Hopefully, you’re not totally sick of reading about/hearing about/seeing things on sustainability, because we’ve got some more for you!
This month we’ve talked a lot about how we can all make more sustainable purchases, and a lot of that focused on buying things that have already been loved (ie buying second-hand). You know that is our favorite way to shop at ASOME, but the reality is, we don’t all, always, purchase second-hand. But another reality is that we want sustainable options when we do buy new, and the market is hearing that loud and clear, see ⬇
Fast Fashion
✔Zara: 90% of their stores are eco-friendly & have clothing donation sites; they use renewable resources to power their offices; their products “meet the most stringent health, safety, and environmental sustainability standards”; their supply chain “respects workers and the environment.”
✔H&M: Today, 57% of all materials used by H&M group is recycled or sustainably sourced. This is an increase from 35% in just one year and takes them closer to their goal to only use recycled or other sustainably sourced materials by 2030; their Spring 2019 Conscious Collection is made from sustainably sourced materials and/or with sustainable methods.
High Fashion
✔Gucci & Versace: Both of these fashion giants have banned the use of fur.
✔Neiman Marcus: They are the first major luxury retailer to directly invest in the pre-owned business, taking a minority stake in 20-year-old luxury resale player Fashionphile.
That’s right, all of these ^^^ are going green, and we are sooooo here for it. And they’re not alone.
“Sustainability is an increasingly important factor in what buyers choose to stock, according to a survey by the consultancy McKinsey & Company and Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, Italian fashion’s governing body.” They surveyed some of the largest department stores -- like Saks and Barneys, and found that the buyers expected to nearly double their purchases of sustainable products over the next five years, raising them from 23% of their total budgets to 42%.
And according to recent research from Nielsen, 73% of millennials are willing to pay more for sustainable goods, a stance that has particular significance given investment bank UBS predicts millennials are set to control as much as $31 trillion by 2020!!!
Moral of this blog post? The big shots who design and sell clothes - at all levels - are paying attention, so we need to keep speaking up and demanding they offer sustainable options. Not seeing what you want, insta-it, tweet-it, fb-it if you’re still into that, and let them + the world know we want things that are not going to f- up this planet and all the things on it✌