Imagine you are shopping online for a simple floral dress and are faced with indecision. Do you buy a cheap floral dress from a fast fashion company, or a more expensive high-quality, sustainable one? More often than not, consumers opt for a cheaper fast fashion item. After all, it is just a simple floral dress, right? Not necessarily–every garment you buy has a social and environmental impact.
Although awareness of the sustainable fashion industry’s impact is growing, the idea of sustainability is still a vague concept for many buyers. Sustainability alone is not enough to convince consumers to choose conscious fashion over fast fashion. This article will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of opting for sustainable clothes.
The Pros of Sustainable Fashion
The sustainable fashion industry strives to create environmentally friendly fashion while playing an important role in solving sustainability challenges. Wondering how to know if a fashion brand is sustainable? Click here to read our latest article.
Saving Natural Resources and Lowering Carbon Footprint
Fabric production accounts for 16% of global pesticide use and is responsible for 10% of carbon emissions. Without a doubt, the conventional fashion industry is a danger to the environment.
Luckily, sustainable fashion sources fabrics from producers that do not cause unsustainable deforestation. In addition, these brands use recycling programs to reduce the amount of waste produced annually, and also promote a circular, waste-not-want-not system while encouraging a culture of responsible consumption.
Better Quality
While sustainable clothes are relatively expensive, they are often of higher quality than fast fashion ones. So, although you may spend more, in the long run, you will save more because your wardrobe will last longer.
Replacing a $5 t-shirt every three months ends up being more expensive than paying $20 for a t-shirt that lasts five years.
Supporting Fashion Creativity
Some incredibly talented designers have come up with brilliant ideas within the sustainable fashion industry. Incredible things are happening–from preventing water pollution by converting plastics into swimwear to creating leather from mushrooms.
Fashion is a sector built on creativity. Supporting designers within the industry promotes solutions, as the world needs creativity to solve the global warming crisis, and shopping from sustainable brands will help in an overall shift in the consumer market.
The Cons of Sustainable Fashion
Higher Upfront Costs
Despite the costly reasoning, sustainable fashion can exclude buyers who may have a lower clothing budget. While high-quality clothes might lower costs in the long run, many may not have the money upfront to buy higher-quality items.
Until sustainable fashion becomes affordable, there will always be consumers who cannot afford it.
Fewer Options
Although it is an evolving industry, the world of sustainable fashion is still small. There are not enough brands to serve everyone’s preferences, and the niche components can leave some consumers without choices that match their style, making them opt more often for mainstream fast fashion.
Also, many sustainable fashion brands operate solely online and have no physical storefronts.
Final Thoughts
Even though the sustainable fashion industry is complicated, it has plenty of room to grow and is gaining recognition for its positive impact on the world. It is a sector of the clothing industry trying to make a difference by supporting creativity while also fostering an environmentally-friendly mindset.