I have always been interested in sustainability, and recently I've had that interest renewed. I have been doing a lot of reading on the subject lately, but I don't promise to be an expert on this concept, so dont hate me if I'm a little bit off on some of this..i'm still learning.
Sustainability is a tough concept to describe in relation to fashion, but the best way I can put it is producing a product with limited energy consumption that can either maintain its usefulness over time, or return to the earth without added harm to the environment. I started Linden with this in mind, but at the time I was more concerned with simply producing a 10 look collection so i mainly focused on producing locally as my effort in sustainability. I have since begun researching how to keep my aesthetic while using materials that are more sustainable.
In my searching I have discovered some interesting things:
1. many "revolutionary" textiles on the market are often the result of excellent marketing - for example, polyester derived from recycled PET bottles is merely prolonging the inevitable of being another harmful item in a landfill. It is unlikely that the recycled fabric will be repurposed in the future, and in its textile state it is more difficult to break down again to reuse. These textiles have been brilliantly marketed as keeping plastics out of the landfills and oceans, but the best way to stop plastic from hurting our environment is to find a less harmful alternative so plastic production slows down.
2. natural "environmentally friendly" materials, while bio-degradable, can still be polluting. Cotton requires a great deal of pesticides and energy to produce - organic cotton is significantly better though, but still consumes a sizable amount of energy to harvest. Often the natural substance has a flaw, especially with regards to mass production, that keeps it from being truly sustainable. That said, because it is biodegradable, it is still superior to plastics.
3. Leather, my guiltiest design pleasure, while natural and using the whole animal, is usually treated chemically and as a result is quite harmful to the environment. There are leathers tanned with natural substances that are not harmful, but their uses are more limited. I have however, excitingly come across fish leather. Again it is natural, and uses the part of the animal which is usually just discarded, but it simply requires hot water and not chemicals. The source I have found uses a natural hot spring instead of powering water heaters, and the only drawback I have found so far is that I would need to ship it from Iceland, but I think I can live with that since most of the leather I use is not tanned locally (looking into that as well) and is also shipped to the states.
So what i've learned so far is that I cannot produce a product that is completely sustainable, but I can, at the very least, reduce the amount of polluting waste my line produces as much as possible. I mean, even sparing some bottles from the landfill temporarily gives us all a bit more time to find another way to repurpose those plastics.
I will continue to share my findings here!
