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Cradle to Cradle – The design of essence, not only shape

Cradle to Cradle is a design methodology that puts a 'waste-less' world at its heart. What is the concept all about? What does it mean for the apparel industry? And who practises it among designers and companies?

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Connecting the dots: Join the present & past, create the future

Connecting the present and the past, learning and drawing conclusions from either, is and will remain key to creating a more sustainable fashion industry. So far, learning from the past in particular - in the good and in the bad - has been chiefly neglected. A series of thoughts.

Asides

• In the retail gazette's article 'Fashion retailers work towards green future', dating from August 19th 2011, the following was quoted (bold font added by Shirahime): ---- New Look, the high-street fashion retailer, has an Ethical Trading Initiative Director, in charge of its environmental policies and ensuring that the focus on sustainability remains paramount during the tough economic climate. Mark Bannister, Ethical and Environment Manager at the retailer, said that in spite of squeezed margins and disappointing sales figures, green solutions are critical to their strategy. "With difficult challenges in commodity cost increases being driven by rapidly increasing global demand and decreasing sales as a result of lower consumer spending, the long-term economic trend in the retail sector is inevitably towards sustainability," Bannister added. "At present, we are finding the need to prioritise greener solutions as they offer a greater overall product potential, looking beyond the traditional metric of margins. Ultimately the transition towards sustainable fashion will be a lengthy process but we are beginning to find that sustainable choices are the most cost effective choice from a holistic product perspective." #
• A little bit late, but here it is: The video interview from February 2011 London Fashion Week. Charlie Ross from Offset Warehouse interviews ethical fashion business consultant Pamela Ravasio at the occasion of the launch of her new guide "Sourcing Ethically from India – An introductory guide for micro-enterprises and start ups in the fashion industry". The guide is free for download under Creative Commons License from the above link. #
• In the Q&A debate on March 3rd, 2010, Lord Addington summarised what the term 'ethical fashion' means in his political/industrial understanding. "When we talk about ethical fashion, we are talking about getting away from throwaway fashion; or, if we are going to throw it away, about how we recycle." #
• In an article on eco fashion, I found a mention of 5 principles of 'good design'. Far beyond fashion, the principles apply to any good design - product, process or otherwise - and are actually very intuitive and don't require much more than common sense. (Which raises of course the question why there is little of the latter - I'll leave the answer up to you). Here hence, the 5 principle in brief summary: (1) Good design is invisible (NOT as in: 'now eco!'). (2) Good design solves problems (as in: get things right in first place). (3) Good design considers life cycle (as in: what will happen to the product, once it's discarded?). (4) Good design is transparent (as in 'open communication'). (5) Good design mimics nature. #
• I found this definition on p. 19 of the September 2010 booklet to London Fashion Week's EstEthica. The definition appears in the context of an interview with Burak Cakmak, Director CSR of the Gucci Group. Sustainability for Fashion (short definition): "Creating desirable products that evoke an emotional connection with the customer and take into consideration their impact while being transparent about the process." There is also a long definition - which I will copy off into a separate blog post at some point, as it occupies the better part of a print page. #