“Fashion finds itself in an identity crisis” - Lideuij Edelkoort In 2018 Dr. Daniëlle Bruggeman, a cultural theorist specializing in fashion and identity, published her book, Dissolving the Ego of Fashion: Engaging with Human Matters. In it, she describes her ideas on the dangerous presence of the ego within the fashion system. As she sees and defines it, the ego actively determines our association with clothing and fashion. With its ubiety clouding our vision we tend to overconsume and underuse; we buy into everchanging idealized identities instead of creating our own visions of who we can and want to be. The ego therefore distorts the definition of fashion, distancing us further from what fashion truly is at its core — a social interaction. What is our relationship with fashion and why does it matter? For one, as we step further from its roots, we in effect maximize the footprint fashion leaves on the planet. With fast fashion’s linear economy, garments are consistently being used less and disposed of quicker. Between 2000 and 2014 the average consumer began buying 60% more garments and using them for half as long2. This, coupled with lack of cyclability (the recyclable nature of a garment) in the fast fashion sector, resulted in 15.1 million tons of textile waste being generated in 2013 (as reported by the Environmental Protection Agency)3. Alternatively, a circular economy can help to drastically decrease such startling figures by ensuring that waste instead be brought back as a resource. However, if we are considering a circular future, it is important to also acknowledge (in tandem with circular design principles) the cultural, social, and ethical values of fashion. Let’s consider Gen Z shoppers as an example. In late 2019 The New York Times published an article4 asking what Gen Z shoppers want. In their search they spanned the globe, asking one Gen-Z-er in the UK, the USA, and in Australia each the same questions — what they buy, where they buy it, and most importantly why? Despite the distance between them, the three shared a common thread in their answers. What’s most remarkable across these answers is the stark presence of the ego in their shopping habits. The Gen-Z-ers, ages 16, 18, and 20 respectively, each shop for one primary purpose — social media. Sites like Instagram, Tik Tok, and Snapchat act as a mirror to each of our identities which we carefully curate to our liking for the world to see. “Followers” then act as validation. The more we have, the more interesting and better dressed we must be. Gain enough followers and one can then transition to the world of influencing, where brands pay you to sell their product on your page to your peers.
Social media documents nearly every transitional moment in a Gen-Z-er’s life. As their following increases many often feel the pressure to create separate accounts. One exists for their followers, on which they consistently post ego based updates, and another account just for themselves and their friends, where the performative pressure fades and they can be silly and carefree about posting. But these performative pages greatly influence the shopping habits of Gen-Z-ers, causing them to feel the need to purchase a new garment for nearly every post or story update. Sites like Pretty Little Thing, ASOS, and Fashion Nova, to name a few, play into these demands and create cheap clothing that ships and arrives nearly instantly at your door. With the ability to shop and buy in the palm of your hand, shopping at brick and mortar stores has become less common among this generation. Instead, they shop (nearly daily), via an app that has pages upon pages of garments created ostensibly as if to meet the desire of each Gen-Z-er across the globe. The ego interlaced within such shopping habits also leads to underuse of a garment. Gen-Z-er’s rarely dress for comfort or functionality. Rather, the tops, bottoms and dresses (usually a splurge) that they buy are merely for show, and are worn usually no more than three times before being discarded. Worldwide, clothing utilisation – the average number of times a garment is worn before it ceases to be used – has decreased by 36% compared to 15 years ago. In China, that number is even greater, with clothing utilisation decreasing by 70% over the last 15 years. While in second and third world nations garment utilisation is high, in first world nations including the UK, USA and Australia, the use of these garments is strikingly lower5. Sustainability to these Gen-Z shoppers is low on the radar. Though they are aware of the concept and its many layers, rarely does that knowledge translate into influencing their shopping habits. With price point acting as a major factor in their ability to shop at the pace that they do, Gen-Z-ers tend to forgo the overpriced sustainable pieces and instead choose the much cheaper version of the same garment that they know they will only wear a few times. For them, sustainable practices often come in the form of reselling or donating — either to GoodWill or family when donating, or through sites like Poshmark or DePop where they can resale their items and make money back to purchase new pieces.
But the global outbreak of COVID-19 has, within just a few short months, forced all of us into rethinking our priorities. After months of being trapped at home due to fears of getting sick, with job losses soaring, environmental and ethical sustainability will surely be considered much more moving forward. "The pandemic has forced all of us to take a step back and reset our priorities. One key takeaway is that a new transparent model that showcases verified sustainable practices will have an edge over other traditional business models," said Sanjeev Bahl, Founder and Chief Executive of Saitex, a leading sustainable denim manufacturer6. In 2019, as if foreshadowing a dark future ahead, the Global Fashion Agenda in its Pulse of the Fashion Industry 2019 study7 stated that “Fashion companies are not implementing sustainable solutions fast enough to counterbalance negative environmental and social impacts of the rapidly growing fashion industry.” Fashion seemed to be headed towards another year of producing immeasurable amounts of waste. But the pandemic, through all its horror, managed to halt this. Instead, it provoked positive change in the form of forcing fashion systems to rethink how they move forward towards a more sustainable future. So how can we merge our desire to evolve into a sustainable, circular economy with the needs and wants of consumers like Gen-Z-ers? One suggested idea that has been floating around within the sustainable circuit for some time now is the idea of localism. At its core, localism is a “hidden roots system” — it relies on the hidden skill set of a local neighborhood to produce, manufacturer, distribute, and repair a textile. The driving idea behind localism is to support a local community's responsibility for the lower scale, sustainable production of textiles. This production will in turn trickle up into the larger fashion system, thus creating a codependent relationship that supports local communities instead of exploiting them. Localism works with the environment and its local resources in order to ensure its long-term sustainable success. As it is centered within a community and will vary across regions, it is typically small scale and characterized by self reliant practices “shaped by traditions, necessity, climate and a distributed form of authority, leadership and political power.” Within the context of fashion it translates into a “highly-decentralised textile and clothing system reflecting ecological conditions, changed economic priorities, community empowerment, heterogeneous products, local stories, myriad dress practices and fewer goods.”8 Localism brings social interaction back into fashion, in the process making clothing more meaningful and purposeful to us. As this occurs, the ego will begin to dissolve itself from the threads of fashion thus evolving the definition of fashion within our lives. With the conversation suddenly changing and focusing on sustainability, why not consider the myriad of possibilities of creating an eco-friendly fashion system? As we separate the ego from fashion, what begins to stand out? When I envision an ego-less wardrobe, I imagine individuality; a support of local communities, which in turn leads to growth and success; and a more meaningful relationship with my clothes, resulting in a capsule wardrobe of only the most essential pieces. This idea doesn’t have to be a step backwards. Rather, we can utilize technological advances at our disposal to push the fashion system forward into a long awaited new direction. Resources:
Dissolving the Ego of Fashion: Engaging with Human Matters UN Parnership on Sustainable Fashion and The SDGs What Happens When Fashion Becomes Fast, Disposable And Cheap? What Do Gen Z Shoppers Want? A Cute, Cheap Outfit That Looks Great on Instagram A NEW TEXTILES ECONOMY: REDESIGNING FASHION'S FUTURE New Report Shows COVID-19 Puts Sustainable Fashion At Crossroads Pulse of the Fashion Industry 2019 Study by The Global Fashion Agenda Fashion Ecologies - Localism