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Fashion is changing. Designers big and small are embracing innovative practices to make the world of style more sustainable. Long associated with excessiveness and waste, their efforts are helping consumers see the fashion industry in a new light.

Designers now have many options for addressing sustainability without compromising their designs. From reducing water consumption in production techniques and ethically disposing contaminated water, to sourcing pesticide-free and ethically farmed materials, protesting unfair labour practices, and supporting upcycled clothes, designers can create products that look good while doing good.

STELLA MCCARTNEY
Stella McCartney's"Green Carpet" collection

Since 2012, more than 100 industry heavyweights have banded together to create the Sustainable Apparel Coalition. The mission of the group, which includes retail giants GAP, Levi’s, Esprit and Target, is to measure and manage the environmental and social effects of its members’ products. It developed the Higg Index to evaluate emissions, energy, chemicals, waste and water used to produce apparel.

Behind the makeover is an increasing public awareness about the environment and ethical business. Star designer Stella McCartney is a leader in fusing creative design with a green consciousness. Her sophisticated, high-quality designs use no animal products and fuse natural and synthetic materials.

“I design clothes that are meant to last,” states the designer on her website. “I believe in creating pieces that aren’t going to get burnt, that aren’t going to landfills, that aren’t going to damage the environment. For every piece in the collection I am always asking what have we done to make this garment more sustainable and what else can we do. It is a constant effort to improve.”

Last year, McCartney also partnered with H&M and Swiss clothing-care company, Ginetex. The result was an innovative garment-labelling system called Clevercare aimed at reducing the environmental effects of laundry.

Canadians take the lead

Critics are wary of green initiatives in an industry dominated by mass-produced “fast fashion”, which churns out low-quality garments to meet swiftly changing trends – a process that is inherently not sustainable.

“The idea of fast fashion is a problem in and of itself for reasons such as consumption, waste and poor quality. But we can’t ignore that it serves the needs of people who can’t afford locally-made piece of clothing,” explains Kelly Drennan, founding executive director of Fashion Takes Action, a Toronto-based non-profit organization promoting sustainability in the global fashion industry.

Going beyond fashion

Innovative sustainable materials are not exclusive to the fashion industry. Auto manufacturers are also future-proofing their products with natural materials. BMW is using untreated eucalyptus wood for their dashboard and incorporating Kanef fibers into the interior panels of the i3 to reduce the amount of plastics required.

“An intelligent and comprehensive approach is required to satisfy the customer of tomorrow,” says Marc Belcourt, National Manager BMW i. “Sustainability and individualization, or at least differentiation, are more important than ever. Incorporating recycled materials into a vehicle’s interior design, or creating the key from castor seed oil, is a powerful statement. As a result, our customers have a highly valued and emotional connection with their cars.”

Drennan points to a growing group of younger, independent designers that is spearheading the Canadian movement to incorporate ethical practices into their work. Oliberté is a small, Oakville, Ontario-based sustainable footwear company that bought its own factory in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia so it could support workers’ rights. In September 2013, Oliberté became the world’s first Fair Trade-certified footwear manufacturing factory. This means the company meets environmental standards, supports workers’ health (including weekly doctor’s visits) and contributes financially to its African community.

“It’s still about fashion first,” says Drennan. “But the story behind the garment tells you how it was made and what makes it sustainable.”

According to Vancouver designer Nicole Bridger, fashion can be a vehicle for social change. “That’s just good design,” she says. “Good design should be a product people want. It should be aesthetically beautiful, function for their life and be mindful.”

NICOLE BRIDGER

Since 2008, Bridger has designed and manufactured sustainable clothing under her eponymous label, using sustainable fabrics from all over the world. These include Tencel jersey, which is regenerated from wood cellulose from sustainably farmed trees; linen jersey, which requires neither pesticides nor a lot of water to grow; silk that can be coloured with dyes that are less harmful to the environment; and Cupro, which is made from the discarded part of the cotton plant. Bridger also ensures that the mills she uses are blue sign- or GOTS-certified, which let her know that they use sustainable and organic practices including waste disposal and water waste management.

While her ethics have forced her to get creative, Bridger says she is up to the challenge. “It’s a challenge to do all this and make a product that satisfies customers’ needs and lifestyle, and to make a product that will sell,” she says. While Bridger has designed a water-resistant jacket out of recycled pop bottles, she is concerned about the afterlife of the garment. “The problem with recycling plastic is that you end of downcycling, meaning it can’t be recycled into something else,” she says. She is keeping close tabs on mills that are working on ways to treat the fabric so it can be used again.

NICOLE BRIDGER

Bridger’s goal is to create a “closed-loop, zero-waste” system. By this, she means a system of clothing design, manufacturing, production and disposal that creates no waste at all. “When you’re done with a piece of clothing, you would return it for reselling, recycling or repurposing so it wouldn’t end up in a landfill,” she explains. Clothing that is recycled would be mulched and used to create new fabric or bed filling. Biodegradable fabric would be returned to the earth or even composted if the dyes permitted it.


This content was produced by The Globe and Mail's advertising department, in consultation with BMW.  The Globe's editorial department was not involved in its creation.