Fast fashion: 'We all have to face up to clothes' climate impact'

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Fast fashion: 'We all have to face up to clothes' climate impact'

 

Fashion is the third-largest manufacturing industry in the world and, by some calculations, it produces up to 10% of the world's emissions.

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And fast fashion is a major contributor to greenhouse gases, water and air pollution, creating problematic levels of waste.

But with climate change coming into sharper focus, for many people the environmental credentials of clothes are fast becoming as important as their style and price.

The BBC spoke to a designer, a clothes-hire company and a consumer about what sustainable fashion means to them.


Starting a conversation with fish-skin bags
Moray Luke, of Porthcawl, Bridgend county, said she had always wanted to be a mermaid - so it's perhaps no surprise the 26-year-old designer chose fish leather to make some of her handbags.

The material has been hailed as a more environmentally-friendly alternative to most cow leather due to its durability, tanning process and use of waste material.

Moray's bags use skin left over from an organic Scottish salmon farm, and while she does not think they will change the world, she believes they will get people thinking.

"We say, from by-product to heirloom. If it wasn't for me it would end up in a bin, although it's sometimes used in vitamins," she said.

"It's a great conversation-starter to think about traceability. Because fish skin is such a striking material, people look at it and think, 'where do my handbags come from?'"


'Wearing someone else's clothes isn't dirty'
Rhi Thomas and Tegan Turnbull, both 23, run a company which hires out clothes in south Wales, via Instagram.

The idea is, if someone wants an outfit for a night out or a special occasion, instead of buying it they borrow it from Hire the Attire.

Rhi said: "Years ago people had this perception of thrift shopping and wearing someone else's clothes, that it might be dirty or just not a nice thing to do. Whereas, actually, it's pretty fine and - why not?"

The pair said social media and wider environmental awareness meant more people now considered where their clothes came from.