Sustainable Fashion and Textiles Second Edition Over the last two decades, Kate Fletcher’s original thinking and progressive outlook have infused fashion and textiles with ideas and practice of design for sustainability, and come to define them. Her pioneering work, rooted both in nature’s principles and the cultural and creative forces of fashion and design, ranges from developing ‘slow fashion’ concepts to exploring ‘post growth fashion’ and understanding the ‘craft of use’. Kate works with corpo- rations, educational institutions and organizations to foster change towards sustainability. She has a PhD from Chelsea College of Art and Design and is Reader in Sustainable Fashion at the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, London College of Fashion.
Now in its second edition, Sustainable Fashion and Textiles: Design Journeys is recognized as the defining text in the field and brings together design thinking, information about lifecycle sustainability impacts of fashion and textiles, social innovation and systems change. This edition features new and updated content which reflects on and critiques the latest improvements in the field and examines potential future developments, positioning the book deep within sustainability change. Kate Fletcher is Reader in Sustainable Fashion at London College of Fashion and director of design for sustainability consultancy Slow Fashion. Sustainable Fashion and Textiles Design Journeys Second Edition Kate Fletcher from Routledge Routledge Taylor & Francis Croup LONDON AND NEW YORK First edition published 2008 by Earthscan This edition published 2014 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2014 Kate Fletcher The right of Kate Fletcher to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or uti- lized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Fletcher, Kate, 1971- author.
Sustainable fashion and textiles : design journeys / Kate Fletcher. Originally published: London ; Sterling, VA : Earthscan, 2008. Includes bibliographical references and index.9’2--dc23 2013022135 ISBN: 978-0-415-64455-6 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-415-64456-3 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-85793-0 (ebk) Typeset in Avenir by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire For Mark, Jude and Cole This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Figures, Tables and Images IX Acknowledgements XIII Preface to the Second Edition XV Introduction 1 Part 1: Sustainable Fashion and Textile Products 5 Chapter 1 Material Diversity 7 Chapter 2 Ethically Made 51 Chapter 3 Use Matters 91 Chapter 4 Reuse, Recycling and Resource Exchange 113 Part 2: Sustainable Fashion and Textile Systems 137 Chapter 5 Fashion, Needs and Consumption 139 Chapter 6 Local and Light 163 Chapter 7 Speed 189 Chapter 8 User Maker 221 Conclusions 239 Image Credits 249 Index 254 This page intentionally left blank List of Figures, Tables and Images Figures 1.1 Energy and water consumption in the production of selected fibre types 21 1.2 Environmental impact of textile consumption in Europe on three indicators 22 2.1 Map of key processes, inputs and outputs in the textile production chain 57 2.2 Negative feedback loop 75 2.3 Positive feedback loop 76 3.1 Lifecycle impacts for a women’s polyester blouse 94 3.2 Types of sustainable design innovation 96 6.1 Changing the scale at which we view an issue or activity impacts upon how they are perceived 164 7.1 Layers of activity in a resilient human civilization 192 7.2 Energy requirements per wearing of a polyester blouse for a range of use scenarios 202 Tables 1.1 World fibre production in 2010 10 1.2 Textile fibre types 12 1.3 Environmental cost of each stage in the lifecycle of a cotton T-shirt 23 1.4 Toxicity profile of a conventionally grown cotton T-shirt 27 1.5 Average natural fibre production per hectare 34 2.1 Types of pollution associated with dyeing a range of fibres 62 2.2 Summary of developments in dye chemistry 64 3.1 A rough guide to relative impact of textile products throughout life 93 5.1 Fundamental human needs 145 7.1 Characteristics of ecosystems in different stages of evolution 205 List of Figures, Tables and Images Images Eco jeans in 100 per cent organic cotton with sustainable product components and production processes by Levi’s 28 White 100 per cent African cotton dress by Noir 31 Organic wool tweed by Isle of Mull Weavers 33 Bette hemp dress by Enamore 35 Woven fabric in 100 per cent peace silk by Denise Bird Woven Textiles 36 T-shirt in 100 per cent Ingeo by Moral Fervor 37 Suit in lyocell by Linda Loudermilk 39 Yarn made from 50 per cent recycled London textiles and 50 per cent pure new wool, by EcoAnnie 42 T-shirts in 100 per cent Fairtrade mark cotton by Marks and Spencer 74 ONE T-shirt made from 100 per cent Lesotho cotton by EDUN 77 Pillows produced by Armenian craftspeople supported by Aid to Artisans 78 MADE-BY button indicating supply chain transparency 80 Purple hooded sweatshirt by American Apparel 81 Slip dress in 100 per cent silk by Dosa 83 Modular garments designed for low laundering 101 No Wash top from the 5 Ways Project 104–5 Stain dress by Lauren Montgomery Devenney 106 Windows blanket by LoooLo 115 Back2Back dress by Junky Styling 121 Reused yarn vest by Muji 123 Synchilla Snap-T fleece by Patagonia 129 Zero waste pattern cutting concept shirt to address wastage, by Andrew Hague 131 Upholstery fabric in wool and ramie by Climatex Lifecycle 132 Caress Dress produced as part of the 5 Ways Project 148 Organic cotton T-shirt and jeans by howies 152–3 Green contrasting stitching on organic cotton T-shirt by American Apparel 157 Modular concept top by Ariel Bishop 158 Skull dress by Project Alabama 170–1 Jacket made from 100 per cent hemp grown in England from fibre grown and processed by Bioregional 175 Fly skirt in organic tweed, part of the Ardalanish Collection by Anja Hynynen for Isle of Mull Weavers 177 X List of Figures, Tables and Images Moth blanket by Joanna Notkin 178 JP Donleavy shrug, Spring/Summer 2005, 100 per cent cotton by Keep and Share 182 Eugenia dress, Spring/Summer 2006, 100 per cent cotton by Keep and Share 195 Blue velour pleated furnishing fabric by Sigrid Smits 199 Oversized labels and clothes rails in Itaylan Avlusu project swap ‘shop’ set up by Otto von Busch 200 One-night wonder. Design scenario from the Lifetimes project 209 Fancy pants.
Design scenario from the Lifetimes project 211 Who wears the trousers? Design scenario from the Lifetimes project 213 Great coat. Design scenario from the Lifetimes project 215 Hand-stitched recycled quilt by Alabama Chanin 225 High bag pants by Wronsov a. Otto von Busch 231 Short sleeve suit, vest suit and oblique collar shirt by Wronsov a. Otto von Busch 232 do shirt by do/KesselsKramer 234 Updatable T-shirt from the 5 Ways Project 235 The story ‘Colour Connections’ from the Shared Use category of use practices in the Local Wisdom project 244 XI This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgements Unbounded thanks to my trusted group of friends and advisors whose wisdom, enthusiasm and indefatigable creativity continue to keep me going, including Lynda Grose, Dilys Williams, Ann Thorpe, Otto von Busch, Timo Rissanen and Mathilda Tham.
My gratitude to Lucy Batchelor, whose support, friendship and illustrations have made such a difference and have been so gratefully received. Thank you to the team at the Centre for Sustainable Fashion for being there and being home, and to the many students I have taught over the years, from whom I have learnt so much. I am hugely grateful to all those who supplied images for this book and who work with innovation and passion to affect change towards sustainability in the fashion and textile sector. I thank all those people with whom I have cut my design-for-sustainability teeth over the years, in particular Emma Dewberry and Phillip Goggin.
I am grateful to Laura Williamson at Routledge for com- missioning this second edition. I also thank Katelyn Toth-Fejel for her stellar work on other projects, enabling me to direct attention here. Most of all I thank my husband and sons – for book writing is nothing if not a family experience – who have embraced it and my scattered presence with amusement, magnanimity and a lot of football. Preface XIV Preface to the Second Edition In the five years since Sustainable Fashion and Textiles: Design Journeys was first published, many of its themes now occupy an altogether differ- ent position in the attitudes and activities of the fashion and textile sector.
Where it used to be marginalized and of limited cultural capital, the power to affect change towards sustainability in the sector has now begun to coalesce around large corporations eager to protect and augment the reputation of their brands, and has also found a platform and a presence at fashion weeks stretching from London to Addis Ababa. Long-favoured themes, such as those of materials selection, resource flows and supply chain efficiencies, have become sites of innovation, not just opinion, and dominate a broad span of creative, industrial, academic and political agendas. A recent gov- ernment-funded initiative in the UK for example, the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan, commissioned research into new and emerging fibres,1 recy- cling2 and garment durability.3 Beyond the shores of the UK, these recurrent themes also prevail and include: the development of agricultural initiatives to improve the resource efficiency of established fibre crops, like cotton, for mass-market consumption by supporting farmers to adopt practices, seeds and approaches that best suit local soil conditions and climate;4 the introduc- tion of novel fibres such as those based on, for example, corn starch;5 new generation dye and process chemicals and associated methods of applica- tion that now reduce both resource inputs and pollution outputs;6 work to track and trace supply chain information to promote greater transparency of manufacturing processes;7 cross-brand initiatives like the Higg Index from the Sustainable Apparel Coalition to develop a pre-competitive common approach for measuring and evaluating fibre and fabric efficiency, and improve supply chain performance industry-wide.8 The speed and breadth of change to the technical and organizational structures of the fashion and textile sector is essential, welcome and impres- sive. And yet even from a vantage point within this shifting space, sustainabil- ity continues to be elusive in fashion and textiles.
It evades us not because we lack the technical expertise to produce fibre, fabric and garment more Preface efficiently; on the contrary, we have many of the necessary technologies to reduce resource consumption in development, if not already in place. But rather because we target our efforts (and our imaginations) at parts – at independent entities – of a system operating separately from a whole, the performance of which is not scrutinized. Yet the whole is the problem9 – the cumulative values, discernments, habits of mind, industrial practices, busi- ness models, economic logic, deep societal forces and aggregated individual practices that make up the fashion and textile sector – and it is the whole we must understand before we consider the functions and needs of its elements. Sustainability is dependent on how the parts work together, not on how the parts work in isolation.
Without changing how fashion and textiles are thought about, aspired to and perceived, both as an industrial sector and as a set of individual and social practices, the very issues that cause unsustaina- bility will prove resilient.