Sustainable fashion in India

Abstract

Sustainable fashion is a term which is often used interchangeably with terms such as green-, eco- and ethical-fashion (Carey and Cervellon, 2014)i . In 1960’s, the rising awareness about the environmental impact of the clothing manufacturing process among the consumers led to the origination of sustainable fashion and demanded changes in the prevailing industry practices (Jung and Jin, 2014)ii. At first the eco-fashion was perceived negatively by the consumers, but this changed in the 1980s/ 1990s with the emerging anti-fur campaigns which was followed by the increased interest of the consumers in ethical clothing in the late 1990’s. Ethical fashion is associated with a sustainable business model along with fair working conditions for the workers (Joergens, 2006)iii, using environmental friendly and organic materials (Johnston, 2012)iv, traceability and certifications (Henninger, 2015)v . The terms fashion and sustainable appear to be contradictory in one sentence. While on one hand, the term fashion usually relates to excessive investment and effort into clothing, sustainable on the other hand refers to judicious use of the resources. Therefore, the term sustainable clothing refers to creating clothes using the materials which are organic in nature, minimising the use of chemicals and reusing the materials where possible. But sustainable fashion is not only limited to the materials employed in the production of the products, it also includes a socially responsible supply chain. Sustainable fashion is considered to be a part of Slow Fashion movement but is not restricted to it. The ‘Slow Fashion’ movement refers to a movement aimed at promoting production of products in time frames keeping in mind the sustainability of the workers employed. The idea is against the concept of pursuing mindless growth without considering the working conditions of the workers employed. India has a rich heritage of handmade art, craft and clothing designs. India offers a wide variety when it comes to handcrafted cloth forms, such as Fulkari from Punjab and Bandhni from Rajasthan/Gujarat. However, these are not widely available. Indian consumers, often, buy products offered by international companies, which are not customized to the Indian roots. These products are produced on a mass scale, and often employ unsustainable practices. However, several new companies have come up in the sustainable fashion space in India. Brands like Bhusattava, Ekaco, Ethicus, etc. have sprung to ride on the sustainable fashion bandwagon. These brands claim to not only use sustainable materials, but also maintain a sustainable supply chain. Scope of The Project 1) We wish to understand the underlying philosophy of sustainable fashion from the point of view of Indian sustainable fashion companies 2) We plan to conduct an in-depth study of the working of these companies to understand how and to what extent do they deliver fashionable and appealing products using sustainable methods and contribute to the sustainability of the supply chain as well 3) In the paper “What is sustainable fashion?” by Claudia Henninger, it was found that people had very subjective definitions for sustainable fashion. Further, it was concluded that it was important for a company to communicate its sustainable fashion practices to consumers. To communicate the priorities to stakeholders, the paper had proposed the following matrix. We plan to evaluate the various sustainable fashion companies in India on these parameters.