by Cherie Birkner

IT’S TIME TO FACE REALITY AND SPEAK A TRUTH I WISH WAS FALSE.

It’s been some time now that I have been wondering where this blog is going. When I started this platform 7 years ago I had not seen anything of the sort. A platform which focuses on the solutions in sustainable fashion, a place showing the people paving the way towards a sustainable fashion industry and during this period this field blossomed. Those 7 years were full of hard work, value-driven partners, showcasing fair fashion and translating dry information into Instagrammable content.

However, as "sustainable fashion" and this platform have grown in the past years, so did my doubts, affecting the passion I once felt building this platform. Now it’s time to face reality and speak a truth I wish was false. Currently, the fashion industry is at an all-time high on production rates, as well as the convenient yet often meaningless use of sustainability terminology. I am disillusioned that the fashion industry will reach a healthy balance between use of resources, ethical production, providing for our actual needs as well as economic needs. The only way I see this happening is through drastic political measures. This IS possible, however, personally, I have no interest in becoming a politician. Sustainable Fashion Matterz has always been based on the power of the individual. It remains the mix of consumer interest, the spread of information and activism that can lead to political change. Yes, every person does make a difference, but let’s face it: every cooperation and every government makes a bigger difference. You know 100 private organizations account for 71% of global GHG emissions, right? (Source: Carbon Majors Report, 2017)

SUSTAINABLE FASHION: THESE WORDS HAVE LOST THEIR WEIGHT!

“Sustainable fashion” has long been a moving target. 7 Years ago I would categorize Fairtrade, Organic T-Shirts as sustainable, today this alone does not make the cut. Today my view is more holistic; when I look at a brand claiming to be mission driven, putting sustainability first, but show marginal to no clear targets on reducing the overall amount of items/clothes they are producing. I smell greenwashing. According to the Clean Clothes Campaign we are producing about 100,000,000,000 clothes a year. From these about 70% are sold, of which on average only 20% are even worn regularly. With this calculation, we have a yearly surplus of 85 billion items of clothing! WE DON’T NEED MORE NEW CLOTHES. WE NEED REUSE OF THE “OLD” ONES. It no longer feels right to promote organic and fair-trade items from raw materials which are industrially produced. Further innovations we once saw as solutions have turned out to be rather the opposite. Recycled PET, for example, often uses far more energy in production and also has a higher chance of releasing toxins into the ecosystem and into our skin than virgin polyester. While I appreciate and respect the hard work of brands that genuinely try to do good, as long as brands do not incorporate holistic solutions, it no longer feels right to promote items that were made using up precious natural resources. Why not get real creative with the things we have? It’s not buying new. It’s using what is already there. It’s redesigning. It’s upcycling. It’s sharing. It's really, really good aesthetic and smart design. It’s what you will want for a long time. It’s about producing and buying less. LESS NEW = LESS CO2.

I want to see more of those special, unique, one-of-a-kind pieces. The ones that are so precious, you repair them and pass them on to your friends and family. The kind of pieces you would be happy to inherit.

THE WORLD’S ON FIRE. DON’T LET IT BURN YOU OUT.

When the air pressure drops, you need to put your own mask on first, then you can help others. When Sustainable Fashon Matterz was at +/- 10k unique views/month I decided it was time to not only realize our own projects here, but to pass on the possibilities we had created over the years. This became the Creative Matterz Fund where we supported 10 international projects looking at fashion and sustainability. The results were an impressive, ranging from a gigantic mural made of fashion waste displayed in the streets of Uganda, an open air performance art installation, a sustainability guide for beginners to a documentary film portraying different cultural views on sustainable fashion consumption. Behind the scenes, however, our team of volunteers struggled with the balance of realizing this project and work that pays the bills. I caught myself having invested all of my time into this project and not earning a cent for two months, which was quite alarming and made clear to me that this is by no means a sustainable approach to making a difference. Ever since Creative Matterz Fund Round N°1 has been completed, I have had somewhat of a burn-out for the topic and this platform. Alone, this article has been in the making since February 2022. It has been extremely hard to bring up energy to create content here, and it is now clear to me how important it is to take care of yourself first, because only this way you can really support others sustainably.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

The title of this post reads “Why I don’t know if I will continue Sustainable Fashion Matterz”, however it could also read “Why I don’t know how I will continue Sustainable Fashion Matterz'' because here and there I feel inspiration returning, although it has a different flavor now. It is time to let go of some ideas of the past, and reevaluate my own views on fashion today.

Having said all this, (sustainable) fashion will always matter. I have yet to find the way to move forward, but I would love to hear your thoughts (for example via e-mail) as I share mine with you. Sometimes to move forward, you have to pause.

In the meantime, there is something we can do now to get a step closer to those (hopefully drastic) political measures we need: if you are an EU citizen, I would like to invite you to sign the Good Clothes Fair Pay petition. 1 Million signatures are needed for proposed legislation which requires all brands and retailers selling products in the EU to conduct due diligence on living wages across their global supply chains.