Is Pakistan gearing towards slow and sustainable fashion? No, but it needs to
A few weeks ago, we saw thousands of people wearing fast fashion products at the Climate March advocating for conservation. Ironic, isn’t it?
But it’s not just them. We’re all guilty of this. We prefer polyester sweaters that barely last a season over 100% cashmere that can be passed on for generations. We get wooed by H&M’s Zara-inspired collections and opt for them to save an extra $20 despite knowing Zara will last longer.
It’s the same logic when opting for Zara over Massimo Dutti which, although expensive, is far more sustainable. We buy local brands’ winter karandi collection over pure wool suits that last years.
It’s become a mindset to buy more of less quality, a mindset that will cost our future generations and us more than we can ever imagine. What we fail to remember in this age of consumerism is that by opting for fast fashion, not only are we depriving our future generations of precious heirlooms but also contributing to the slow death of the planet.
How to stop that? Opt for slow fashion.
The slow fashion movement
Slow fashion is an awareness movement and approach to fashion that considers the process and resources required to make clothing, and is particularly focused on sustainability.
It involves buying fewer but better-quality clothes that will last longer and promotes the fair treatment of people, animals and the planet.
In short, it means buying a timeless cashmere black sweater (although around $150-$300 heavy on the pocket) instead of an H&M one that will only last five to seven washes.
Report: Millions working in Pakistan's garment industry suffer abuse and labour rights violations
For the local market, it means investing in a hand-woven classic jora that will be passed on instead of opting for a two-piece Rs1,800 suit that won’t last the season, let alone ever see the face of a future generation.
Slow fashion products are undeniably heavier on the pocket, but that’s because they are made from high-quality sustainable materials, produced in smaller quantities by niche brands, are locally sourced and produced and have only a few styles per collection. That may seem hard on paper, but it’s a change in the way of thinking.
Why adopt slow fashion?
Fast fashion is chic, trendy and hard to give up, but it is time we start making small changes and opting for slow fashion. Why?
Globally, textile production is one of the most polluting industries, producing 1.2 billion tons of CO 2 equivalent per year — more emissions than international flights and maritime shipping.
Related: The problems caused by mishandled industrial waste
Also, over 60 per cent of textiles are used in the clothing industry and a large proportion of clothing manufacturing occurs in China and India — countries which rely heavily on coal-fuelled power plants — increasing the footprint of each garment.
And around 5pc of total global emissions come from the fashion industry alone.
This summer, Zara announced that it hopes to make all its clothes from organic, sustainable or recycled fabrics by 2025. While there are critics that say it can never be sustainable, such an announcement coming from a powerful fast-fashion brand like Zara shows that fashion retailers have begun to understand the responsibility they have towards the environment.
The Pakistani fashion industry has been quite slow to adopt slow fashion, but there are a few brands practicing it. Chances are, if customers support them, perhaps more brands can shift towards creating sustainable fashion pieces.
Who's leading sustainable fashion in Pakistan?
High-street brands, when contacted, chose to remain silent. Unfortunately, that’s because mainstream designers don’t practice sustainable fashion.
The height of irony is that even brands that run eco-friendly campaigns don’t create sustainable products either. The Pakistani fashion industry is a rat race of who brings out more collections, who offers cheaper suits, who sells more and so on.
In this rat race, everybody wins except the world we live in. Designers end up making more clothes from materials that are cheap and have a shorter life, which will end up adding to the waste and never get recycled.
As a result, not only will we leave no heirlooms for our future generations but we also snatch away the planet that they inherently have a right to.
Since our consumers are unaware — and to some extent, not bothered — about how the textile industry adds to pollution, climate change and other adverse effects on the planet, brands and designers are able to get away with it.
That said, there are a few strong advocates of slow fashion in the market, particularly pioneers like Noorjehan Bilgrami who, despite much change in the industry, have stood their ground and only produced organic, sustainable fashion products that last a lifetime.