'Did you just say the S-Word?!'

'Did you just say the S-Word?!'?

In the fast-moving world of apparel, what you're going to read is already out-of-date (as out-of-date as any opinion can be), but your actions are not.

We have a problem with the 'S-word' (sustainability) in apparel; All the components that make up its meaning are forever changing; it's an evolving definition laced with complexities and contradictions. Too often misinterpreted, deliberately, and through lack of knowledge.?

A cocktail of industry marketing spin, misinformation, and some genuine good intentions is being swallowed by consumers and industry professionals. The resulting intoxication provides the basis for brands and professionals to lay out their sustainable development goals; It's akin to texting while drunk and is as ill-advised.?

There are far greater authorities on this topic than I, but my vantage is from having bought, designed, developed, and promoted clothing emblazoned with the 'S-word.'?It's fair to say I’ve been under the influence in the past.?

There are innumerable misnomers about apparel sustainability and counting, but the big ones keep getting batted back and forth and offer poignant examples of confusion:??Recycled PET is good. Recycled PET is terrible. Organic cotton is good; Organic cotton is wrong. Both materials could have their own books written on them, but principally rPET?used in clothes fails to solve the issue of what to do with the clothes at the end of their life, and the actual utilization of rPET from bottles, fails to stop the increase of virgin plastic used to create even more bottles. Organic cotton, meanwhile, is touted as the halo alternative to its pesticide-rich, high-water usage sibling, conventional cotton. Yet, the facts on water usage are shifting, and the facts around the welfare of farmers whose pesticide-free crops fail with startling regularity are well buried from happy consumers and brands.

The fact is that there is no golden bullet or definitive textbook to consult. In June 2022, the Higg index – a heralded source of life cycle assessment (LCA) –was heavily criticized; consequently, LCA's, in fashion, are losing trust and becoming deeply questionable. Brands have also been criticized by governments and consumers alike for greenwashing—this then is becoming a shaky ground for anyone to mention the S-word.

Climate change, ecotoxicity, and water scarcity are all undeniable. Still, the truth about our consumption of apparel in the future must be drawn from facts, pragmatism, and a deep understanding of the environmental and the intrinsicality linked social impacts.

'Stubborn flexibility' and other oxymorons.

Contradictory requests for styles to be?'lighter but darker’,?'softer but more angular,' and 'boxier but slimmer'?have confounded me throughout my time as a designer.?Oxymorons offer a ludicrous insight into the subjectivity of the apparel industry, and yet I'm going to offer up my own and say that 'stubborn flexibility' may offer a solution to the problem with the 'S-word.'

We must acknowledge that any sustainability claims or clothes developed under the umbrella of 'sustainable virtues' must be meticulously and robustly considered across a myriad of metrics before we make any statements or launch new products. But we must also acknowledge that even if every possible effort has been taken to substantiate our actions accurately, we may still be entirely wrong.

The issue is that with so many moving parts and so many interlocking factors, it is only inevitable that our actions may have converse consequences beyond our immediate comprehension. It is, therefore, in my view, time to employ an attitude of 'stubborn flexibility.'

And so, whilst we should be stubborn in our unwavering commitment to reducing the use of precious raw materials and harmful emissions, we should also be flexible and humble enough to know that we have yet to understand precisely what that means and exactly what that looks like for the future apparel industry. This flexibility engenders open thinking, whereas much-needed solutions, ideas, and innovations may come to the fore uninhibited to challenge the current dogmatic cycle of clothing's development, usage, and lack of circularity.

Amongst all the confusion, however, is a solid, indisputable fact that 'the most sustainable clothes are the ones we already own.' The more we wear them, the greater the amortization for their impact over their useable lifespan. At the heart of the statement is 'durability'; those styles in our wardrobes that haven't fallen apart and are still fit for purpose are indeed durable. But for actual durability to have a positive impact, the clothes must also be emotionally durable, we must love them, enjoy wearing them, and they must maintain relevance in our world.

I have my own fledgling performance brand called Expio. Like many others in the apparel industry, I face the pertinent question from our instinctive internal monologue, 'if we make more clothes are we not part of the problem and not the solution?' It used to keep me up at night; it's tough to acknowledge that an industry you've vested so much time in maybe a force for evil. But I remain resolute in my goals to find less impactful ways to create clothes, impassioned to use innovations in manufacturing and materials to develop enduring styles of performance and purpose that transcend seasonality, in the firm belief that clothing may be a force for good once more. Importantly Expio won't be making any big claims about doing the 'right thing.' But that is precisely what it's trying to do.

Ben Mears?is an?apparel entrepreneur, product?design and?sustainability?consultant,?and founder?Expio?sportswear.