Fashion brands should focus less on sustainability ambassadors and more on real change to the global supply chain

By Dr Alan Hudd, Founder, Alchemie Technology

A fast-growing trend in the fashion world is for brands to appoint celebrity sustainability ambassadors in an attempt to address environmental concerns. It’s a serious subject, given that the fashion industry is responsible for up to ten per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and 20 percent of global industrial water pollution

Fashion firms hope their famous faces will promote sustainable behaviour and spark positive change. However, they have faced considerable backlash and invited accusations of greenwashing.

Boo Hoo partnered with Kourtney Kardashian to unveil two capsule collections at New York Fashion Week last month which used recycled fibres. Critics pointed out that the 45-piece collection represented only a small proportion of the 40,000 annual styles released by the UK company.

Primark previously named Laura Whitmore as their Primark Cares Ambassador, saying she would be ‘asking the questions I’m sure you all have when it comes to sustainability for big high street brands.’

It’s great to see the big fashion firms taking the issues of sustainability seriously and finding innovative ways to bring them to the attention of consumers.

Immediately suggesting that such moves are cynical greenwashing is not overly helpful. Any tactic to generate debate around sustainability in fashion surely must be regarded as a positive.

However, overhauling and modernising the way our clothes are produced would be far more beneficial to the planet than investing in campaigns with celebrities.

The environmental impact of the clothes we wear is a real problem. Most of the damage comes from dyeing the fabric and adding properties such as wicking and waterproofing, which are still done by decades-old traditional methods.

In the UK we buy an average of 26kg of clothing every year. Dyeing those clothes generates 8.7 billion tonnes of CO2 and 131 billion litres of wastewater. If the fashion industry doesn’t act to change the way clothes are dyed, the CO2 emissions it will generate are predicted to reach 2.5 Gigatonnes by 2050, making it one of the most polluting industries on the planet

These figures are particularly worrying in the context of a global energy crisis. The heatwaves this summer brought home how precious water is to us and the damaging effects of carbon emissions.

One of the best ways of reducing the damage to the planet caused by clothing manufacture is to switch to low carbon, waterless dyeing methods.

Our company Alchemie Technology is pioneering a completely new way to dye clothes. By using the world-leading expertise we have in the UK in the inkjet sector and applying it to dyeing and finishing, we’ve worked out how to jet dye on to fabrics with the same quality as traditional methods, using up to 95 percent less water and 85 percent less energy.

Now we’re on a mission to encourage brands and clothing manufacturers around the world to switch to such alternative dyeing methods.

Not only are these greener productions methods kinder to the environment, they also allow manufacturers to make substantial energy savings at a time when escalating energy costs, and the problem of water scarcity, is threatening their survival. The working conditions are also far cleaner, safer, and less damaging than using dye baths full of chemicals.

Traditional dyeing releases polluted dye laden water into the local environment which potentially harms people as well as animals. There have been numerous reports of skin problems and cancer in major clothing manufacturing hubs like China and Bangladesh.

There are many complex issues when it comes to sustainable fashion. As well as the main problems of CO2 emissions and water consumption we need to address pollution, overproduction, packaging, longevity, circularity, fair wages, and recycling.

Appointing celebrity ambassadors can help to encourage debate and awareness among consumers. But real change will only come from action. The fashion industry is very good at making noise around sustainability and championing its credentials. But it is less effective at addressing the issues in its supply chains.

If big brands are really committed to sustainability, they would invest in cleaner manufacturing solutions and encourage their suppliers to do so.

Celebrities guarantee eyeballs, but it is vital that brands demonstrate intent to address the problems in the global supply chain and engage in long-term commitments to reducing energy and water wastage.