Sustainable Fashion - The Future

Sustainable is an adjective for something that can be sustained, i.e., something that is “bearable” and “capable of being continued at a certain level”. In the end, sustainability can perhaps be the process(es)by which something is kept at a certain level. Nonetheless, nowadays, because of the environmental and social problems society is facing, sustainability is commonly used in a specific way.

We live in times of unprecedented change. Each era is different from the era that goes before. But the era that we live in now is different for a very profound and significant reason. We are now in an era where we are creating man-made change to nature. “Sustainable Fashion is not a trend, but the future” are good thoughts put by Antonia Boehlke, founder of Mochni.

We keep exploring fashion design for sustainability principles and practices both from a knowledge acquisition perspective, but also from a capability’s perspective. The ideas around design involve collaboration, cooperation, the ability to negotiate and deal with the ambiguities of our changing times. If we want to maintain fashion as a beautiful artefact, we need to really consider how our resources are deployed. Alongside that, the acceleration in climate change is really something that none of us can absolutely predict. We know that it is rising exponentially, and we know that all of the implications of this wound up with all of these other elements of the numbers of people, the ways in which we are living, are all creating potentially a perfect storm. Fashion's practices are part of that. And yet, if we think differently, we could potentially be part of a solution that could rebalance the ways that we are living. Sustainability will mean different things to different companies in the fashion industry.

Sustainable fashion to us, predominantly applies to things that are environment-related like what textiles it is made of, what standards are applied, how are they packed, whether they have used energy saving initiatives and so on. We can use our buying power to make a difference. It is important to remember: Every time we make a purchase (of ANYTHING) we are casting a vote for the types of

products we want to see made and subsequently the type of world we want to live in. By supporting ethical brands that produce sustainable products, we in a way show our way of supporting them and our interest in saying we want more of such products. Fast fashion thrives only because we have been

supporting it. If you think you are a fast fashion consumer, try to divert yourself into sustainable one by adopting measures like don’t buy clothes at all by taking proper care and simple repair techniques to the existing ones, borrow-swap-rent clothing that’s a way not to be just fashionable but also be eco friendly

and if you absolutely have to buy new do it consciously try to scrutinize your options and opt for the best quality you can afford. So let’s start building a sustainable future by supporting artisans and the ethical Indian brands which will

help us in giving back to the society.

Let’s believe in Gandhiji’s words ‘Be the change you want to see in the world’ and start making the same which will help in a good sustainable future.