Before it’s too late
According to The Guardian, Stella McCartney is set to captain a UN charter that will combat the environmental and climatic degradation caused by the fashion industry. Along with a group of signatories made up of yet to be announced leading companies – some rumoured to be fast fashion brands – the British designer and animal-rights activist will target environmental threats caused by the fashion industry and combat them with eco-friendly business plans.
McCartney is aiming to create low-carbon strategies and promote the creation of pieces with less of an environmental footprint, proving that, if brands work together, sustainable practices don’t have to come at the cost of economic gains. “We really don’t have long now, to change things. But I honestly believe it’s doable,” she told the newspaper. “There is so much guilt and fear attached to talking about sustainability and that’s not helpful. What is essential is for the big players in the industry to come along with me.”
While the line-up of Stella McCartney’s residual UN team will be announced in Poland on December 10, today the designer also launched a charitable platform called Stella McCartney Cares Green, which pledges its support for sustainability. According to the website, the aim of the platform is to “focus on bridging the gap between the fashion industry and vital information and understanding on sustainability”.
From making clothes out of recycled waste to vegan Stan Smith trainers, what McCartney is currently doing to drive fashion forward is demonstrated in her extensive portfolio. “Everything that I do is a commitment to sustainability and to being responsible and ethical,” she recently told us.
Yesterday, a host of fast fashion brands including ASOS, Primark, Boohoo, and Missguided, were called upon to defend their practices of manufacturing cheap clothing (which therefore results in questionable labour) in British parliament. The UK consumes the most clothing of all European countries, with 235m items ending up in landfill last year.
Watch a trailer for The True Cost, a 2015 documentary examining the impact of fast fashion, below:
