“Luxury,” Socrates once said, is “artificial poverty”.
On a Sunday afternoon spree through some of the snazzier stores in the city, I wondered if that white sundress I hastily bought from a luxury apparel store, a buy that I thought was a steal being heavily ‘discounted’, was really a steal from the Marciano Brothers (founders of GUESS) or rather a thievery from the environment?
The luxury and fast-fashion retail industry is primarily responsible for 10% of the world’s carbon emissions and is also the second largest consumer of the world’s water supply.
Fun Fact: Producing ‘one’ average sized cotton t-shirt takes 2500 liters/660 gallons of water, also the amount an average person drinks in 6 years.
These statistics are the harbinger of the fact that the second most polluting industry, oil being the first, has fallen prey to the phenomenon of overproduction and deadstock.
The devil retails Prada
Luxury retail that once valued craftsmanship is now charged with leveraging its brand loyalty and compromising on quality while still sustaining inflated prices, being the only sector making luxury margins on every product consumed. Relentlessly focused on profit, luxury fashion has gone corporate and this has cost the environment more than it has one’s pockets. Obvious tactics of cost-cutting, exploiting and outsourcing labor, using cheaper quality fabric, the ‘oh-so-flattering’ dresses with no linings, cutting sleeves just enough to go unnoticed, although seem trivial, account for millions when the above are multiplied by the number of overproduced garments. The mystique of great brands conceals rather unexploited corporate maneuvers.
In 2017, Burberry attempted to resolve this issue of deadstock and unsold inventory by burning $37 million worth of overproduced product. Brands like Nike, H&M and Louis Vuitton are also guilty of burning excess produce in order to clear inventory without discounts. $120 billion worth of fabric gets dumped in landfills every year. Blame it on the miscalculated demand predictions and the 52 ‘microseasons that brands artificially create to eternally make you feel “out of style”. An open secret : Overproduction still is one of the costliest and most environmentally damaging fashion faux pas. Brands typically overproduce by 40%. Analyzing data trends from sales, returns and waste accumulated over time could help reduce overproduction by a vast amount.
The lifespan of clothing has decreased and it is getting harder each day to live up to constantly changing trends. However, supply chains today are equipped to deal with astronomical consumer demands as the quality of clothing and its lifespan have a direct relationship. With economic advancement and an increased number of people working their way up to the middle-class, staying in trend is no longer a luxury made accessible only to the elite.
Talking about supply, some may argue about fast-fashion being beneficial in creating fast-employment. This holds true if you ignore the following facts : Textile workers are some of the lowest paid employees in the world as most of the labor supply comes from under-developed/rural areas of Bangladesh, Cambodia and China which constitute cheap labor.
Textile workers are also exposed to life-threatening chemicals without adequate protection. The extraction of Mica, the primary ingredient used to generate shimmer in make-up products, reveals the cruelty the cosmetic industry has been concealing all these years. Around 60% of high-quality mica used in cosmetics comes from India. In the remote villages of Jharkhand and Bihar, mica mines are found in abundance and the work of extraction is executed by children aged 5-10 that earn on a good day around 30 rupees for a hard day of work, risking their lives at the mine for that pearly pigment we crave in our eyeshadow palette.
A new demographic
With a massive shift from ‘conspicuous consumption’ to ‘conscious consumption’, the unreasonable consumer has come a long way. By 2030, according to the BCG, 137 million people comprising the “mass affluent” will shift the demographic to consumption of premium goods to promote environmental well-being, an emerging segment of designers promoting high-quality craftsmanship will cater to this cause.
A reflection of the same is seen being executed by various brands. In 2016, Adidas in collaboration with ‘Parley for the Oceans’ created shoes made of recycled and reclaimed yarns, filaments from ocean waste and plastic. H&M at the same time introduced their “Conscious Exclusive Collection” made from recycled polyester and plastic shoreline waste. It aims to use natural organic material and cotton across the board in the near future.
Fashion and the Economy
The materials revolution
Consumers all over the world are rethinking the notion of consumerism and moving away from pure economic concepts with more value being given to environmental and social concepts. A range of new commercial activities is brought about by the materials revolution that focuses on innovation, research and development with regards to revolutionising the raw material segment of the fashion industry. A growing lexicon of re-engineered fibres, synthetic and bio-fabricated leather, biodegradable materials are now part of mainstream manufacturing. Piñatex, a fibre made from pineapple leaves, is attracting the attention of the big names in the industry. Chanel, Hugo Boss and others are said to be making use of such alternatives. This undoubtedly signals that the future of fashion will see a collaboration between fibre companies, fashion brands, manufacturers and retailers. Shifting consumer sentiments brought about by increased environmental awareness, regulating and increasing the standards set to manufacturers and brands and stimulating investments in research and development are the drivers of accelerating sustainability in the fashion industry.
Fashion and the state of uncertainty in times of Covid-19 and the foreseeable future
The current state of the world economy is disrupted and the fashion business is foreseeing a disorientating future being faced with a 27-30% contraction in global revenues. There has been a shift from re-imagining the industry to crisis management being prioritised. The consumer pessimism will be followed by reduced spending and demand across markets and a recessionary period in the fashion industry awaits.
The fear in the minds of people post the pandemic might create a sense of added consciousness towards the environment which could lead to stimulating the goal towards sustainability. Adapting to a recessionary market and consumer pessimism would require businesses to revamp their operating models. The Darwinian nature of the market will rule out companies unable to handle financial distress, companies facing the same would be seen indulging in Mergers and Acquisition activities or insolvencies. Social distancing being the highlight of the current state of the pandemic, the consumer shift would have to be accommodated giving priority to scaling online sales with added efficiency. To cope with restrictions pertaining to the pandemic and adapting to the “new normal”, new strategies and tools across supply chains must be introduced immediately to mitigate any further losses to the industry.
As uncertainty thrives in the market, businesses could only strive to make the most out of volatility while the “New Normal” awaits us.
Rhea Dias
References:
1) Retail therapy: Latest News & Videos, Photos about Retail therapy. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Retail-therapy
2) Ellevate. (2019, October 07). Why Sustainable Fashion Matters. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellevate/2019/10/07/why-sustainable-fashion-matters/#2fd5dbc771b8
3) About the author(s) Anita Balchandani is a partner in McKinsey’s London office. (n.d.). The State of Fashion 2020: Navigating uncertainty. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/the-state-of-fashion-2020-navigating-uncertainty
4) Cernansky, R. (2020, January 22). How to mend sustainable fashion's multi-billion dollar funding gap. Retrieved from https://www.voguebusiness.com/sustainability/how-to-mend-sustainable-fashions-multi-billion-dollar-funding-gap-adidas-prada-stella-mccartney
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