Fast fashion is big business, but it is also a big polluter, responsible for about 10% of global carbon emissions. Roughly 70% of the $3 trillion fashion industry is comprised of articles made from synthetics or petrochemicals.
While some companies are claiming sustainable clothing lines, there is a very wide variance in what that means. For some the carbon reduction is in the manufacturing, while for others it is in the clothing itself.
The market for plant-based clothing is growing fast, shown by companies like Activ activewear, Kent underwear and startup Unless, which bills itself as “the first streetwear brand to create products that will harmlessly decompose at the end of life.” Unlike today’s mostly petroleum-based clothing, you can compost these clothes. They’re all made from 100% plant-based nutrients like recycled cotton, hemp, plant-based leather and coconut fiber, according to the company.
“We started the company because we’re a bunch of fashion executives that got tired of the make, take, and throw away culture of fashion,” said Eric Liedtke, CEO of Unless. “The planned obsolescence of fashion is basically based on a petrochemical or petroleum-based feedstock, which means it’s cheap. But what you don’t know about that is it creates synthetics which are forever materials that never go away.”
