FASHION: MATERIAL INNOVATION IN FASHION SUSTAINABILITY

we need to try to use more types of fabrics that have sustainable characteristics.The impacts of sourcing things like cotton and cashmere have a huge impact on biodiversity, climate change, water, the well-being of humans and animals, and so it seems like an obvious choice to do more sustainable sourcing. But actually, it's not as simple as it sounds. We need to understand what materials the brands are using today. How are they using them, and why are they using those materials? We need to understand the operational needs of the brands, so meaning the needs of the design, the merchandising, and the production. it can be difficult to evaluate what is actually sustainable, because people or other new suppliers may claim to be doing something sustainable. And we need to actually check whether it is really sustainable. And the only way to do that is actually to have a clear framework, to know what are the environmental, social, and chemical impacts that we need to look at. So these are very similar to the impacts and issues that were being looked at back in week two in terms of evaluating sustainability. We really do need these kinds of frameworks and standards, like we have at Kering, in order to judge whether these materials actually are sustainable.

Certifications are a very essential and useful tool, because they actually give tangible proof about the integrity of the supply chain. So in this way, we're able to actually see that, for example, a raw material source is actually sustainable and prove it.

the practical reality of sustainable sourcing is that we can't just talk about sustainable impacts. We actually have to start also talking about respecting the creativity of design, high quality standards, and also, respecting the usual constraints of business in terms of quality, lead time, price, planning, and these are essential items that can't be overlooked.

Around 50 million people work in the fashion industry worldwide, yet in many cases people are paid less than half the amount considered to be a living wage. As discussed previously in the eight Issues under Wellbeing, fashion contributes to these injustices across its supply chain, and it is very difficult to find out and verify certain set standards. Certifications are useful in order to judge the sustainability aspects of a source and consider social responsibility. They are put in place to help designers make better design decisions and retain integrity.