Sustainable fashion
Sustainable fashion is a movement that in present days is gaining remarkable popularity. Over the course of time our society as a whole gained and is still gaining awareness about the well-being of our planet and how important it is to take care of the environment. This led to the creation of sustainable fashion. It has been working its way into the mainstream for many years, but now it reached the point when the fashion industry can no longer ignore it's presence. More and more clothing companies are adjusting their business models and changing their supply chains to reduce negative environmental impact, improve social conditions in factories, etc.
But what exactly is sustainable fashion? In short, it is a movement and a process of minimizing negative impact on the environment, and maybe even regenerating it. It focuses on organic, natural (such as silk), biodegradable fabrics, non-toxic dyes, recycled clothing or repurposed materials, zero waste pattern cutting methods, second-hand shopping and slow fashion models, such as seasonless, timeless pieces of clothing. It can be said that sustainable fashion is the opposite of fast fashion, which features wasteful cycle of mass produced clothing from brands that aim for profit over the welfare of the planet and people who inhabit it. The fast fashion model is severely harmful, as it creates ecological damage at every stage of its supply chain. Starting from growing cotton with enormous amounts of water and toxic pesticides, to dying fabrics with chemicals that pollute water sources, to creating massive amount of unrecyclable textile waste. There is also harm caused by ships, planes and trucks used in transport and the vast quantity of single-use plastic that is used in packaging.
The environmental-friendly philosophy is very important to us and we hold it close while producing our scarves. We are aware of how easily the manufacturing process can create unnecessary waste and we are taking steps to reduce it to a minimum. We aim to produce long-lasting fashion, and silk, as a very sustainable fiber, is a perfect fit for this task. It is very resilient and clothes and accessories made from silk can be persevered for a very long period of time. It has a natural origin and it will easily biodegrade in the soil when discarded after its use. It will not pollute the environment and can be composted together with food and garden waste. Only scarves made of pure silk make a sustainable purchase. Before adding a scarf to your shopping cart, make sure it is 100% silk. Sometimes shops offer cheaper versions, when the fabric is a mix of different materials (for example cotton or polyester). At Aria Silk, all our products are made of silk only, making your shopping experience fully sustainable. You can be sure that choosing Loretta Silk Scarf or Scrunchie Vivienne you will get the product of best quality.
Another way of reducing waste in terms of production is digital textile printing. It is a very environmentally aware process, especially compared to many other traditional ways of printing and dyeing. What makes it such an eco-friendly approach is that there are no screens or plates to produce, unlike with screen print or rotary printing, and thus it needs less setup equipment. It also allows to reduce the use of chemicals and water to a necessary minimum.
To sum up, if we want to lend our hand in the spreading of the sustainable fashion movement, the most important thing is to know our closet. If we are aware of the origin and structure of the clothes we wear and how they affect the environment, we can actively try to make a change and help in our own way. It may not be a huge improvement, but it goes a long way and in the end we may be the ones who helped save the planet.