A summary of the MHSG Sustainable Fashion Talk (25.02.25) with Ali McAleavy (ZIG+STAR), Jose Baladron (Traid) and Tim Browne (Ministry of Denim)
Despite being a rainy February weeknight, it was great to see so many people turning out and tuning in to the livestream, to hear three fashion industry experts unpick the problem of fast fashion.
And to see such a range of ages present too. Because it is an issue that touches us all. Clothes and textiles are everywhere. So much so that, in an evening packed with stark statistics, we learned that there are now enough clothes on the planet to dress the next six generations.
The audience had gathered to listen to Ali McAleavy, founder of sustainable kids’ shoe brand ZIG+STAR, Jose Baladron from second-hand retailer and charity Traid and denim consultant, Tim Browne from Ministry of Denim.
Each brought a different perspective to the problem, across the key sustainability touchpoints of consumer behaviour, sustainable design, end of life considerations and reuse; whilst examining the environmental, ethical and social impacts that lie behind an industry that has the fourth largest environmental impact after transport, housing and food.
The fashion industry emits 1.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases annually …
That’s more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. It employs 70-75 million people – a number that has tripled in two decades – and produced 170 billion items of clothing in 2023 – a number that has doubled in just one decade.
And the UK is the top consumer in Europe, buying approximately 3,640 billion items of clothing annually, accounting for 5% of our annual spend, on average. Of which – in London – 26% are unworn, shamefully! But of which Traid have put 228m garments back into use, brilliantly!
These clothes, approximately, are worn just seven times in the UK before being thrown away. But, as we know, there is no ‘away’.
So, 300,000 tonnes of clothes are sent to landfill here, every year. Or are shipped to the Global South (up to 80% of charity shop donations are unsellable and exported), with Kenya alone receiving over 220,000 tonnes per year.
And buying recycled clothing (which notably constitute a very small percentage of discarded clothing) is not the solution either. Manmade fibres can only be recycled once and will then suffer the same fate: “The worst thing you can do by making something out of a plastic bottle is stop it being a plastic bottle,” Tim pointed out.
We did promise you stark statistics!
This rocketing trajectory is both consumer and retailer led, and over a shockingly short time …
Speaker Ali McAleavy worked in fashion for over 25 years, latterly as the Head Buyer at Top Shop, before starting ZIG+STAR in 2021. Her departure from fast fashion was prompted by a growing disillusionment with the direction that the industry was heading.
“It was a very creative industry to be part of,” she recounted. “It was all about creating beautiful items of product and democratising fashion. Over the years it completely changed and was all about price, margin and the amount of units you could push through the stores, and less and less about quality.”
“We were being pushed to make decisions,” she continued “that 1) weren’t right for the product and 2) weren’t right for the consumer”. This cynical strategy had rapidly become one of actively promoting over consumption and over production, such that her original average of 1,000 unit orders leapt, towards the end of her career at Top Shop, to 50,000 units, “which was completely unrealistic and unethical.”
The very human price for this ‘pile it high and sell it cheap’ model is paid by the workers …
With that, Jose Baladron showed us shocking slides of the Rana Plaza factory collapse that claimed 1,100 lives in Bangladesh, and the Tazreen Fashion fire in Dhakra, killing 110 workers. The policy of locking in workers during their shift – not even allowing toilet breaks – meant that they were unable to escape.
And the recompense for working so dangerously? Just £6.50 per day for a skilled operator in the Bangladeshi denim industry. 50% less than the unions asked for.
On such low wages, their children also suffer. A birth certificate in Bangladesh costs £45 and is a requisite for a child to go to school, or even to a doctor. Within their phenomenal international support agenda, however, Traid is providing childcare centres for textile workers there, with access to education, meals, healthcare and to that crucial birth certificate.
The next big shocker was the amount of water consumed by the industry…
79 billion m3 every year, specifically, which is set to rise by 50% by 2030, Jose told us. And this is all potable water, more appallingly. The production of just one cotton t-shirt uses around 2,500 litres of water, which would take around 6 years for one person to drink! How many t-shirts do you have in your wardrobe?!
No surprise that we then saw images of shrinking water bodies and a cracked mud flat that was once the thriving Aral Sea in Uzbhekistan, now dessicated, with 80% of its water consumed by the textile industry. In total, Tim related, the fashion industry is responsible for 20% of global water waste.
And denim is the thirstiest culprit …
A single pair of jeans consumes 3,781 litres of water through its life – 2,600 of which is in cotton cultivation. This is all the more frightening when you consider that over 50% of the world is wearing jeans at any given time. For such a universal, egalitarian and timeless item of clothing, it is all the more senseless that the mass market is focusing on a speedy turnover of trends at the lowest price and poorest quality, resulting in 35,000 tonnes purely of jeans heading for landfill in the UK annually.
More sobering still, the average price of jeans was £20 in 1985, we learned, equating to £80 today. The true cost of a sustainably produced jean now should be a minimum of £70, yet the average price is £30; and Primark are currently selling lines at between £14-£22. As a result, Tim urged us to make jeans buying a considered purchase and to ask “Why?”
Both consumers, in their choices, and designers also need to consider the end of life of an item …
Ali’s designs have longevity built into them, from their innovative ‘Good To Grow’ designs, with a removable midsole allowing for up to 9 months extra wear as little feet grow, to building as much adjustability and durability into a shoe and creating gender neutral designs, maximising the hand-down potential.
She also uses sustainable and ethical materials – natural rubber soles and gold standard leather, approved on its animal welfare, processing and chemical usage in production. Which means that at the end of their life they are better for the biodegradable properties and easier to take apart.
But the responsibility doesn’t end at the design.
Circularity continues in a trade-in policy at ZIG+STAR, an international donation route through Sals Shoes, occasionally to schools where children would not be able to attend without shoes. She also works with commercial recyclers to repurpose the rubber in playground surfaces, for example, and is continuing her mission “to give growing feet a smaller footprint” with an upcoming preloved collection and by continuing to work with universities to find a way to reuse her materials and fully close the loop.
Jose equally explained that Traid donates unsellable textiles to universities to experiment new recycling techniques with, so technology is working to catch up on the problem. But that’s not us off the hook. Far from it.
So, what can we do …?
Reduce, reuse …
Donate your clothes to charity shops – Traid have 700 roadside banks and 12 shops around London, to drop clothes off at, or you can book their delivery van through the Traid or Haringey websites for collection. And buy less new, more second hand.
Reduce water and energy consumption and microplastic leaching by not washing your clothes as regularly. Jeans, in particular, should be worn 10 times between washes and aired between wears.
Take a break. Like our audience, make the pledge to take a month (or more) break from buying new clothes and read more about the No Buy movement here.
Mend and upcycle your existing clothes.
Style up classic, timeless items like jeans.
Set up clothes swapping groups.
Ask questions …
Is the retail price fair? How can it be made at that price?
Research the brand and retailer to check if they are on the ‘naughty list’, some of which are pictured here.
Be alert to vague terminology, green imagery and a lack of transparency in the entire supply and production chain. Seek out some of these organisations for information.
Beware the greenwash – notably those pushing one environmental win whilst ignoring their damaging practices. As Tim pointed out, H&M are particularly poor at skewing their sustainability figures by pulling in those of more responsible sub brands COS and Arket.
Look out for …
Is it organic cotton (which uses less water)? Has the organic cotton been fibre traced? Does it have a Fibretrace / GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certification?
Is it Fairtrade certified? SAC and BCI certificated (cotton certifications)? Is it Cradle to CradleⓇ certified? Look out for some of the rubber-stamping logos pictured here.
Also look out for recycled cotton content (PIW or PCW) and embrace less thirsty cotton alternatives like linen, hemp, Tencel, jute and bamboo.
Avoid any petro-chemical fibre content, including lycra, elastane and polyester.
Check for COREVAⓇ or ROICAⓇ v550 fibre content, if buying stretch fabrics, which have a natural rubber base.
And finally …
“Buy Less. Choose Well. Make it Last”
Vivienne Westwood
Suggested reading …
A Practical Guide to Sustainable Fashion: Basics Fashion Design by Alison Gwilt, Bloomsbury
Sustainable Wardrobe: Practical advice and projects for eco-friendly fashion by Sophie Benson, White Lion Publishing 2023
Mending Life: A Handbook for repairing Clothes and Hearts by Nina and Sonja Montenegro, Blue Star Press 1923
Sustainable Fashion for Dummies by Paula N Mugabi, For Dummies 2023
Check out Good On You for 18 Must-Read and Sustainable and Ethical Fashion Books
Huge thanks from all at MHSG to Ali McAleavy, Tim Browne and Jose Baladron for three fascinating, illuminating and brilliant talks.
If you missed the evening, you can catch up at our YouTube channel.
