This is more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined.

Have you ever stopped to think about the environmental impact your clothes have had?

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, it takes an average of 3,781 litres of water to make just one pair of jeans, from the production of the cotton to the delivery of the finished item to the store.

This process equates to around 33.4 kilogrammes of carbon emitted into the atmosphere.

If the fashion industry continues to drive at this pace,  greenhouse gas emissions will surge more than 50% by 2030, according to the Worldbank.

The coronavirus pandemic has impacted luxury and high street fashion trade significantly.

It has exposed many fashion retail businesses to various vulnerabilities, as well as providing them with an opportunity to re-evaluate their commercial, ethical and environmental values.

And it's not just priorities across the industry that have changed: consumers are responding in a way that indicates shopping habits and behaviours are more aligned to a sustainable and socially conscious way of life than ever before.

There has been a rise in conscious consumption enabled by new consumers who want to drive social change and make the planet more sustainable.

A study states that 49% of consumers under the age of 24 had avoided certain products or services due to the negative environmental impact, and a further 81% of consumers say that it is the responsibility of companies to help improve the environment.

In particular, millennials and generation Z shoppers are driving this trend: a staggering 73% of millennials will spend more money on a product if comes from a sustainable or socially conscious company.

These two demographics represent a huge chunk of the global consumer community, accounting for 85% of global luxury sales growth. (PDF)

Therefore learning how to engage with these consumers is vital.

The expectation from these consumers is that brands should align to their personal values, which have a direct link with their shopping behaviours.

Those that don't are heavily penalised.

Only a few months ago, fast fashion label Boohoo dominated headlines with accusations of modern slavery for paying its garment workers as little as £3.50 an hour.

Retailers Next and Asos were the first of many to stop selling Boohoo items on their platforms.

In light of these allegations, Boohoo's executive chairman has promised to rectify these failings across the business.

To avoid the fate of Boohoo and remain relevant to the consumer, fashion retailers and luxury fashion houses must take steps towards enforcing sustainable and ethical practices.

So what can we learn from brands that are doing this well? Continue reading

• Alexandra Swabe is a senior marketing consultant

'Modest fashion' has been a defining style for the past decade.

The trend for oversize silhouettes and loose layers has united fashion fans, religious and secular; it has been in part an attempt by western brands to buy into the lucrative market of Muslim consumers.

This shift has also seen the headscarf become increasingly acceptable, even covetable, in western fashion, with Nike, Uniqlo, Liberty, Tommy Hilfiger and Dolce & Gabbana among the brands selling scarves overtly tailored for use as hijabs in recent years.

Islamic dress, however, remains a lightning rod for controversy.

Hijab bans are continually discussed in France, while Switzerland is to hold a referendum on burqas this week, even as governments worldwide encourage the use of face masks.

China, too, has persecuted women for wearing the hijab.

In fashion, nothing has illustrated the tension as clearly as the story of Halima Aden, the trailblazing hijab-wearing Muslim model who was celebrated as an icon of inclusivity when she made her debut at Kanye West's New York fashion week show in 2017, then walked for Alberta Ferretti and Maxmara in Milan.

Aden appeared on magazine covers, including British Vogue, and won major commercial contracts. Carine Roitfeld described her as "a different beauty", saying she was "drawn to her instantly".

Her inclusion was a win-win for the western fashion industry, which slapped itself on the back for doing a service to diversity while also attracting a profitable new audience.

But two months ago, Aden announced that she was quitting the fashion industry because she felt the work had compromised her religious beliefs - particularly those concerning the hijab.

In a series of emotional posts to her 1.4m followers on Instagram Stories, she showed a range of pictures of the way she was styled, with hats and various accessories used to meet the technical requirements of covering her hair (on one occasion, this included pairs of jeans) and said that she had felt deeply unhappy about them.

She contrasted these images with photographs wearing coverings she was comfortable in, covering her ears, neck, shoulders and chest.

"Looking back now, I did what I said I would never do," she wrote, "which is compromise who I am in order to fit in."

Aden's high-profile declaration magnified deeper issues within the "modest fashion" concept and sent shock waves through the world of Muslim influencers and models, for whom she had become a kind of unofficial figurehead.

"Halima's words caused a huge ripple in our community. Everyone was talking about it," says influencer Sebina Hussain, an influencer also known online as Sebinaah, who works with brands including Viktor & Rolf and Swarovski.

"For as long as I can remember, the media has portrayed women in hijab as oppressed. That is until modest fashion came along and the conversation for some-part has shifted," says Hussain.

This shift has, according to Hussain, left those adopting a less commercial look behind.

"I've experienced it first-hand, how differently people treat me when I go out in an Abaya and no makeup versus an outfit from the high street and a face full of makeup."

In her work as an influencer, she has had to speak out when concepts do not align with her values. "Many times I've worried I am being a nuisance and the brand may not want to work with me again".

Although so far, her clients have always taken her concerns on board, this ties into "a huge pressure on Muslim women to look more western in any situation.

The pressure is to want to appear more ‘normal', to wipe away this negative stereotype associated with women in hijab," she says.

Aden, too, said she felt this pressure.

In her case, as a 19-year-old newcomer to the fashion industry, she said she felt "too scared to speak up" on photoshoots.

She noted being called "frumpy" when opting for a more traditional hijab and said she felt pressure to look more "sexy".

She asserted that the fashion industry - with its paucity of Muslim stylists - didn't understand the hijab within a religious, rather than aesthetic, context. Continue reading

"Fashion is not about skin showing, it's about style. I want to show the world even covered women can have trendy clothes." Watch Video

The most ethical clothing retailers have mostly been fair trade companies, but retail giant Zara, shortly to be launched in New Zealand, also scored an A grade.

Glassons was graded an F last year, for not disclosing their data.

This time round the have been given a C+ grade.

Price wasn't necessarily an indicator of transparent practices, either: Karen Walker scored a C, while chain store Factorie got a B+.

Gershon Nimbalker of Baptist World Aid said in the three years they've commissioned the study, they've seen substantial progress.

Baptist World Aid wanted to simplify matters for consumers who want to make better choices.

"Even though they're willing to do more, they don't know who to trust... We wanted to make that decision a lot easier," Nimbalker explained.

"Any member of the public can just go, 'Oh these guys are doing really well, let's buy from them,' or 'These guys might not be.'"

The survey was first conducted following the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh, which killed 1136 garment workers.

KIWI FASHION GRADES

• Zara A

• Adidas A-

• Factorie B+

• Witchery B+

• Country Road B+

• Cotton On B+

• Rubi B+

• AS Colour B-

• Kathmandu B-

• Vans B-

• Asos C+

• Glassons C+

• Levis C+

• Nike C+

• Topshop C+

• Just Jeans C+

• Karen Walker C

• Ezibuy C

• Pumpkin Patch D

• Seed Heritage F

• Boohoo.com F

Look at Report

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• Image: retail-focus.co.uk

No self respecting party hire business can afford to not have a big stock of false nun's habits for hire .

So, "What's the fuss about Dame Trelise Cooper adorning some of her catwalk models in faux Native American headdresses?" asks Dr Avril Bell, senior lecturer in sociology at the University of Auckland.

"After all, haven't we all long worn gear like this at fancy dress parties — or to the rugby sevens? And even other garments that may be considered sacred in different quarters, such as nuns' habits as used by Moschino at the Milan Fashion Week"

So "How come it's acceptable to appropriate the attire and adornments of some cultures and not others?" asks Bell.

"There are various ways to address this question. One obvious point that could be made is that in referencing the nun's habit, Moschino was making use of the sacred within their own (Italian, Catholic) culture." says Bell.

She then goes on to say, " But I want to focus on another aspect of the issue, which is the role that cultural appropriation has played in the colonial history of societies such as our own, the United States and Canada."

Source

• The New Zealand Herald
• Image:Theboonreport

That's what fashion thrives on: subversion and irreverence; an immaculately groomed, sneering Johnny Rotten worth millions, the world's best-dressed troll.

The latest person to express outrage at this industry's flagrant disregard for common decency is the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who writes in the foreword to his first Lent book that the crucifix has become a fashion statement, devoid of religious meaning.

This from a man who regularly wears a dress made of gold. Continue reading.

Harriet Walker is a fashion journalist, author and columnist. She is news editor of digital fashion magazine Never Underdressed.

Source: The Guardian

Image: Show Studio