Historically, the fashion sector has depended on exploitative, unsustainable, and unethical labor practices to sell clothes. But the recent trends indicate that these factors won't last much longer, and brands need to think about solutions that will enable them to boost sales while balancing the environment. In the past several years, the industry has entered a remarkable period of upheaval, with many leading and SME fashion companies ditching the traditional production methods alike to support eco-friendly and cruelty-free alternatives. The apparel design software is a customization solution that allows apparel companies to incorporate sustainable measures as it helps them to control their production process. Besides, it aids brands and retailers to make their consumers choose responsibly and reduce their tendency to throw everything that doesn't fit or goes out of fashion. Since the buyers will decide how their clothes will look, they won't have to worry about following someone's else style and keep their fashion sense always in trend.

Fashion Design Software Provides Solutions to Help Brands Make Responsible Choices

Traditional fashion production ways were unethical in many ways. For instance, they took a monstrous toll on animal life as every year, over one billion animals are slaughtered for their fur or pelts after living their lives in horrific factory farms. Cows, particularly newborn and even unborn calves, are skinned alive to make leather. While animals killed for their fur are executed through anal electrocution, neck-snapping, drowning, and other ghastly ways in order to avoid damaging their pelts. Even wool, traditionally perceived as a more humanely produced animal product, involves horrors on par with those at a slaughterhouse. The harassment wasn't limited to animals; the traditional fashion industry has caused tremendous pain to its workers as well. Considering the case of Cambodian garment factories, which exported around $5.7 billion clothes every year, its workers that earn 50 cents an hour are forced to sit for 11 hours a day straight without permission to use the restroom. And when the Cambodian workers protested against their state, the police shot and killed three of them; Human Rights Watch has reported this. Additionally, mass faintings are common in the oppressively hot factories where laborers are frequently fired for getting sick or pregnant. In 2013, Bangladesh, the world's second-largest importer of apparel after China, witnessed a poorly maintained garment factory collapsing, killing 1132 people and injuring approximately 2000 others.

Additionally, apparel companies and factories have been killing the planet for a long time. Every year, the textile industry alone releases 1.2 billion tons of greenhouse gases, which is more than all marine shipping vessels and international flights combined. Also, it alone consumes 98 million tons of oil. Textile dyeing is the second-largest contributor to polluting clean water, and on the whole, the apparel industry accounts for 10 per cent of all greenhouse emissions worldwide. To make the matter worst, the clothes produced are massively discarded by people. According to a study by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 73 per cent of the total material used to make clothes ended up landfilled or incinerated. However, a silver lining was seen when big and small clothing manufacturers stood up to the atrocities they were committing to the planet, people, and animals alike. More apparel companies are realizing that there are plenty of other ways to sell fashionable clothing and accessories that don't destroy the environment, endanger workers, or cause suffering to animals.

Let us explore more companies and learn from their success stories how they shun their tag for fast fashion and adopted measures that allowed them to become more eco-friendly.

1. Define and Verify Sustainability

Each brand and retailer understand sustainability differently, and each one of them is looking to own a niche in sustainable shopping. Not all brands are necessarily following the same definition of eco-friendliness, as some might think offering a top-quality product that doesn't break or tear also caters to the need for sustainability. For instance, Buy Me Once stocks the most durable products with the best aftercare in any given category, including seamless socks that won't tear at the toes and frying pans that won't lose their handle. According to many experts, the most energy-efficient version of the circular economy is to manufacture a product that lasts long without any additional input or energy at all. Likewise, Rêve-En-Vert has committed to 40 per cent of its output being editorial or educational rather than e-commerce. It recently introduced the "Rev On Air'' podcast, in which founder Cora Hilts interviews sustainability figures from Lily Cole to Eileen Fisher.

On the other hand, some brands are trying to redefine sustainability slightly differently as they attempt to bring in the concept of inclusivity and diversity. Take the case of Slowco, which is trying to win over less environmentally conscious consumers by delivering a fashion-forward aesthetic and genderless categories alongside its sustainability efforts. Its customers now understand that their brand is working for them. It is bridging the gap between ethics and aesthetics by trying to capture the huge segment of society that is sympathetic to sustainability but needs a push. The site has launched 30 brands this year, and it is expected to have over 100 by the end of 2022. The site also offers advantageous commercial terms to Black-owned brands and those offering more size inclusivity.

2. Ask Consumers to Make Responsible Choices

It is crucial for brands to spread the word and ask customers to make sustainable choices because it has to be sellable no matter what brands produce. If brands manufacture a product that isn't received well by the users, it will create another problem for the fashion industry and the planet. However, this notion is already being pushed by the internet as it helps buyers educate themselves about the impact of their choices. Many observers have found that, in some cases, buyers own up to their choices and consciously choose ethical and sustainable products. However, there are cases where brands have to make their consumers aware of the possible outcomes if they stick with sustainability. For instance, Endless Wardrobe has a more mainstream client base. The site focuses on encouraging more sustainable consumption habits, asking customers to think about how they will use a garment at the point of purchase and then decide whether to rent or buy new or buy nearly new, accordingly. Sustainability criteria for newly onboarded brands are in the works. The brand intends to launch the criteria to have different levels to focus on providing the education and resources for brands to level up. According to the company, this site has seen sales increase 450 per cent in the last six months, with rental revenue jumping 2,000 per cent in the same period.

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