Eco-friendly things. How fashionable clothes destroy the environment. Pay attention to the fabric
Most of us are aware of the negative impact of cars, waste and unwise use of resources on the environment, but few think about the impact of the clothes we buy and wear.
Let's start with the materials.
Manufacturers nylon and polyester during processing, a huge amount of nitrous oxide is released into the atmosphere, which, like carbon dioxide, is one of the causes of the greenhouse effect, but with only one difference - it is 300 times more dangerous.
Viscose often made from wood pulp that has been treated with hazardous chemicals.
Cotton has a bad reputation in that it uses more pesticides than other plants. In addition, it requires huge areas for planting, which causes enormous harm to the environment. Dying and bleaching fabrics increases the impact on the environment, as the production process uses a lot of water and chemicals, which often end up in rivers and soil.
In addition to global harm, we primarily harm ourselves. In some places it is less destructive, and in others it clearly affects health.
But there is a reasonable alternative. Ecological clothing. Modern technologies make it possible to make it not only harmless, but also stylish, which is important.
Due to global warming, the demand for green textiles continues to grow, and many manufacturers are switching to environmentally friendly production technologies and fabrics to reduce their negative impact on the environment and create a positive green image.
Quality organic clothing
The quality of organic clothing is generally better than the quality of mass-produced clothing. Organically grown cotton, hemp and flax are being used more and more in textile production. Fabric plants are grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides and therefore reduce the risk of groundwater contamination. Such fabrics will also degrade naturally after being thrown away. To increase the strength and lifespan of organic fabrics, the fibers are often blended with other fibers.
Eco-friendly cotton clothing is stronger than clothing made from regular cotton because it is not treated with strong chemicals such as bleaching. Chemically treated fabric becomes much less durable. The bond between the fabric fibers weakens and the lifespan of the garment is significantly reduced. In addition, the fabric made from ecological cotton is softer to the touch and gives a feeling of comfort to our body. To receive the “organic” label, the product must be at least 95% certified organic. To meet the standard, producers must eliminate solvents, toxic heavy metals, genetically modified seeds, or chemicals such as formaldehyde. All wastewater must be treated, industries must be recycled, and the bleaches used must be oxygen-based.
Natural fibers made by man
Man-made fibers such as soybean, bamboo, corn or wood pulp can also be used to make clothing.
Bamboo clothing is not much different from cotton in both appearance and feel. But unlike cotton, which can only be grown in certain regions, bamboo grows anywhere. In fact, bamboo is both a herbaceous plant and one of the fastest growing trees on the planet, which is what makes it so widely used. And growing bamboo improves soil quality and can even restore it after erosion. In addition, bamboo has several very useful qualities: it has thermal insulation, that is, it easily retains heat in cold weather, but at the same time provides good ventilation, helping the body stay cool in hot weather. Obviously, bamboo clothing is an excellent choice for sports, and besides, such clothing, cozy and stylish, is simply ideal for active people.
All that remains is to choose: wear clothes or “live” in clothes?
The most progressive brands that care about the ecology of our planet are actively developing eco-friendly lines, creating clothes from natural fabrics and using safe production methods. If you support eco-style, then you will be interested in getting to know domestic clothing brands that are environmentally responsible.
Designer from St. Petersburg Oleg Biryukov believes that ecology is one of the most important aspects of modernity. He states that he would be happy to use recycled materials and new, technologically advanced fabrics in production, but, unfortunately, they are almost never produced in ours.
Therefore he tries to apply natural fabrics, the production and disposal of which causes minimal harm to the environment: cotton, linen, wool, silk, and he also refused to use animal fur. Unfortunately, the Russian buyer still pays little attention to the environmental friendliness of the product. This means that it is important to develop this direction, create information and educational programs, then its popularity will grow.
Norsoyan
Lyudmila Norsoyan’s calling card is knitwear in natural colors, however, the growing popularity of products with the nano prefix pushed the designer to study materials based on coal, steel and copper.
According to Lyudmila, any production, one way or another, damages the environment. Therefore, the “eco” label is often just a marketing ploy, a loud but false demonstration of a socially responsible position.
In her production, Lyudmila uses both conventional and ultra-modern nanotechnological materials. Only the most advanced technologies are used, production volumes are limited to rationally justified values. According to Lyudmila Norsoyan, not producing anything unnecessary is the most honest type of relationship with nature.
Tri'co cashmere
Cashmere from China is used in the production of Tri’Co Cashmere brand clothing. It is obtained by combing out the deep undercoat of local goats raised on natural pastures. The company sources materials from artisans around the world. For example, craftsmen from Uruguay make the best tourniquet. In the new season, a new item has appeared in the collection - bags made from recycled plastic.
Vika Gazinskaya
Despite the fact that Vika Gazinskaya’s coats and mohair coats are so similar to the real thing, the director of the brand completely abandoned the use of animal fur from the very beginning.
However, she doesn't believe she is fully committed to sustainability in production because it requires a lot of support and the brand has yet to achieve the necessary scale, such as Stella McCartney, who receives financial support from the Gucci Group.
The Your brand also began to develop innovative eco-technologies. Thanks to the introduction of bio-polish technology, it is possible to achieve increased softness of clothes and increase their service life.
In addition, the company is investing in the development of textile recycling technologies. The company has developed a development plan in which environmental issues play a leading role. Of course, it will take a lot of time to fully implement it, but someday the brand will be able to position itself as 100% eco-friendly.
@thesustainablefashionforum (1,2)
The fashion industry is second only to oil production in terms of environmental pollution. A few decades ago they tried to turn a blind eye to this problem, but today large brands and world designers are puzzled by the issue of ecology. Traditional production methods began to be replaced by alternative safe technologies, and the phrase sustainable fashion appeared in the fashion dictionary - sustainable, environmentally stable, conscious fashion. This approach involves the safe use of resources and respect for the environment.
Production
Adherents of environmental trends try to use humane production methods and take a more intelligent approach to creating their models.
Use of natural materials
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fabulousyarn.com
Many brands are gradually introducing fabrics made from organic cotton, hemp fabrics, biolen and nettle into production.
The production of such materials uses water-saving technologies, solar panels and natural fertilizers. This significantly reduces the harm done to our planet. In addition, it is not unreasonably believed that organic materials do not have a detrimental effect on human health.
Use of recycled materials
@magdalena_wilk_drylo (1,2)
To reduce production waste and take care of the environment, companies have begun making clothes from recycled materials. Especially ideological conservationists create models from waste not only from textile production. This trend can significantly reduce the amount of waste produced.
Reusing things
Vintage has come back into fashion - it's not just an opportunity to demonstrate an interesting image, but to reduce consumption. The taboo of wearing the same clothes several times is no longer relevant. Fashionistas began to take out long-forgotten outfits from grandmothers' chests, and world designers use fabrics from old collections for their models.
No Animal Materials
@boutique_rome
@lookhunter_shop
Of course, in the context of ecology we must not forget about humane treatment of animals. Mink stoles and crocodile skin bags are being replaced by faux fur stoles and polyester bags. Eco-fur is gaining popularity every year, and the most recognizable faces of Hollywood prefer less cruel alternatives to natural fur.
Humane work
@patagonia
@fendi
We have heard more than once that large industries do not always have decent working conditions. Conscious fashion promotes humane treatment of human labor and concern for the health of workers in factories. Activists insist that information about all aspects of clothing must be disclosed and, over time, companies must achieve absolute transparency.
Top Sustainable Fashion Events
Fashion events are constantly held, the main goal of which is to draw attention to environmental and humanism issues. In recent years, there have been many more of them, which indicates the popularization of the idea.
Copenhagen Fashion Summit
@copenhagenfashionsummit (1,2)
A landmark event in the field of eco-fashion and fashion in general. The summit took place for the first time in 2009. Since then, the stylish people of this world have been gathering at a major forum to discuss the development of the fashion industry in all its aspects. Issues of environmental protection and ways to implement environmental projects are the main topic that runs through the summit.
The green carpet fashion awards
@greencarpetfashionawards (1,2)
Young Award for Sustainable Fashion. This event was held for the first time after the closure of Italian Fashion Week in 2017. The award goes to the main actors in the field of ecology. Last year, Gisele Bündchen, Tom Ford and others received awards. The second annual ceremony took place on September 23 in Milan. Donatella Versace and Ferruccio Ferragamo took home the awards. The event was attended by Julianne Moore, Cindy Crawford, Cate Blanchett and other celebrities who care about the fate of the planet.
Ethical fashion show berlin
@maas_natur
@monpetit_kinderzimmer
An exhibition during Berlin Fashion Week, the main purpose of which is to demonstrate environmental trends in the fashion industry. The show features not only brands that have long proven their respect for the environment, but also very young companies. In addition, conferences dedicated to ecology are held annually as part of Berlin Fashion Week.
Eco-friendly brands
It is only possible to radically change the views on modern fashion together, so the trend is being picked up not only by luxury brands and famous designers, but also by mass market companies.
Stella McCartney
@stellamccartney (1,2)
The daughter of Paul McCartney - a member of the legendary group "the Beatles" - decided not to follow in her father's footsteps. Stella McCartney founded the clothing brand of the same name, whose philosophy is environmental friendliness and humane treatment of animals.
McCartney was one of the first on the catwalk to speak about the need to use organic fabrics and abandon fur and leather on a large-scale fashion scene. Now Stella collaborates with famous brands and creates things from recycled materials.
Patagonia
@katerutherford
@patagonia
The American brand is especially famous among fans of outdoor activities. The company's founder, Yvon Chouinard, took a responsible approach to protecting the environment from the very beginning. The brand produces clothing and accessories from environmentally friendly organic materials. Having apparently decided that this was a drop in the bucket, Yvon initiated the creation of the organization “1% for the Planet,” whose members annually donate 1% of their company’s sales to solve environmental problems.
Fendi
If you go to the company's website, you can see a code of conduct that corresponds to the concepts of sustainable fashion. Fendi is guided by the principle of respect for the work of its employees and concern for their safety and health. The brand categorically does not accept child labor and strives for company transparency. The company also could not ignore concerns about the environment: the fashion house strives to use the latest production technologies and minimize the harm caused to nature. In 2017, Fendi won The green carpet fashion awards as the most socially responsible brand.
Adidas
@bradleysimmonds
@saiyami
The global sportswear giant is taking every possible part in changing the environmental situation. The company has abandoned plastic bags in favor of paper ones, and collaborates with Stella McCartney and the New York organization Parley for the Oceans.
The company presented sneakers made from biodegradable materials and, together with Parley for the Oceans, released sports shoes made from recycled ocean waste. The brand also initiated a charitable sports movement in favor of ocean protection.
Viktor & Rolf
@viktorandrolf (1,2)
The tandem of Dutch designers Victor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren encourage the reuse of materials in their collections. Fabrics left over from past shows can be seen on the latest designs created by the designers. Besides clearly demonstrating their point, Viktor and Rolf make metaphorical references to ecology during the presentation of their clothes. For example, in 2017, models came out dressed as rag dolls. Such a decision was meant to remind the public of environmental responsibility.
For the brand's 25th anniversary, the designers decided to resurrect models from their previous collections and three iconic outfits from Viktor & Rolf could be seen on the catwalk.
H&M
One of the most popular mass market brands has not remained aloof from the environmental issue. The company launched a campaign for the collection and recycling of clothing “New Life of Fashion”. Anyone can bring unwanted clothes to any H&M store. Moreover, the quality and material of clothing do not matter. The store sends clothes for recycling or reuse, and participants of the promotion receive a voucher for their next purchase instead of a cluttered closet.
Amour vert
The Amour vert brand creates environmentally friendly, versatile clothing made from natural fabrics. The company works with exclusive suppliers and tries not to produce more clothing than it can sell. Due to this, it further reduces the harmful impact on the environment.
Amour vert, with the support of the American Forest organization, launched a promotion: if you buy three items, they promise to plant a tree in North America. The website has a counter, thanks to which you can keep track of how many trees have already been planted.
Environmental trends are slowly but surely gaining momentum. Not all brands are ready to abandon harmful production methods yet, but we think that it is a matter of time, and the fashion industry will get rid of its status as one of the most harmful to the environment.
Recycle has selected the 5 most eco-friendly clothing brands for children. Among them are clothes made from organic cotton with prints of endangered species, bodysuits made from recycled towels, and T-shirts with painted designs.
Only organic cotton, grown without pesticides, GMOs, and hand-picked, is used in the production of clothing by a family-owned factory. Belle & Dean. The main color of this brand for the little ones is ecru. This means that cotton fiber is not subject to bleaching or dyeing.
Drawings on fabric in Belle & Dean created exclusively with the environment in mind. The items contain an eco-message - prints depicting rare and endangered species of animals and plants. Pictures are applied with safe water-based paint. Bodysuits, T-shirts, summer overalls and accessories for babies from 0 to 2 years old are available in the online store.
Eco-knitwear from Bulgarian grandmothers
Associated with love for children and nature. Handmade clothing from Kalinka kids Made from organic long-staple Pima cotton and Merino wool from Peru. These eco-friendly materials are particularly soft and durable.
The history of the brand began with a simple children's sweater, which was knitted by the founder of the brand, Nona Docheva, while awaiting the birth of her twin sons. The inspiration for the entire collection of knitted clothes came from patterns and shapes that are preserved by the centuries-old history of several generations of the Bulgarian people.
It is Bulgarian grandmothers who today help in creating simple, practical and comfortable children's eco-friendly clothing Kalinka kids. The “green” collection includes sweaters, tops, overalls, hats, bloomers, as well as blankets and mesh bags. You can buy them on the official website.
Organic cotton and bamboo for babies
The creators of the Polish brand Dear Eco call the process of creating children's clothing a fairy tale with a happy ending. Good fairy seamstresses use a noble variety of organic cotton from Peru.
Continuous quality control of raw materials begins from the moment of sowing the seeds to processing the threads. All processes exclude the use of harmful chromium compounds, GMOs, pesticides, heavy metals and artificial dyes.
The clothes turn out so soft and silky that babies can feel like princes and princesses from the first days of life. Dear Eco textiles are marked with the International Standard GOTS (The Global Organic Textile Standard). This means that the company not only cares about the environment, but also strictly observes the labor rights of its employees.
In addition to clothing, the brand’s eco-friendly collection includes envelopes for newborns, blankets and towels made of bamboo, and products made from medical sheepskin: booties, sleeping bags and stroller inserts.
Dear eco has a network of stores in Poland, Norway, Holland, Switzerland, Serbia and South Korea. Online ordering is available on the brand's official website.
Children's clothing made from recycled textiles
New products from the Swedish company Stormie Poodle appear thanks to the second life of Lindström hotel bedding, napkins and towels. Textiles go through several washing cycles in eco-friendly laundries. The fabric becomes soft and hypoallergenic.
Reusing cotton products reduces water consumption in the countries where the material is grown. And it partially helps solve the global textile waste problem.
Not only the textiles themselves last a long time, but also the clothes made from them, helping to save the family budget. Children's terry robes Stormie Poodle grow up with children. Featuring long sleeves, large pockets and no belt. And instead of buttons there are buttons that children can easily fasten and unfasten on their own. The production of children's clothing from recycled materials is located in Latvia.
The company donates some of its products to the orphanage. The Stormie Poodle online store offers terry robes for children aged 1 to 6 years, hooded towels and bibs.
100% organic: with mind and heart
No allergies, no discomfort, no irritation. These principles formed the basis of the collections of children's eco-friendly clothing of the Russian brand Bluegreens. In the production of textiles for babies, the company uses 100% organic cotton of international standards GOTS, OEKO-TEX. The designs are applied to the fabric using water-based paints. Particular attention to detail: to avoid contact with children's delicate skin, labels and tags are placed on the outside. There are also seams along the outside - on clothes for babies up to 1 year old.
The wave of popularity of environmental fashion has swept the whole world.
Natural clothing is gaining popularity. The “eco” mark indicates that the products are made exclusively from natural materials. However, you need to work hard to find clothes in stores that fully meet environmental requirements. Therefore, many handicraftsmen boldly take on the task of promoting the idea of promoting environmental clothing. We decided to follow their example and created vests, stoles, dresses using the felting technique, combining with wool: linen, cotton gauze, natural silk, wool.
Felting natural wool, making fur using a felting method in which no animals were harmed, dyeing fabric with natural dyes (eucalyptus, oak, birch leaves, onion peels) - such a rich combination of techniques gives our products uniqueness and originality. The creation of ecological fur gives a special charm to felted items; no animals were harmed: the fur is made by felting wool sheared from sheep.
The highlight of our creations is the coloring of products with vegetable dyes using the “ecoprint” technique, when living leaves are printed on woolen fabric or the finished product, without the use of any dyes. She herself participates in the process of dyeing fabrics, leaving her imprints. Therefore, fabric with an eco-print is unique; exact repetition of the pattern is impossible, because we will not find even two identical leaves in nature, just as people do not have the same fingerprints. 
Since ancient times, our people have known methods of natural dyeing of fabrics. Using local plant material, craftsmen achieved a rich palette of colors.
We decided to revive the forgotten traditions of vegetable dyeing of fabric. 
We lay out the pre-soaked leaves on a prepared cloth (wool and gauze felted together), or on a product completely felted from wool, wind the roll tightly, and cook it in a decoction of onion peels. After 3 - 4 hours we get clearly printed leaves on the product.
Dyeing the fabric with plant material made it possible to obtain a unique pattern of printed leaves - an eco-print, the richness of shades of which depends on the type of plant and on the use of rusty iron mordant. 
In the production of felt products, we did not use artificial materials, did not harm the environment by using chemicals, and did not produce harmful waste during the production process. Woolen items made with your own hands are alive, they bring freshness and warmth, convey every note of the aroma of the Earth, its fruits, flowers and juices...
The materials we use have healing properties. Wool, silk, flax and cotton have favorable energy, they are ideal thermostats, wool and silk contain amino acids that neutralize toxic substances and carbon dioxide, natural fibers soothe the nervous system and acute pain, help cope with colds and viral diseases. 
Stoles felted on silk combine the positive properties of raw wool and the unique properties of noble silk. Delicate, soft merino wool is hygroscopic and creates a pleasant warmth, silk is smooth and pleasantly soft on the skin. 
A stole made of wool on silk is light and at the same time warm, it is durable and lasts a long time. Wool and silk allow the skin to breathe, equalize body temperature, adapting to the ambient temperature, and prevent negative external influences. A felted wool stole, based on silk fabric, will improve your well-being, increase your performance and strengthen your body. 
Wool and silk do not accumulate static electricity, so they not only make us feel good, but are also less likely to get dirty.
Using natural materials for work - wool, silk, living plant leaves, we receive a charge of positive energy, which helps to reveal all the beauty of the nature around us, helps to give expressiveness, originality, and originality to creativity.
