Impact of fast fashion in the development of sustainable materials.IntroductionFast fashion is ever increasing which puts a strain on the promotion of sustainable materials. This paper will outline the effects of fast fashion and the development of eco materials and other ways that can be maintained within sustainable system, within the fashion industry, and also by looking at slow fashion company People Tree (Sailsbury, 2011), and Swedish mega company H&M and their sustainable outlook within their brand (The H&M Group, 2016). The documentary ‘The True Cost’ is referenced, as it shows every aspect in the production process, that everyone should watch as fashion consumers. From farmers to designers, they all make their statement why sustainability is in need for ethical and environmental reasons (The True Cost, 2015).Mostsustainable fabrics are often made from natural materials that use less waterand contain fewer chemicals, these are the materials which need to be made moreaware of, they take longer to make but are worth our sacrifice (Shen, 2014).Most retailers have a fast fashion strategy, make it, sell it, buy it and thendispose of it. However, this is causing major backlash on our environment andthe people who produce it (The H&M Group, 2016).  The impact of fast fashion is what’s going tobe left to our future, as we rely on things being instant to us. What wouldhappen if things that took a little longer would not just benefit us, but awhole generation? These days we use up more natural resources on things thatcan be cut down on, and produce more hazardous waste that our planet simplycannot retain (Joy , et al., 2012).ContextualisationFast fashionis a term that has come about from high street retailers, such as Topshop,H&M and the Spanish retail giant Zara, creating and producing their ownversions of luxury fashion goods. These imitations of luxury items form thebasis for their trends for each season, and are produced on a mass scale tosustain the ‘deeply held desires among young consumers’ (Joy , et al.,2012).The industryworks at such a fast speed and to such a huge scale that the time period fromthe luxury products being shown on the catwalk to being imitated and producedby the various high street retailers and ending up in our hands, is very littleand in turn puts a huge strain and pressure on every part of the industry (Joy , et al., 2012). As these garmentsare being made at a ridiculously fast rate, the quality of fabrication andproduction has been compromised and thus the products become more disposable asnew stock is always being made available to the consumer. This is the coreconcept of fast fashion and its function in the fashion system (Claudio, 2007). With this the environmentalfootprint of each piece clothing grows and grows as high street stores continueto ramp up the rate of production with the aim of flooding the market with moreand more trend focussed disposable products (Black, 2012, p. 216).Thebeginning of the garments, start with the actual materials used. The most usedfabric is cotton, that uses ‘a quarter of pesticides used in the US’ (Claudio, 2007). Not to mention theamount of water and energy used to wash and dry it, the environmental wasteimpact, and this is before it has been shipped to another country for theactual making process. There are efforts to make these more sustainable byusing organic cotton, which the pesticides have been removed and are made using‘nontoxic farming methods’ (Black, 2012, p. 216).Modified (GM) cottonfarming sparks a huge debate, as an environmental and an ethical impact. Thereare 50 million cotton farmers in the world today and most of them live indeveloping countries such as India. These farmers rely on GM cotton as a supercrop, however they are under huge amounts of ‘consumer pressure’, which has hadsome major backlash and resulted in debts from these farmers, which led totheir suicides as a result of unpaid loans to these GM cotton seedmanufactures, who are based in the US  (Black,2012, p. 192).There areother sustainable materials that can be used, and is more sufficient, anddoesn’t cause environmental and social devastation. Organic and sustainablefabrics are available which reduce energy and water consumption whilst keepingdown co2 emissions, these fabrics are left out by the big fast fashion brands,as they take longer to make and are carefully traced from seed to product  (Shen, 2014).Fast Fashion consumersIt’s all forthe consumer and our need of wanting the latest styles and brands. Clothing andfashion become two different ideals. Clothing answers more to what we need,wool jumper to keep warm, whereas fashion is a style and can be disposed ofwhen the next trend comes along (Black, 2012).Some fashion brands try and initiate some kind of sustainable intent into theirbrands, for example Topshop released a sustainable line called reclaim,launched by eco line From Somewhere (Quiros, 2015). However, as purchasers acknowledge theenvironmental attempt, they still stick to the same style and quality (Hill & Lee, 2015). Fast fashion allows our desires of luxury clothesto come true and sustainability is not something style conscious consumers linkto fashion (Joy , et al., 2012, p. 276).  Sustainability is not promoted enough in magazinesand by big fashion labels, and with a hefty price point it’s no wonder youngconsumers don’t buy into the trend (Claudio, 2007). During the WorldWar 2, the phrase ‘make do and mend’ came into effect as people would recycleor made to measure for another family member (Strasser, 2000). Sustainability, asmentioned before is what consumers need to do to conquer fast fashion. It canbe explained by ‘making a current generation’s needs, without compromisingthose of a future generations’ (Joy , et al., 2012). Brands that promote sustainablefashion should target the needs and wants of this generations style, size andquality. This is hard as, within these brands that do promote theseenvironmental friendly materials, not a lot of information is given on their impactand the amount of style options available are limiting (Hill & Lee, 2015). Slow fashion comeswith sustainability, this is a process were they support and empower workers,promote up recycling, renewable and eco-friendly raw materials (Henninger, et al., 2016). The industry isdeveloping ‘eco – fashion’ to help overcome the high demand, according to ‘TheInternational Standards Organisation (ISO) they will develop labels that canexamine clothing to meet the criteria of environmental friendly and sourced (Claudio, 2007). This will allow theidentification of sustainably sourced and manufactured garments to berecognised within a brand. Consumers treat ethical fabrics as less refined thanorganic food, however they both share the same working and environmentalqualities (Black, 2012).Materials that impact sustainabilityTo look atfast fashion and sustainability you have to go back to the main materials thatholds all our fashion wants and desires together. The two most common fabricsused worldwide are cotton and polyester (Lee, 2009).Polyester is a manmade fibre that along with other synthetic materials, is timeconsuming and produces vast amounts of sub sense like ‘crude oil, volatileorganic compounds, particulate matter and acid gases’ (Claudio, 2007). Most polyester and anything blendedwith it lets out and by gas that has a toxic effect on the repertory system,liver and skin (Lee, 2009).Cotton isused in more than half of the total fibre of all clothing used today and produceshuge amounts of chemical and water waste thanks to its new genetically modifiedfibres.(The True Cost, 2015). GM cotton farming,as mentioned before is a pesticide used to kill insects, such as the bollworm,which destroys the cotton plant (Black, 2012).Cotton is a natural fibre, but is inundated with these modifications that keepthe cost low and the produce high (Claudio, 2007). The death of many Indian farmer’sdeaths have been linked to production of GM cotton seeds, edosulfan is achemical, that when absorbed into the skin is life threatening (Lee, 2009). Other materialshave been used to encourage the ethical process of sustainable fabrics, howeverwhen looking into these fabrics you have to take the energy use for productioninto consideration and the pollution it in turn gives off (Makko & Koskennurmi – Sivonen, 2013). Even in the dyeingprocess a raw material can take anywhere between 80 – 800 litres of water (Lee, 2009). To conquer this theRegulation, Evaluation, Authentication, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH),have made a legislation within the European Union to make ‘manufactures andproducers to identify and verify the chemicals used in their products’ (Claudio, 2007).Sustainable fabrics. Going backto traditional methods of processing fabric is eco-friendlier compared to thewaste just from dying the fabrics alone, but it is harder to cater to the massmarket, however it gives one more of an appreciation to the design and processof the fabric (Henninger, et al., 2016). Designer brandstend to use local handcrafted methods more as this gives the items moredurability, style and quality, and also effects the economic and social side tosustainability (Joy , et al., 2012). This works for traditional methodsthat use animal by products such as wool, leather and silk, but this costs morethan making cheaper manmade fabrics that can mimic these materials (The True Cost, 2015).Anothermethod to help sustainable fabrics make an impact is upcycling/recycling. Oldclothes, bottles and other manufacturing castoffs, can all be included insustainable fabrics, also high street giant Marks and Spencer’s created a suitline all made from recycled materials (Shen, 2014).As mentioned before Topshop has a sustainable extension line, ‘Reclaim’ whichis made by upcycling other garments, from vintage buttons to a simple cottont-shirt and leftover stock (Quiros, 2015). We all have clothes that get left behindand are of a good quality and durability that we can swap with friends orothers giving that item a new lease of life (Lee, 2009).Donating and buying from charity/thrift shops is an easy way to helpsustainable materials get the long use out of them and, even if they are madein a fast fashion environment and by donating these garments to third worldcountries that resale them on market stalls or give them to local people whoneed clothes that they can endure (Black, 2012).  In New York, there is a family that runsTrans- America Trading Company, that take all the unused clothes and dividedthem into loads of categories like, size and fibre content and recycle theminto all sorts of things, from upholstery stuffing to industrial rags (Claudio, 2007). When it comes toluxury garments, consumers tend to make more ‘investment purchases’ and asthese are made from good quality and they tend to be more of a better quality,making it more durable (Henninger, et al., 2016). Although some charities andcountries are being inundated with masses of clothes from the US and Europeanconsumers who’s excessive purchasing is increasing all the time, as productioncosts from fast fashion get cheaper (The True Cost, 2015).In order toovercome these materials that are of an environmental hazard, new fabrics arebeing created that are sustainable and offer unique selling points to consumers(Henninger, et al., 2016). Designers need torealise and understand that protecting the environment can have a more beneficialeconomic effect, thus making and souring sustainable materials (Whitfield, 2009) Organiccotton is of course the obvious material that should be promoted more even ifyou have to pay more for it. Organic cotton is free from hazardous pesticidesthat harm the environment and cause sever health conditions (Lee, 2009).For a garment to be 100% organic cotton it has to not be genetically modified(GM), which accounts for 30% of all cotton grown, to make sure this is correct,you have to look out for The Soil Association’s label that ensures environmentaland social criteria  (Black, 2012).Linen anatural material made from flax, which is plant based. Linen is much harder toiron than cotton which makes it consume more energy, but in terms of water useand harmful toxins, which makes it have much smaller ‘environmental profile’than organic cotton (Chapman & Hollins, 2010). Made from wood pulp,Tencel. This material is made from the eucalyptus tree, which uses no harmfulpesticides and very little water. This material is also biodegradable, and itsabsorbency level is very high making it easy to dye (Black, 2012)Inego is apolymer which is a plant based fibre, made by a corn by-product, that can bespun and weaved together into other materials. Versace has been known to usethis fabric in their collections (Claudio, 2007). Salmon skin has been used inaccessories, shoes and bikinis. This material is valuable and flexible and isless toxic in the tanning process than leather, and can be used as a by-product(Whitfield, 2009). At thispoint consumers are fully aware of the environmental and social awareness inthe fashion industry. Yet why do consumers ignore this and but fast fashionappeal? (Park & Kim, 2016). To address theissues of how a brand can be sustainable they should keep in mind the ‘TripleBottom Line’ effect that looks at sustainability in 3 ways, ‘environmental,economic and social sustainability’ (Park & Kim, 2016). An example of ahigh street store that adheres to the TBL effect and continues to develop itssustainability within its brand is H&M, the Swedish multinational retailstore (Black, 2012).They have their own sustainable program ‘Conscious Action’, this initiativemakes consumers donate unwanted clothes to any H&M store in return for a15% off coupon to spend ion their stores. This system is made to create morejobs in less developed countries, use more recycled and environmental friendlyfabrics and to educate consumers to be more ethical to carry out thissustainable concept (Shen, 2014).Theyalso work closely with the suppliers and include information, so that it can betracked along the whole process (Black, 2012).Every year H&M release a report on how they can promote sustainability andbe a Fairtrade company. As H&M, is a massive successful retailer with morethan 5 other sister brands. They have really paved the way for being asustainable high street store. In the report they outline how they arecontinuously trying to develop new technologies to help recycle garments, theywant to find a way to make renewable blended fibres and a way to capturecarbon, by investing in start-up companies such as, Swedish company Sellpy whohelp people sell their unwanted clothes. Normal retailers work in a linearmodel, they create the product, the customer buys it and then throws it away.H&M work in a circular way, by products staying in the system longer andthen recycled into a new product (The H&M Group, 2016). People Treeis a slow fashion brand, which means that it produces fewer garments for eachseason and takes away all the harsh realities fast fashion promotes. Theydesign beautifully made garments that can be traced right from the source, andlead the way for sustainable production whilst having decreasing environmentalchange. People tree products can be found in high street stores such asTopshop, Asos and Selfridges, they are nowhere near as big as H&M, yet theyare a perfect example of how a smaller company can be a representative forsustainable fashion, not only by being more involved in every aspect ofproduction but by being able to tell the story of the brand through all theirefforts to reach this environmental accomplishment (Sailsbury, 2011). it is one of the first sustainablecompanies to be recognised by the Global Organic Textile Standards (GOTS) (Black, 2012). Evaluation Fashion iseverywhere. To the person in front or behind you, we constantly are looking atbrands and styles, but we never really know what we are looking at, who made itand where is it from, thanks to fast fashion and its ever changing ways, we areall getting lazy and not appreciating what we are wearing (Chapman & Hollins, 2010). When it comes tofast fashion and its harsh outputs not only into the environment but also thehorrendous social side, like the Indian cotton farmers committing suicide fornot being able to pay their fees to the organisations who create GM cottonseeds, or the water and co2 consumption being made just by washing and dyeingcotton and other materials (Black, 2012).Our needs and wants are putting the environment under too much pressure. Weneed to cultivate our usage and encourage other stores that make an impact onthis planet not just to the climate but to the people who make these garmentsunder horrendous conditions whilst getting paid an unfairly amount, that’s whywe need to promote sustainable materials, so that big fast fashion high streetstores recognise their potential (Joy , et al., 2012).Sustainablefashion helps create and reach out to a wider consumer base, which ‘promotestheir responsibility for society and environment’ (Shen, 2014).Naturalfibres use much less energy than their synthetic counterpart but some use a bitmore water, however when using these materials, it is more beneficial becausethey are made in a Fairtrade surrounding (Chapman & Hollins, 2010). Like the H&Mreport, we should also look towards recycling as a renewable source, as it issomething we can already do by clearing out our wardrobes and sending theseunwanted clothes to H&M stores or places where they buy these second handclothes (The H&M Group, 2016). We need to changeour shopping habits. But as long as we appreciate our purchases more and buythings that last long, it would be more of an immediate effect rather thanwaiting for these mega stores to re think their environmental footprint.People Tree,is a nice representative of a slow fashion brand that from the start haspromoted fair and equal trade on all its garments. They can source where, whoand what the product has gone through to end up in our hands (Sailsbury, 2011).Slow fashion is considered a high pricefor quality rather than quantity (Henninger, et al., 2016), when fast fashionis all about that bargain with more amounts, that don’t last and are of a badquality (Abeles, 2014).BibliographyAbeles, T. P., 2014. 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