Is climate change driving fashion? Or fashion is driving climate change?

The annual carbon emissions derived from a household's new clothing is equivalent to driving and average modern car for 6000 miles!

We have talked about different ways in which climate change affect our daily activities and ourselves. But maybe one of the most tangible ways to feel that climate change surround us is through the things that cover our bodies every day: The clothes.

The clothing/fashion industry and climate change have synergic shifts and are very closely related.  There are several studies on the greenhouse emissions of the clothing industry and a lot of news articles about how climate change have driven major strategies in cloth designing. As I see it, it’s a positive feedback loop that could run in both directions depending on the consumer’s decision.

The feedback in the inconvenient direction is as follows: a) consumers decide to buy cheap massively produced clothes. Then, b) the emissions derived by the consumers’ decisions could amplify climate change – the clothing industry is considered the second largest polluter in the world -  , resulting in c) more frequent and intense extreme events, which could increase the demand of a) cheap clothes that satisfy the new necessities presented by the new climate patterns of the region. 

On the opposite direction we have that if consumers decide to buy low-carbon clothes, then a major source of greenhouse gases would be mitigated ,making the (not-very-cheap) low-carbon clothes a profitable decision for consumers since climate won’t change drastically in their regions and the fashion industry would invest in green campaigns making more consumers to buy low-carbon clothes.

Dress made of plastic bags and straws - trash fashion show.

Of course nothing is black and white and the description above is a robust panorama of how things could flow between the clothing industry and climate. Nevertheless, we can have a closer look at some of the particularly well-studied interactions such as: 

CLIMATE AFFECTING FASHION: You would find surprising that the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York – whose alumni include Calvin Klein – just launched a course focused on forecasting the climate seasonal trends in order to plan the clothes’ designs and increase sales. If we are expecting warmer winters under climate change scenarios, then it has no point to fill the shelves with thick coats that will end in the discounts area at the end of the season. This is a reflection of how climate change plays an important role in the fashion industry.

FASHION AFFECTING CLIMATE: The fashion industry involves several processes at different stages that we should take into account when we want to know how fashion affects the environment and specifically the climate. The best way to approach this question is through a life cycle assessment, which analyzes all the sub-products of the industry – including emissions – through all the stages, from the raw materials production to the disposing. A study shows that the clothing industry in China – a major clothes’ producer – generates 80% of their carbon emissions due to an inefficient usage of coal during key processes. 

Clothing life cycle. Source: Handbook of Life Cycle Assessment of textiles and clothing.

FASHION MITIGATING CLIMATE CHANGE: In the clothing industry have emerged the low-carbon slogan, a way in which designers create environmental-friendly clothes. A study describes that whenever big fashion brands get involved into this movements they encourage consumers to be part of the trend and eventually the consumers absorb the idea and start to purchase clothes rationally. 

A great example of this low-carbon projects is “Eco Circle” a partnership between more than 150 clothing companies which collects used polyester clothes and put them into a chemical process that generates “virgin” polyester fibers ready to use for making brand new clothes.

CONSUMER MITIGATING CLIMATE CHANGE: YES, YOU!

As a clothes’ consumer you can do a lot to mitigate climate change. You can start by buying fewer clothes and start renovating your wardrobe in more creative ways (internet is full of this!). You can also start buying low-carbon clothes (here is a list of the brands). Whenever is possible and the sun is shining try to dry your clothes naturally, you will save some energy there! Finally, whenever you decide to say goodbye to certain clothes, you can donate them instead of dispose them in the garbage.

So next time you wear clothes, remember that you can be part of the solution to the climate change!