1. Are products using sustainable fabrics really sustainable? Here is a question worthy of our consideration: Is it environmentally friendly to make clothes with environmentally friendly materials? Environmental protection materials are actually just one link in the entire industry, and partial environmental protection cannot guarantee overall environmental protection. As far as fashion is concerned, high-end players are the first to do sustainability.
Levis tried to recycle 5 T-shirts completely into a pair of jeans in 2016, but in the end this project was still in the experimental stage. Many brands say that environmental protection is not necessarily true. Take jeans as an example. We use organic cotton for textiles. If the washing process is still using traditional chemical washing, it is still not environmentally friendly. This brings us back to the topic just now. Consumers need to know where the product comes from and where it will go afterwards. Here is an example from life as an analogy, such as beef in a supermarket. Scan the label on the meat to know where the cow grows, what it eats, and when it is slaughtered. The whole series of processes from birth to death are known to satisfy consumption. Psychology. If the same method is used in clothing, it may be able to better dispel consumers' doubts about whether it is truly environmentally friendly and make the process of environmentally friendly production more transparent. The use of sustainable fabrics alone does not mean that the product is sustainable. Fabrics only provide more resources and inspiration for sustainable design. Designers themselves also need to think systematically from the entire product life cycle to make decisions to reduce the impact on the environment.
2. Can sustainable fabrics bring new design inspiration? New materials can provide designers with new perspectives on design thinking, and provide more possibilities for designing fabric texture. The designer's integration of design concepts and background stories in the design will make the design more attractive, and will also make consumers more aware of the beauty and different meaning of environmentally friendly clothes. Designers can think about design from different perspectives of sustainability, and use some established and different design strategies. For example, designing detachable clothing will make it easier to recycle old clothes into fabrics. Changes in design thinking can often promote changes in the sustainability of the entire supply chain, such as dyeing, printing, and other processes. In addition, new designs and sustainable fabrics can also produce new wearing experiences for the wearer. Although this new wearing experience will be more difficult to become popular.
Because the technology is not popular, the price of clothes made of environmentally friendly materials is often more expensive, which also makes it difficult for the market to be broadened. If applying new materials to design is a process that requires us to think systematically, each link will have a different link impact. How to promote sustainable fabrics is a problem. The advancement of science and technology does not mean the popularization of science and technology, so that everyone can be interested in adapting to new ideas and experience the required process. I believe that there will be good development of sustainable fabrics in the future.