Rethinking Sustainable Solutions to the Fashion Industry (Makayla Davis)

Rethinking Sustainable Solutions to the Fashion Industry By: Makayla Davis Screencap from ReFashioned of landfill footage in Hong Kong There is growing concern for how the fashion industry is contributing to the consumption of raw materials in order to create new products. Fast fashion has increased the demand for raw materials such as fuel for transportation, water for the dyeing process, and the production of cotton. The creation process of fast fashion is draining environmental resources. These products are made fast and cheap in order for department stores to have a rotating collection each month. With this notion consumers tend to over-purchase clothes that they may only wear a handful of times, instead of donating clothes they no longer want, these garments end up in landfills(Bowers). However, nonprofits and science engineers have created startups to combat the growing clothing waste that are being dumped in Hong Kong landfills. In a film documentaryReFashioned released in 2021 it explores how three Hong Kong individuals are creating a positive impact on the fashion industry through their technologies or businesses. It follows Sarah Garner who founded Retykle, Eric Swinton who is the founder of Vcycle, and Edwin Keh who is the CEO of Hong Kong Research Institute for Textile and Apparel (HKRITA). Retykle is a nonprofit start up company that resales second hand children’s clothes on an online platform. This provides convenience to busy mothers that don’t have time to go bring their kids shopping for clothes. Garner has faced struggles with getting her start up off the ground, with expanding to new markets there is a stigma within the culture that second hand items can pass down bad luck between owners. ReFashioned movie poster However,younger generations see the environmental need that the reselling of donated items can alleviate the landfill issues future generations will face. To make sure that the customers receive quality second hand items, Retykle only resales items with no visible stains or heavy wear and tear(Bowers). Since the filming of ReFashioned finished, Retykle has confidently expanded to have a Singapore branch. As well as assisting with second hand school uniforms with the partnership with schools in the area(Retykle). Vcycle is also a nonprofit that collects plastic bottles and outsources them to be upcycled into fabric items such as backpacks, raincoats, and umbrellas. They provide recycling education programs, and provide jobs to the elderly population that were laid off when surrounding factories closed. Swinton and his team pay a living wage to the elderly for their work with collecting and sorting the bottles(Bowers). After filming for ReFashioned they have partnered with local organizations to put up more bottle collection bins. They’ve also partnered in beach clean ups along with educational and upcycling workshops around the community(Our Work).HKRITA is a government funded research organization that Edwin Keh, the CEO, was in charge of the garment to garment project. Keh proposed the theory that by taking old clothes they can be broken down into compounds for fabric, it could then be reformed back into yarn to create something new. A new technology was created and to prove its functionality they put on a fashion show. All of the clothes worn were made and designed through the garment to garment machine. Since filming concluded the garment to garment ‘Mini Mill’ system launched internationally at select H&M locations. The ‘Mini Mill’ serves as an educational experience for the public(Bowers). Bibliography Bowers, Joanna. ReFashioned. Gravitas Ventures. 2021. Film, 1hr 22min. https://www.kanopy.com/en/ccad/video/12561723. “Our Work.” Vcycle. Accessed September 10, 2024. https://www.vcycle.com.hk/our-work-1. “Retykle.” Retykle. Accessed September 10, 2024. https://retykle.com/.

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