The importance of sustainable fashion in today's society

Sustainable fashion refers to a fashion concept that adopts the principle of sustainability when creating and using fashion clothing to reduce the negative impact on the environment and society.

The development of sustainable fashion is driving the transformation of the fashion industry and the purchasing behavior of consumers. Many fashion brands and retailers are taking measures to improve their sustainability and social responsibility, including improving working conditions, reducing waste, improving the reusability of clothes, and changing consumers' buying habits.

As the fashion industry is affected by the political system, cultural differences, economic situation, environmental protection issues, in 2024, the fashion industry may be subjected to a certain degree of resistance, so how to seize the opportunity in this challenging environment and create a new high is a problem that every fashion practitioner can not avoid. According to a book which is called the state of fashion 2024, it indecated that as consumers curb spending after the post-pandemic shopping spree, global retail sales growth of luxury goods is expected to slow to 3 to 5 percent in 2024 from 5 to 7 percent in 2023, this means that as the global economy has taken a hit during the pandemic, most consumers have slowed down their luxury purchases, opting for more secure and frugal spending patterns. Due to the change of people's consumption concept, it may lead to the change of the general trend of the fashion industry, which will further affect my career planning direction as a designer. Therefore, this makes me more determined to focus on the study of the field of sustainable fashion, starting from the concept of saving, recyclability, zero pollution, functionality and other key words, so that it can be better integrated with my project. In addition, he also indecated that consumer spending may be tempered in the year ahead. In the third quarter of 2023, net intent to purchase apparel was 7 percent in China, but negative 25 in the US and negative 29 in Europe. Also, Asia offers potential growth, with India emerging as a promising fashion market as infrastructure is built and developed. This means that in 2024, we could focus on the audience of clothing design in Asia. Since consumers in Europe and the United States plan to reduce consumption, while the expenditure on clothing in China is expected to rise, we can design clothes that are more acceptable for consumption in Asia from this perspective through understanding and studying Chinese culture.

Since artificial intelligence is also a hot discussion issue in the fashion industry, it will also affect the change of the fashion industry. According to Chim Berg (2023), he indecated that fashion companies have begun to cautiously experiment with the use of artificial intelligence in the fashion industry chain. These efforts are likely to continue in 2024 with a view to expanding use cases with clear performance benefits. This means that This means that we can have more good schemes for designers to choose through the rational use of artificial intelligence, while reducing design costs, improving design efficiency, and achieving more intelligent design effects. In the following design research, I will also explore how to apply artificial intelligence to help me go deeper into the research, which I think can help me broaden my thinking and understand the fashion field that I have not been exposed to to some extent. For example, clo 3D, a digital fashion design method, can make my clothes more visual. Through this form, I can more intuitively let people understand the clothing fabric, silhouette and so on.

At the same time, global warming and frequent extreme weather are also issues that society and the fashion industry have been concerned about. According to Hannah Crump (2023), she indecated that extreme climate events are already putting the lives and livelihoods of fashion workers at risk, and an estimated $65 billion in clothing exports could be at risk by 2030. This means that based on the concept of sustainable fashion, reducing the cost of clothing production will become the mainstream of clothing sales in the future. Through the use of recyclable fabrics and other design methods, the purpose of environmental protection is achieved on the basis of reducing the cost of clothing sales.

In the end, as a fashion designer, I think it is my responsibility to care about people's mental health and solve social problems through the medium of clothing. At the same time, because I love sustainable fashion, it is not only the protection of the environment but also the respect for precious earth resources. So in the future I will work on raising awareness of sustainable fashion through my designs and choice of fabrics.

reference

Imran Amed, 2023, book, The state of fashion 2024

https://now.ntu.ac.uk/d2l/le/content/965237/viewContent/12334546/View