Swedish Fashion Industry: Awareness Of Sustainable Fashion

H&M out of green jeans capsule series lose the loop.

In the bustling neighborhoods of Stockholm, there are rows of fashion shops, whether they are familiar luxury brands, fast fashion brands, or popular designer shops such as Acne.

More than fashion shops, people who are shuttling in all kinds of shops, carrying large bags and shopping bags.

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From retailers to customers, Stockholm people's demand for "sustainable fashion" is common.

Products and packaging are often made of organic renewable materials.

In the H&M shop, there are white old clothes recycling boxes.

The government supports the launch of large-scale sustainable fashion exhibition such as "Eco Chic", which provides free fashion designers with information on sustainable fashion to independent designers, fashion department students and the general public.

The secondary market has long been integrated into Stockholm's urban life.

Anna Maria Bernitz, the art designer and fashion director of the Swedish foreign exchange association, is the curator of the "Eco Chic Sweden sustainable fashion" tour exhibition in Anna.

This exhibition has been in Shanghai and has great influence in similar fields around the world.

On the day of the interview, she was dressed in a black knitted suit and looked quite a few years. But she was still clean and pressed. Her texture was excellent, with her brown waves and clear eyes. There was a Scandinavia style of literature and art - fashionable, warm, rather than sharp.

Ms. Benitz told me that for the fashion industry, one of the most pressing tasks at present is to increase the cultivation and use of environmentally friendly cotton.

Cotton is fashion.

One of the most commonly used raw materials, the large-scale cultivation of ordinary cotton will consume a lot of water resources. At the same time, the use of pesticides, though killing pests, also brings air, soil and water pollution. Many cotton farmers suffer from incurable diseases.

Environmentally friendly cotton, including recycled cotton and organic cotton, has greatly reduced the use of pesticides and water resources in planting. This has become one of the most important directions in the field of sustainable fashion.

"So what about wool? Do you want to use more wool than it will bring environmental pollution?" I asked.

She replied: "wool is indeed more environmentally friendly and durable material.

But because of its texture, it can not replace cotton and linen fabrics.

Its output is limited, because the cause of environmental pollution is even decreasing year by year.

In addition, overfeeding sheep will lead to destruction of grasslands and shrubs, resulting in desertification of the land.

"You heard sheep screaming.

I can't forget it for the rest of my life. "

Ms. Benitz talked about a touching personal experience.

She told me that shearing wool is not easy. It often damages the skin of sheep, causes infection and even causes death.

In the eyes of the Swedes, which focus on the protection of animal rights, this is a very cruel thing.

The "H&M Conscious" series is made of more sustainable fabrics such as organic cotton, hemp fiber, recycled polyester and so on.

With H&M as its representative, Sweden has become a fast fashion country in the eyes of the whole world.

Is this contradiction with the concept of sustainable fashion? The new speed of "fast fashion" will accelerate the cycle of the whole fashion industry from "season" to "weekly", and consume more energy. The chemicals used will also lead to more environmental pollution.

In addition, the pursuit of fashion trends by "fast fashion" is far beyond the control of product quality. This means that many garments that are only through one season will be relentlessly thrown away by their owners or allowed to pile up in the closet and become a fait accompli or potential waste.

In order to control costs and shorten the supply cycle, most of the international fast fashion brand foundries are distributed in less developed countries. Workers' working environment safety and low salary moral issues are also often the soft spot of big brands being hit hard.

For this reason, Ms. benitz did not deny that she said: "in the first ten years of twenty-first Century, fast fashion brands had gone too far in pursuit of the changing fashion trend, ignoring the concern for sustainability.

In recent years, the gradual exposure of these problems has made these enterprises wake up.

The reason why "sustainable fashion" is increasingly becoming the most important topic in the fashion industry is also the appeal and the lead of sports brands such as H&M, Gap and other fast fashion brands and Nike, Adidas, Puma and other sports brands.

Designer on Loman designs environmental friendly jeans capsule series lose the loop from scratch.

Fast and environmentally friendly

Fast Fashion Can Be Sustainable

Following Ms. Benitz's suggestion, we decided to visit the H&M group on the spot.

There, the sustainable fashion department at H&M headquarters gave me a "sustainable fashion" class.

The sustainable fashion act of H&M is collectively referred to as "H&M Conscious", and it is not inappropriate to plate it into "H&M consciousness".

Recently, "H&M Conscious" launched the old clothes recycling plan.

In the H&M store, you can see a few white old clothes recycling boxes with green slogans on it: "Long Live Fashion!" (long live fashion!) or "Don" t let fashion go to waste! "(don't let fashion become garbage!)

You can put any brand clothing into the box, whether it is a wrinkled T-shirt, pilling sweater, or only one sock, in exchange for a 15% off discount coupon, buy anything in the shop, enjoy the discount - this is very attractive to consumers.

Do you want to know where you are going to throw your old clothes into the recycling bin? They are packaged to sell fabric recycling institutions like Sweden I:CO.

I:CO will conduct a unified classification of old clothes: some of the newly upgraded ones are sent to the second-hand clothing market, and the next ones are reconstituted cloth, rag and other fabric products. The worst part is decomposed by environmental protection and reconstituted into new fabrics.

All proceeds from the sale of old clothes by H&M will be allocated to the "H&M Conscious" foundation account to solve social problems such as women's rights and interests, OEM factory environment improvement and low salary.

The old clothes recycling is on the one hand, while the new clothes production is on the other hand.

The brand has launched the sustainable fashion series "H&M Conscious Collection", which is made entirely of recycled cotton and organic cotton, and invited celebrity endorsements with equal beauty and wisdom. For example, the fashionable "teeth joint" French female singer Vanessa Paradeis (Vanessa Paradis) and the tall sexy American supermodel Amber Valletta (Amber Valletta).

Some environmental conscious female stars are also keen to wear this series on the red carpet.

Helena Helmersson, brand global sustainable fashion director, said that the purpose of the "H&M Conscious Collection" launch is mainly to promote environmentally friendly cotton. Helena Helmerson,

There are other rules for the use of animal fur and leather, such as the use of food industry meat products and the use of any endangered species.

As far as design concept, life style are concerned, little attention is paid to waste material, handwork and black preference. Designer Nina Beigie has the shadow of his past.

In addition, technological innovation supporting sustainable fiber, fabrics and water-based adhesives is also a common approach adopted by Swedish fast fashion companies on sustainable fashion issues.

In 2013, H&M used recycled polyester fibers to produce garments, which was equivalent to solving the pollution problem caused by 7 million 900 thousand non degradable plastic bottles.

The Swedish brand, which is keen on sustainable fashion, can be more than H&M.

In a global ranking list of cowboy brands, the Swedish brands Nudie Jeans and Cheap Monday, which are famous for jeans, are listed in one or two place, leaving many other cowboy brands behind.

Cheap Monday used a more water-saving way in the washing process of tannin cloth and abolished some paint spraying methods that might affect workers' health.

Monki, another fast fashion brand in Sweden, is also a staunch supporter of sustainable fashion.

This street style brand has its own "weird pie" sustainable values.

In addition to using environmental friendly cotton and other uniform standards, Monki does not use PVC and does not need materials from tropical rain forests.

The brand buys raw leather from meat processing plants, and sets a relatively high standard of remuneration and relatively short working hours for the workers in the third world countries.

There is a special self-discipline rule: it is worth mentioning that the raw materials used by Monki must be cultivated if they need soil cultivation, because "