love to do the math on this and are looking for nonprofit foundations and other charitable donors to help sponsor such research through the Thruline DAF)

Please share your thoughts on this article, great innovations you’re seeing in the market, value chain analyses and other success stories in circular fashion.

Neha Rao, Sarah Garner, Debbie Perlman, Ana Rodes, Filip Westerlund, Gayle Tait, Hannon Comazzetto, Ericka Ponte, Juan Garcia Avedillo, Joaquin Villalba, Ashish Jain, Danielle Vermeer, Tricia Carey, Cynthia Power, Susannah Jaffer, Andy Ruben, Dion Vijgeboom, Bert van Son, Dusty McKinnon, Geof Kime, P.Eng., John Moore, Kirsten Arville, Kelley Purdy, Scott Hamlin, Chris Haughton, Tobias Penner, Marian Temmen, Martin Stenfors, Alissa Baier-Lentz, Billy McCall, Simardev Gulati, Lena Staafgard, Amina Razvi, Zaki Saleemi, Rebecca Goldberg Brodsky, Jasmin Malik Chua, Rachel Cernansky, Caroline Priebe, Dejan Zvekić, Emily Olah, Ani Wells, Kim van der Weerd, Nancy Miller, Tanita Gray, Bukola Dagiloke, Nova Lorraine, Kamilah Sanders, Andrew Kennedy, Shamini Dhana, GCB.D, Ashlee McCarroll, Connor Hill, Gene Ruda, Jennifer Ewah, Lewis Perkins, Ann Klahr,