Are fashion brands choosing trends over the environment?
23rd - 30th September 2022
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Total votes
5-11 voters
11-18 voters
As fashion brands are faced with mounting pressure from consumers and activists to improve the sustainability of their products, our students explored the environmental impact of fast-fashion and the effectiveness of different sustainability ventures within the industry. These included, Patagonia’s founder pledging to use profits to fight climate change and Boohoo’s appointment of a celebrity sustainability ambassador. With this information, our students considered whether fashion brands are wholly committed and doing enough to improve the sustainability of their clothing.
"Companies can control the amount of clothes they manufacture and offer more natural materials. Less clothes will end up in landfill. More schools could also offer second hand uniform options as our school does."
"Too many brands focus on making lots of clothes and then “greenwash” to appeal to their target audience without actually helping the environment."
"If brands changed their habits, we would change ours. You cannot blame the consumer for buying 'cheap clothes' when those clothes are on most high streets. Not everyone can afford to spend lots of money on clothes that do not harm the environment, but even big high end brands still impact the environment so the consumer simply can't avoid it unless the brands make the change."
Aja Barber
John McLaverty
Oxfam