Sustainability? Related to fashion?

2020.03.20

Fashion

Sustainability has become an increasing topic of concern in recent years. As the United Nations have newly posted their Sustainable Development Goals to be attained by 2030, it has gained attention by many people. The main points of these goals can be summarized by: primary impact – providing quality education for children in developing countries, secondary impact – establishing good health, gender equality, and yielding clean water and proper sanitation, and finally, the long term community impact – decent work and stimulating economic growth, reduced inequalities in many aspects, a safe environment for life on land, and creating peace and strong institutions.

https://www.unitedworldschools.org/

Following this, sustainable fashion is a hot topic increasing in popularity. With the fall and bankruptcy of many fast fashion companies like Forever 21, simultaneously, a rise in sustainable fashion companies can be seen. So, what exactly is sustainable fashion? According to Dr. Brismar from Green Strategy, sustainable fashion can be defined as clothing, shoes, and accessories that are manufactured, marketed, and used in the most sustainable way possible taking both into account of environmental and socio-economic aspects.

Although sustainable fashion seems to be a relatively new phenomena in Japan, many YouTubers in the USA for example, have been promoting these sustainable fashion brands increasingly over the last few years. I remember watching YouTuber, Arden Rose’s video on “Revolve”, a sustainable fashion brand several years ago who was one of the pioneers in this field. At that time, I did not fully understand what sustainable fashion was and why it was so important for consumers to invest in their clothing rather than buying a larger amount of clothes for a cheap price – I valued quantity over quality; however, learning more about the damage humans produce to the environment and its long-run effects, I began to realize how important it is for people to be kind to our own very Earth.

I completely understand that some clothing pieces from sustainable fashion brands are quite pricey but I hope that people will begin to understand the meaning behind it and how giving back to the environment will aid future generations to come. If these brands are not your pick, H&M, originally a fast fashion brand, has released a “conscious line”, which is a bit more expensive compared to the other H&M but is relatively inexpensive and sustainable.

Personally, I recently, came across a brand named Allbirds. Allbirds is a sustainable fashion brand creating environmentally-friendly shoes. What’s so special about their sneakers is that instead of using plastic for the soles that are not degradable meaning once it is created, it will last forever in this world, they use a unique material called “sweet foam” made from sugarcane. I honestly thought this was mind-blowing! This company is known to create the “world’s most comfortable shoes” and even Times magazine have written multiple articles on them. So, not only are they sustainable but are also comfortable and cute. They have a newly opened store in Harajuku so please check it out!

https://fashionmaptokyo.com/allbirds-harajuku/

https://monopolis-sai.com/allbirds-sneaker-japan/

It’s honestly great to see that even fashion is becoming something known even in Japan. I hope that celebrity figures will continue to promote sustainable fashion through social media so many people will be able to understand how worth it it is to buy. On the news the other day, I saw that the 2020 Tokyo Girls Collection had a section of the show dedicated to sustainable fashion and I screamed out of joy because I didn’t think this was a topic spreading in Japan. Sustainability is such an important concept for people to understand so we are able to be generous to our environment and will benefit us in the long-run.