In class to become more sustainable with Marina Spadafora

Today we’re honored to have Marina Spadafora with us, she is one of the most important character in the Sustainable Fashion industry worldwide:  stylist, Fair Fashion ambassador, professor of ethical fashion and the Italian national coordinator of Fashion Revolution. 

Fashion revolution is a movement started after the tragedy of rana plaza in 2013, the aim is to bring equity and justice to the worker of the fashion field. The latest campaign in which Fashion-REV succeed is about the ‘living wage' of the workers,  the salary that workers should have in order to have a decent life and it’s called : Good clothes, Fair Pay’.

Talking about regulations: how important are legislations when it comes to changes and what are the new directives from UE strategy for circular sustainable textiles ?

‘ Legislations are one of the biggest and most important tools we have to make a change. The new European strategy on textiles was drafted after 60 non-governmental organizations - proposed a shadow policy to the European Parliament, that will come into force in 2024. Some of the most important points are mandatory eco-design principles.

For example, we know now that for a product to be fully circular, it has to be made of one fiber only because otherwise you cannot recycle it. We also have extended the responsibility of the producer, which means that first of all a brand must be aware of the chosen producer. And then there is the digital passport, basically a QR code that would be on labels and that would tell customers the whole story of that garment. So this new legislation brings, finally, transparency to the production of clothing, which at the moment doesn't really exist.’

‘So there are movements and there are legislations being proposed and approved all over the world, working hand-in-hand with the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN: “Responsible consumption and production”.’

Of course it’s probably easier to start a new sustainable company from the beginning, thinking circular, using innovative fabrics and following the new directions, as we can see from the newest tendencies of young brands, designer  and the 8.7 % of increasing sustainable fashion sales per year. But at the same time is not solving the problem, in fact we have increased the production of fashion by 400% in the last 20 years since fast fashion has become the normality. We don’t need all these clothes, we have to think that everything we put in the market:

A- Has to be a need 

B- Has to solve a problem.

‘Becoming a sustainable company is not something that happens overnight. It is a process. It has to be a systemic change which involves many steps:

1- First of all, the clean up of the production chain. As we’re doing with digital passport. The cleaner the more sustainable. Because if we can’t hide we don’t go wrong.

2- Treat people fairly. Have a sustainable brand means taking care of workers rights. For this point a collaboration between brand, at least in the same area is a crucial point: if they all decide that they want the workers to be paid a living wage, it can happen.

3- Zero waste pattern making has to become the norm, within the design room and the pattern making room. For this point is important the responsibility that the producers are taking for themself, which means that they have to plan what will happen to the clothes, from recycling to reuse.

4- And last but not least we need the gradual elimination of hazardous chemicals, and of course the production methods which must have the least impact possible from an environmental point of view. In many cases this means replacing the means of production with more advanced technologies in order to reduce the pollution caused by them.

These are really key points for any brand to implement if they really want to go on a path to sustainability.

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