Slow fashion is an aspect of
sustainable fashion
Sustainable fashion (also known as eco-fashion) is a term describing products, processes, activities, and actors (policymakers, brands, consumers) aiming to achieve a carbon-neutral fashion industry, built on equality, social justice, animal ...
and a concept describing the opposite to
fast fashion
Fast fashion is a term used to describe the clothing industry's business model of replicating recent catwalk trends and High fashion, high-fashion designs, mass production, mass-producing them at a low cost, and bringing them to retail stores qui ...
, part of the "
slow movement" advocating for clothing and apparel manufacturing in respect to people, environment and animals. As such, contrary to the industrial practices of fast fashion conglomerates, slow fashion involves local
artisan
An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...
s and the use of
eco-friendly
Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that clai ...
materials, with the goal of preserving crafts and the environment which, ultimately, provides value to all, slow fashion brands, consumers and retailers.
Principles
Definition
Slow fashion is a way to "identify
sustainable fashion
Sustainable fashion (also known as eco-fashion) is a term describing products, processes, activities, and actors (policymakers, brands, consumers) aiming to achieve a carbon-neutral fashion industry, built on equality, social justice, animal ...
solutions, based on the repositioning of strategies of design, production, consumption, use, and reuse, which are emerging alongside the global fashion system, and are posing a potential challenge to it."
In simpler terms slow fashion is the opposite of fast fashion and it refers to a fashion awareness and approach that takes into account the procedures and resources needed to create apparel. It promotes the purchase of higher-quality clothes that will last longer, as well as equitable treatment of people, animals, and the environment.
It is an alternative to
fast fashion
Fast fashion is a term used to describe the clothing industry's business model of replicating recent catwalk trends and High fashion, high-fashion designs, mass production, mass-producing them at a low cost, and bringing them to retail stores qui ...
in the sense that it promotes a more ethical and sustainable way of living and consuming. "It encompasses the whole range of 'sustainable,' 'eco,' 'green,' and 'ethical' fashion movement".
This movement is another
business model
A business model describes how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-published, 2010 in economic, social, ...
that focuses on both slowing down
consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the supp ...
and respecting the environment and ethics.
The key elements employed by slow fashion brands and designers include using eco-friendly materials, repurposing old or discarded textiles, using raw materials from small producers, making clothes and accessories at home in small batches, on order. New ideas and product innovations are constantly redefining slow fashion, so using a static, single definition would ignore the evolving nature of the concept.
Fast and slow fashion
For a long time, slow fashion was defined in opposition to fast fashion.
Unlike
fast fashion
Fast fashion is a term used to describe the clothing industry's business model of replicating recent catwalk trends and High fashion, high-fashion designs, mass production, mass-producing them at a low cost, and bringing them to retail stores qui ...
, ''slow fashion'' production ensures quality manufacturing to lengthen the life of the garment or material. Slow fashion garment normally has a longer product life cycle, places stress on quality, is commonly more expensive, and demands increasing awareness from manufacturers and consumers to decrease the production and consumption speed. Developing a garment with a cultural and emotional connection is also pertinent to the purpose behind slow fashion: consumers will keep an article of clothing longer than one season if they feel emotionally or culturally connected to the article of clothing. A taxation is in early stages of development in order to deter fashion companies from purchasing or producing materials that are not made with recycled, organic, or re-purposed materials.
Utilizing materials already made will reduce the industry's
carbon footprint
A carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, place or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Greenhouse gases, including the carbon-containing gases carbo ...
.
There is also an important movement towards companies being more transparent. Many sustainable fashion companies are transparent, from manufacturing to retailing clothes, with the aim of helping buyers to make more conscious purchasing decisions. In accordance with the
slow movement there is a trend towards more conscious buying as well as companies attracting new consumers with their eco-friendly processes.
Authors
The idea of slow fashion became rampant after Elizabeth L. Cline published ''Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Clothing'' and rose awareness regarding the detriments of the fast fashion industry. The term was used on blogs and the internet.
However, the term "slow clothes movement" was apparently coined by Angela Murrills, a fashion writer for Georgia Straight, a Vancouver-based online news magazine.
However, the expression "slow fashion" was coined in a 2007 article by Kate Fletcher published in ''
The Ecologist
''The Ecologist'' is a British environmental journal, then magazine, that was published from 1970 to 2009. Founded by Edward Goldsmith, it addressed a wide range of environmental subjects and promoted an ecological systems thinking approach thr ...
'', where she compared the eco/sustainable/ethical fashion industry to the slow food movement:
Slow Food Movement advocates the following principles:
* Good: quality, flavorsome and healthy food
* Clean: production that does not harm the environment
* Fair: accessible prices for consumers and fair conditions and pay for producers
The slow fashion movement has been studied by Kate Fletcher, a researcher, author, consultant, and design activist, and the author of ''Sustainable Fashion and Textiles''. Her writings integrated design thinking with fashion and textiles as a necessary way to move towards a more sustainable fashion industry.
Based on the three principles of
slow design
The slow movement (sometimes capitalised Slow movement or Slow Movement) advocates a cultural shift toward slowing down life's pace. It began with Carlo Petrini's protest against the opening of a McDonald's restaurant in Piazza di Spagna, Rome in ...
that were created in 2006 in Milan, Hazel Clark, in ''SLOW + FASHION—an Oxymoron—or a Promise for the Future…?''
decided to define the principles of the Slow Fashion Movement:
* taking a local approach
* having a transparent production system
* making sustainable and sensorial products
In 2019,
Debapratim Purkayastha
Debapratim Purkayastha (Bengali: দেবপ্রতিম পুরকায়স্থ; born 1976) was a professor of strategy, academic leader and case method expert.
Early life and education
Purkayastha was born in Hailakandi, Assam, t ...
provided an example of how an operative in the slow fashion industry looks like with a
case study
A case study is an in-depth, detailed examination of a particular case (or cases) within a real-world context. For example, case studies in medicine may focus on an individual patient or ailment; case studies in business might cover a particular fi ...
of 7Weaves Social. The
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
-based
social venture deals in sustainably sourced and manufactured
Eri silk
Eri silk (Khasi'': Ryndia)'' is the product of the domesticated silkworm '' Samia ricini'', found mainly in North East India and some part of China and Japan. It was imported to Thailand in 1974. The name "eri" is derived from the Assamese word ...
products by on one hand working with the forest-dependent
indigenous people
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
in the region, while on the other hand working with global slow fashion brands in the West.
Eri silk is manufactured without killing the silk worm and only natural dyes were used by 7Weaves in coloring the fabric.
Zero waste
Zero waste is a set of principles focused on waste prevention that encourages redesigning resource life cycles so that all products are reused. The goal of this movement is to avoid sending trash to landfills, incinerators, or the ocean. Curren ...
The model provided
sustainable livelihood
Sustainable Livelihood emerges at the intersection of development and environmental studies to offer a new way to think about work, production and distribution. Specifically, the work of vulnerable populations (e.g., low income population living ...
to the artisan who had
traditional knowledge
Traditional knowledge (TK), indigenous knowledge (IK) and local knowledge generally refer to knowledge systems embedded in the cultural traditions of regional, indigenous, or local communities. According to the World Intellectual Property Organ ...
in handloom and
sericulture
Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, ''Bombyx mori'' (the caterpillar of the domestic silkmoth) is the most widely used and intensively studie ...
. 7Weaves provided guaranteed work for artisans at a fixed monthly emolument for the whole year, and redistributed 50 percent of its annual profits to the artisans and other players in the
supply chain
In commerce, a supply chain is a network of facilities that procure raw materials, transform them into intermediate goods and then final products to customers through a distribution system. It refers to the network of organizations, people, acti ...
.
7Weaves's focus was also to preserve the
biodiversity
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...
of the biologically rich but ecologically fragile
Assam valley region. Slow fashion brands from countries including Germany, France, Belgium and Australia source garments and fabrics from 7Weaves. According, to the author, 7Weaves's focus on sustainably sourced
fair trade
Fair trade is an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and enviro ...
fabrics that were long-lasting and locally produced, use of traditional values and know how, preservation of
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
, source diversity, and responsible business practices emphasize its slow fashion credentials.
Context
In 2009, Vogue and The VOU Fashion Magazines traced the history of the context of the Slow Fashion Movement.
In recent years, many companies have kick-started revolutions against fast fashion, such as
Fashion Revolution Day and Second Hand September campaigns. This has led to big fast fashion retailers such as
Zara and
H&M to either pledge or launch a clothing line dedicated to sustainable clothing.
Marketing
Slow fashion has its own marketing strategies as it targets a certain type of consumers. Unlike fast fashion consumers, slow fashion consumers expect classic and timeless pieces of clothes, giving importance to versatility, low maintenance and a higher quality.
Marketing strategies concerning slow fashion often revolve around a more conscious consumption, focusing the advertising on environmentally and socially sustainable aspects on the clothes. Companies use several strategies in order to be less wasteful than other fast fashion brands
* changing their clothing lines less often
* producing and stocking less items
* paying attention to the material that they use
* ensuring ethical and non-exploitive methods of production
Slow fashion is also often associated with
thrift shops, to the extent that shrift shops offer clothes that are not produced within a
just-in-time flow.
Global economy
Global economy has a market-driven aspect. This means that consumers are encourage to always buy more and producers are encourage to always produce more. Those two aspects mutually develop each other. The current economic model is said to be global because the production process is divided worldwide to maximize efficiency and profit. Slow fashion is more slow, local and quality-oriented. Therefore, it does not fit well in the
global economy
The world economy or global economy is the economy of all humans of the world, referring to the global economic system, which includes all economic activities which are conducted both within and between nations, including production, consumption, ...
model.
Several papers question the longevity of slow fashion in a market-driven society.
Production
In slow fashion, each designer is encouraged to produce locally, meaning using local workforce and resources.
Quality is chosen over quantity which means that slow fashion refuses to exploit resources or workers. The production chains is as transparent as possible. This redefines the hierarchy between designers, consumers and producers.
Fashion is known to be ruled by trends who come and go quickly, which encourages consumption. The end products offered to the clients are made to last longer and be timeless.
Slow fashion has a different cost of production and cannot produce as much in quantity. Slow fashion cannot compete with the mass produced products of fast fashion that uses cheap labor and resources to maximize profits. Slow fashion is very local and used fair-trade materials and fabrics on high quality.
Moreover, slow fashion is not able to produced as much fast fashion due to the very different production process.
This is why so many academic papers have looked into the viability of this movement in an era of mass-production and mass-consumption.
By keeping the production in "productive communities", this process is more transparent, there is less intermediation and a greater cultural and material value to the consumer. This is one of the way presented by Clarke to address the question of how can slow fashion fit in the current economic model.
Recently, there has also been the implementation of carbon footprint tax on fashion supply chains to encourage the use of local supply. The effect of that measures have been limited.
Pricing
The pricing of slow fashion clothes varies a lot. Since the definition is so broad, a second-hand dress from a thrift shop worth five dollars and a designer dress costing 700 dollars can both be considered part of the slow fashion.
The current economic system focuses on economic growth and quantity sold. However, research has shown that more parameters should be included due to a raising social conscience. People have said to be willing to pay more for clothes when they know that they have been produced in "sweat-free" manufacture.
Impact
The slow fashion movement, part of the greater goal of sustainable fashion and thus, a cleaner world is gaining strength, driven by growing environmental concerns. In 2018, a third of fashion consumers bought clothing once a month, a decrease from 37% compared to 2016, whereas those buying clothes every two or three months or less rose from 64% to 67%, according to the market research firm
Mintel
Mintel Group Ltd is a global, privately owned market research firm based in London. The corporation also maintains offices in Chicago, Mumbai, Belfast, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Dusseldorf, Bangkok, and Seoul. ...
.
After the release of the documentary ‘The True Cost’ and ‘River Blue’, there was attention drawn to companies that have fast fashion practices. Despite the spread movement,
H&M had revenues amount to $25 billion in the fiscal year of 2016. However, as the movement has grown in popularity, H&M's stock and brand image has taken a hit as consumer awareness has spread of their environmentally unethical practices leading to a drop in sales.
The spread of the movement has resulted in two fast fashion giants,
Zara and
H&M, switching narratives to become advocates for ethical fashion practices. With collections aimed at sustainable fashions, the two companies have shifted towards more ethical practices. Due to the audience that the movement against unethical fashion practices has accumulated, organizations such as the United States Fashion Industry Association have devoted some of their attention to ‘social compliance and sustainability’.
Critics
Critics have called out against certain brands who have claimed to strive to follow slow fashion's principles. For example, Swedish brand
H&M was accused of not being sustainable when reports found out that it burns its unsold clothes.
While H&M is striving to create sustainability to the best of their abilities, they are still overproducing mass amounts of clothing while hawking it as sustainable. H&M has a stated "sustainability strategy," and brands some items with green "Conscious" tags to signal that they contain "more sustainable materials".
See also
*
Ecodesign
Ecological design or ecodesign is an approach to designing products and services that gives special consideration to the environmental impacts of a product over its entire lifecycle. Sim Van der Ryn and Stuart Cowan define it as "any form of d ...
*
Empathic design
Empathic design is a user-centered design approach that pays attention to the user's feelings toward a product. The empathic design process is sometimes mistakenly referred to as ''empathetic'' design.
Characteristics
The foundation of empat ...
*
Sustainable clothing
*
Trashion
Trashion (a portmanteau of ''trash'' and ''fashion'') is a term for art, jewellery, fashion and objects for the home created from used, thrown-out, found and repurposed elements. The term was first coined in New Zealand in 2004 and gained in usag ...
*
Product tracing systems: allow to see source factory of a product
References
{{Authority control
Fashion
Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...
2007 introductions
Fashion aesthetics
Sustainable development