At the end of last year, Diana Enăchescu, cofounder at Vintello (currently Tressori Space), and Diana Ceresmis, cofounder of Uphave, a marketplace for vintage and second-hand clothing items, shared their vision for a sustainable behavior that consumers should have when renewing their wardrobe.

We learned from them that an important thing, especially when we purchase from fast-fashion companies, is that a lower price tag might mean a lower-quality product overall, which could lead to worse durability or a lower chance to resell the product rapidly.

If we choose to purchase used clothing items, two important advantages are the lower price tag and the reduced negative impact on the planet.

You can learn more about how to pick trendy and high-quality fashion items from this detailed article on sustainable consumption habits in the fashion industry.

Back to the manufacturers in the sector, who bear the heavy responsibility of the equitable consumption of natural resources and the recycling of unwanted items or resulted waste from production, there are a number of things they can do right now to have a lower impact on the planet.

Sustainable companies in the fashion industry

Armani Exchange, for example, is one of the well-known companies in the industry which uses digital printing for its t-shirts models as a more sustainable way of customizing its offerings compared to other techniques, as it uses less water, very important in an ever-dryer planet. Organic cotton is the main material source for the company's t-shirts, which are also made with recycled polyester in some cases.

The company also uses sustainable packaging for its products, so that in case these reach landfills or nature itself, they can decompose quickly, without harming any being.

Inditex is one of the fast-fashion retailers that are constantly under pressure to reduce its impact on the environment, by adopting more eco-friendly materials.

Towards the end of last year, the Spanish company announced that it will buy recycled polyester from a US-based startup, as Inditex officials intend to source 25% of the required fibers from "next-generation" materials by 2030.

The owner of brands such as Zara and Massimo Dutti, and one of the largest fashion brands in the world, announced that its suppliers are committed to buying 2.000 tons of raw materials made from recycled cotton textile waste from Swedish company Renewcell.

"In the fashion industry, sustainability is at this point a matter that should be taken into account and prioritized by all of the participants found within the production-sale-usage cycle. The manufacturing of fashion items increased exponentially in the past few decades, which resulted in a hit of the quality, generating massive amounts of pollution, both from production, but also from the large amounts of resulted textile waste, especially due to a lower use cycle", says Diana Enăchescu.

She also explained for Green Start-Up that in 2017 there have been around 700 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions generated from the manufacturing of polyester, a very popular material in the fashion sector.

The main problem comes from the fact that when the products reached end of life, they most likely reach landfills.

Diana also told us that "officially, the fashion industry is one of the world's largest polluters, as 99% of all clothing items eventually reach landfills, where the polyester stays for hundreds of years, releasing toxins in the soil."

Diana Ceresmis believes that "sustainability in the fashion industry represents the commitment for practices that minimizes the negative impact on the environment and the society."

The first steps towards a sustainable production of fashion items

There are many things that companies can do to generate as little pollution as possible and choosing the right materials is the main thing that will determine how sustainable the said pieces of clothing will be.

"Identifying or developing sustainable materials without plastic and that also last must be a priority for the manufacturers", said Vintello's cofounder.

Uphave's cofounder recommends companies who manufacture fashion items to talk to experts in the industry, as well as to consult the list of good practices for the sustainable production, which includes certifications for materials and the environment.

Still, after a long time of unmanaged production in the industry, it is difficult now for the companies to make the transition towards more responsible manufacturing, even for big name brands, who have big budgets and easier access to certified materials.

Diana Enăchescu believes that "the solution might come from the European lawmakers, who can impose the adoption of measures that ensure sustainability is prioritized", given that the industry puts an emphasis on cheap products with low lifecycles.

Besides choosing sustainable and certified materials, Uphave's cofounder believes that the reduction of production in general is one of the more meaningful measures that a company can adopt in order to reduce its carbon footprint.

Prolonging a product's lifespan, Vintello's cofounder, comes to complete the other two factors, sustainable manufacturing and a reduction of production, to form a long-term strategy that companies can use to reduce the negative impact they have on the planet.

Sustainability strategies adopted by Vintello and Uphave

Being two companies that promote the sustainable consumption of fashion items, Vintello and Uphave follow a business model that promotes the purchase of used articles, extending the lifespan of fashion items, such as clothes and accessories.

"For Uphave, sustainability means to develop innovative technologies that can extend the lifespan of products and to reduce waste. Creating digital identities for the products enables the stores to sell more efficiently, allowing customers to easily find the pieces they might want", Diana Ceresmis explains for Green Start-Up.

At the same time, to further reduce the company's carbon footprint, executives want to implement the delivery using the network of Easybox lockers, which would come in hand with the in-store pickup option, which would cut the CO2 emissions resulted from transport.

At the same time, through the efforts taken so far by the second-hand resale platform Vintello, the company was able to prevent the release of 25 tons of CO2 emissions, while saving 4.500 cubic meters of water.

You can read more about Vintello from this article.

Companies that successfully implemented sustainability

Globally and also locally, there are a number of companies that were able to successfully implement sustainability as a concept, one of them being Patagonia. Besides the fact that it took sustainability to the next level, by manufacturing a winter jacket using ocean-recovered plastic waste, the American outdoor sportswear company managed to implement a program called Worn Wear. Through this, Patagonia promotes the resell of worn clothes that are in good condition and customers who decide to give a new life to their fashion pieces receive credits they can use when buying new clothing items.

Lululemon, another sportswear company, as well as Coach, a manufacturer of bags, also offer this option for their customers.

Locally, Diana Ceresmis told us about Vintager, a Cluj-based second-hand store that offers customers the option to sell their clothes in a simple way. The marketplace is a partner of Uphave and it offers both an online, as well as an in-person store for those who want to free their wardrobe.

De Ionescu is another Romanian brand from Sibiu that manufactures clothing items using hemp and organic cotton for a sustainable manufacturing process.

Diana also says that every company that was able to replace animal leather with sustainable alternatives deserves to be mentioned and one which we wrote about is Lerins. The company's grape-skin shoes can replace traditional leather with a sustainable alternative that is at least as durable.