As every company’s CSR team is preoccupied with the legislation that has just been approved by the European Parliament around the EU Green Deal (all 42 parts!), it is known that so much of the targeting of the textiles has happened because of the industry’s poor reputation. As a Brit, I must hold my hand up as we consume more fast fashion than any other nation here; on top of this, I have two teenage daughters – who are prime participants of the fast fashion cohort (generally those from 11 or 12 for a decade – but several clothing brands are implementing strategies to extend this appeal until their late twenties).
I can try to argue back – but there is a general acceptance of this as a norm without recognizing the actual small individual garment impact (it is the churn of stuff that is particularly bad), which contrasts the ability to bring great happiness to the buyer. We all live in a world where enjoyment is still a key aspect of the quality of life. We must remember that everything on this planet has an impact & you can only reduce the amount; the planet does have the ability to regenerate – but the best estimate is that to keep this planet going, we would have to use a quarter of the resource that we are currently consuming so that nature has a chance of rebuilding itself.
Hence, to hear news of the EOG’s Impact Accelerator Fund (IAF) is wonderful. This is work outside of what is expected of the industry. The vision to initiate the task is one of the things that makes belonging to the European Outdoor Group (EOG) the right thing to do. The current task goes to the source of so much of the industry’s footprint is associated with. A well-known fact is that up to 80 percent of a garment’s impact is decided at the design stage – there are two easy ways to mitigate this. The IAF is working up the supply chain while encouraging users to keep the original product going for longer (by brands having a service function as inspired by WornWear).
Only by all of us working together to take on the big challenges will the reputation of textiles be improved. The outdoor industry is leading the development of so much of the better practice of the textile industry (but not all – textile recycling is being pioneered by other segments): it should be congratulated for the improved applications that then get adopted by the mainstream of the clothing industry.
Hence, hats off to Vaude, Ortovox, Icebug and Gore-Tex for enabling the work led by the EOG’s IAF in Taiwan to go forward. Act Renewable is the start of what happens when the Think Global, Act Local thinking is applied by rival companies for the good of the whole industry. Taking a massive (collective) step forward in progression to the net-zero target has the potential to start to get the industry’s reputation changed.
We need more collaboration like this if we are going to generate the amount of pride in our industry that it deserves…
