Summer project on

GREEN FASHION
Submitted
By:

Gopal Krishna
Under Guidance Of
Mrs. Suman Verma
Submitted
to:
B.F.Tech
National Institute Of Fashion Technology

NIFT campus, Hauz Khas, Near Gulmohar Park,

New Delhi,
Delhi 110016

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The concept of sustainability or green fashion is well known to all of us. The concept
of green fashion is based on ethical concepts. It includes the use of organic fibres
which are converted into organic fabrics or textiles by eco-friendly methods and
processes. Then the process of making garments should also be eco-friendly. The
stages of sustainability are from the first stage i.e. the raw material production to the
last stage i.e. the disposal. The user ecology ensures that the use and performance
of the garments produced by sustainable methods are not harmful to the human and
its surrounding. Globalization has made it possible to produce clothing at
increasingly lower prices, prices so low that many consumers consider this clothing
to be disposable. Some call it fast fashion, the clothing equivalent of fast food . The
disposal ecology ensures that the disposals of the worn garment are done properly.
This segment of green fashion is less researched and implemented. Few designers
had tried to use the concept of eco-friendly disposal on a small scale. Now-a-days
many big brands are taking interest in the concept of eco-friendly disposal of
garments. There are many key concepts that are under the 'Disposal ecology'. The
concepts of recycling, reusing, up cycling, zero wastage etc. are not new but their
meaning are modified according to the fashion industry. There is a need to
understand the concept of these terms so that we can use them to make the earth
save.

INTRODUCTION :~

GREEN FASHION
Eco fashion or green fashion is a part of the growing design philosophy and trend of
sustainability, the goal of which is to create a system which can be supported
indefinitely in terms of environmentalism and social responsibility. Sustainability is
based on a simple principle: Everything that we need for our survival and well-being
depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment.
The growth in cheap industrial mass production has led to growing consumption: the
postmodern consumer is marketing prone, and inexpensive products tend to lead to
unsustainable consuming behaviour. This materialistic way of fulfilling inner needs
leads to a negative attitude towards the environment. However, cheap textile and
clothing production in low-cost countries has taken on a bad reputation, and this is
slowly changing the attitudes of consumers. Fortunately, the principles of sustainable
product design are rather well researched, and material innovations and
technological +development have provided new eco-design and production
possibilities in the textile and clothing field. Even radical changes in system design
and production are possible. Development in the textile and clothing field has been
technological and cost sensitive up to now.

Figure 1The concept of FAST FASHION

Figure 2: H&M COLLECTION - 'CONSCIENCE 2013'

WHY IS ECO FASHION IMPORTANT?

Figure 3 information poster created by H&M for its collection

Product design and development has a fundamental role in designing and producing
sustainable products. The decisions made during the product design and
development process affect up to 80% of the environmental and social impacts of a
product. The choices made in materials, forms, colours and production systems also
affect the use and disposal of the product in the whole life cycle, and the designer
thereby also influences patterns of sustainable consumption. In product development
there have been two main approaches to sustainability since the 1990s: ecoefficiency and eco-sufficiency. In eco-efficiency the principle is to produce the same
or more products from less material. In eco-sufficiency the aim is to gain the same
welfare benefit out of fewer goods and services. Eco-design includes product
lifecycle thinking. In designing for the environment the designer must consider not
only aesthetical, trend and fashion issues, but also the production process, logistics,
the use and maintenance of textile items and finally the recycling or disposal of the
product.

We can have an immense impact on lightening your environmental footprint by the

textile choices we make. The textile industry is a gigantic industry and it is
gigantically polluting. The textile industry uses copious amounts of two things: water
and chemicals. It is the number one industrial polluter of water in the world. Water is
used at every stage in fabric manufacturing: to dissolve chemicals to be used in one
step, then to wash and rinse out those same chemicals to be ready for the next step.
It takes between 10% and 100% of the weight of the fabric in chemicals to produce
that fabric. The production of the fabric covering our sofa requires between 4 and 20
pounds of chemicals.

The chemically infused effluent - saturated with dyes, de-

foamers, detergents, bleaches, optical brighteners, equalizers and many other

chemicals - is often released into the local river, where it enters the groundwater,
drinking water, the habitat of flora and fauna, and our food chain
The term sustainable designing and products are often confusing. For a product
being eco-friendly must be produced by eco-friendly materials and eco-friendly
processes. There is a big difference between an organic cotton T-shirt and an
organic T-shirt. The fibre, organic cotton, used to make the fabric may have been
raised with regard to health and safety of the planet and people; but the production
of the fabric made from that cotton was not. There are many steps in the production
of fabric after the fibre stage. Textile production steps can include carding, retting,
scouring, bleaching, spinning, weaving, dyeing, printing, and finishing. These steps
use a lot of two things: chemicals and water. It bears repeating: One yard of organic
cotton fabric conventionally processed into fabric contains 73% organic cotton fibres
and 27% chemicals, many of which are proven toxic to humans and animals.

STAGES OF SUSTAINABILITY :~
The sustainable design development includes few objectives, they are mentioned as
under

To reduce consumption of non-renewable resources,

To minimize waste

To create healthy and productive environments.

Care for the Environment

Influence the supply chain to use Sustainable Processes

Run business operations in an environmentally friendly way

Work to conserve energy and reduce waste.

Sustainable design approach - Explore and implement sustainable materials

and products.

Organic fabric is a fabric that is produced using no known or suspected toxic

chemicals (toxic to the earth, humans or animals) at any stage of the production
process: from fibre to finished fabric. The major textile production steps include
fibre raising, extracting or extrusion; fibre preparation; spinning; weaving; dyeing;
printing; and finishing. Sub steps can include bleaching, brightening, sizing, desizing, de-foaming, brightening and countless others.
Green fashion doesnt mean the final product to be sustainable but it includes every
stage of its production to be sustainable.

Production of eco-friendly raw materials using ecofriendly process

Spinning, weaving and knitting by sustainable processes

Textile chemical processes

Sustainable garment manufacture

Eco-friendly packaging and transport

Eco-friendly disposal of the garment after use or the

recycle of the product

Figure 4 STAGES OF SUSTAINABILITY

For a design or product to be sustainable all these stages must be sufficiently

sustainable. There are three ecologies that are directly affected by the concept of
sustainability. The production ecology ensures that the raw materials used are grown
and cultivated by eco-friendly processes. Natural eco-friendly fibres are well
researched and the trend of using organic cotton, cotton silk, cotton wool and other
naturally grown fibre is increasing. There are many new innovations in the field of
cellulosic fibres like hemp; ramie, jute, kapok etc. are increasing and the scope of
using them as a textile.
The user ecology ensures that the fashion apparel or design is not only sustainable
but it must satisfy the customer in every aspect. It deals with the fact that the
garments must be aesthetically pleasing and must be comfortable to the customer. It
also deals with the performance of the fabric and the effects of the textiles on the
skin.
Next is Disposal ecology. This segment ensures the sustainable disposal of the
garment. Even the sustainable grown and processed garment if not properly
disposed create serious environmental problems. This is that stage of the
sustainable fashion which is yet to develop and be efficient in its implementation.

DISPOSAL ECOLOGY :~
The concept of fast fashion is creating many
serious environmental problems. The high fashion
brands are creating new design innovations and
flooding the market with new collection in few
weeks. The garments became cheap and this
offers the customer to buy more and more clothes.
The old ones are thus disposed. This practice has
led to a serious problem of dumping the clothes.
Even the organically produced clothes when
disposed unethically create extreme consumption
of resources and thus harassing the nature. There
are few concepts which help to tackle this
problem. They are described as under recycling.
Figure 5 ball gown dress created
from recycled mens ties

RECYCLING
Recycling saves energy; reduce raw materials, extraction and combats climate
change. The recycling our garments are better for the environment rather than
incinerating or landfilling it. In terms of textile recycling of clothes can be done as a
whole or by just recycling the materials in more industrial context. It includes
production of recycled yarn where textiles are unravelled and re-spun in new fibres
and the Reusing of waste textiles as filling for upholstery or as cleaning wipers.

Figure 6 Designer Gary Harvey

recycling old Levis denims

DURABLE CLOTHING
Keeping clothes for a longer period reduces environmental impacts. Fashion by its
definition is not designed to last long. Consumers often wear garments too little;
wash them too often and at too high temperature. All these practices make negative
impacts on the nature. So the approach of durable clothing will certainly help to
reduce this problem.

Figure 7eco-design by Rachel Wright

ZERO WASTAGE Zero waste is a philosophy that encourages the redesign of
resource life cycles so that all products are reused. No trash is sent to landfills and
incinerators. The process recommended is one similar to the way that resources are
reused in nature.

Top brands associated with eco-fashion:~

Figure 8 LOGOS OF DIFFERENT BRANDS ASSOCIATED WITH ECO-FASHION

SUSTAINABLE FASHION
Sustainable fashion is fashion that is designed to be environmentally friendly. It is
part of the larger trend of "ethical fashion," and according to the May 2007 Vogue
appears not to be a short-term trend but one could last multiple seasons. While
environmentalism used to be manifest in fashion through a percentage of sales
being donated to a charitable cause, fashion designers have recently adopted the
idea of sustainability, using more environmentally-friendly materials and methods in
clothing production. Designers say that they are trying to incorporate these
sustainable practices into modern clothing, rather than producing "dusty, hippylooking clothes."Sustainable fashion is typically more expensive than clothing
produced by conventional methods.
There is a difference between sustainable fashion and green fashion. In green
fashion it is eco-friendly only to the environment but whereas in sustainable fashion it
is sustainable to everyone including the humans and animals many of the people
confuse between this slight difference of sustainable fashion and green fashion.

OBJECTIVE
This project report entitles GREEN FASHION is a brief study about the sustainable
fashion and the stages of sustainability.
The main objectives of this project are mentioned as under

To study about green fashion, sustainability and disposal ecology.

Applications of green fashion(i.e; reuse, recycle, zero wastage )

A survey was conducted to know about the awareness among the people on
the topic green fashion.

LITERATURE REVIEW
As early as 1965, consumers attitude towards pesticide use in farms was explored
(Bearler and Willitis, 1968; Sachs et al., 1987). Methods used to explore these topics
have been varied, included mail and phone surveys. According to the research, there
are number of reasons that consumer choose to purchase organic Clothing products,
as well as some barriers. Reasons of buying would be grouped according to general
and commodity-specific concerns (Yiridoe et al. 2005). Examples of concern include
food safety, human health, environmental impact, whereas commodity attributes
included taste , freshness and packaging (Yiridoe et al., 2005). Surveys have
identified additional positive attributes that consumer associate with organic food
products which include improved taste (Davies, 1995), they are better for
environment (Lea and Worsley, 2005).
Empirical evidence shows that consumers difficulty in locating environmentally
directed products is partly due to lack of information (Brown and Wahlers 1998).
Research related to consumer attitudes and preferences for organic products shows
that these products are perceived as healthier than conventional alternatives
(Chinnici et al., 2002; Harper and Makatouni, 2002). Consumers do not always buy
sustainable products as consequences of environmental concern or to benefit the
community or due to personal beliefs but mainly to give priority to health, to be part
of the social group, to distinguish from others and to accomplish the need to try out
new technologies (Vermier and Verbeke, 2004).
Over the last few decades many researchers in Malaysia have studied the SMEs in
Malaysia in different fields of interest. For example micro-credit (Sudin and Bala,
1994; Moha Asri,1997, Rosman et al.2004) , franchise (Abu Bakar and Rohaizat,
2003), business strategy (MohdRafi and Syed Ihsan,2002), human resources
management (Wyer and Mason, 1998; Hooi,2006), and information technology
(MohaAsri,2002; Foong,1999). The environment green business related researches
have been done in a qualitative way (Mohd.Rafi,2010) and few researches on Green
consumers and Organic Food (Naila Aaijaz, Mohd. Dahlan, and Ghazali, 2009). But
no specific research related to Organic Clothing and Eco-fashion has been done
which sites this as a huge SME opportunity for young entrepreneurs.

METHODOLOGY
My topic for the research study is green fashion. First I have studied what is green
fashion then I have studied about sustainable fashion then I have studied the
difference between green fashion and sustainable fashion. This was a secondary
study and I have collected the matter from internet and different journals. Then I
have conducted an online survey on the awareness of people about green fashion.
This was a primary research and I have analysed the collected data.
The questionnaire consists of 10 questions. Considering the questionnaire I have
mainly three categories of questions the first one consists on how people react
towards the eco fashion clothing and then second part consists of knowledge about
eco fashion and sustainable fashion here the main point is many people think
sustainable fashion and green fashion are same but the assumption is wrong there is
a slight difference between sustainable fashion and green fashion.
The third category is what changes and scope are required to green fashion. A lot of
scope is needed in eco fashion industry, like they should be popularised because
many people are unaware of eco fashion then secondly the pricing of the apparel is
expensive that many people cant afford them, so I should be made affordable.

DATA ANALYSIS

From the second chart it is clear that most of the people do brand shopping but they
do sometime which means the purchase of the eco fashion clothing is very less.
From the last chart maximum people says that there is a need to popularise green
fashion.

From the second chart we get to know that maximum no.of people are thinking green
fashion and sustainable fashion are same but there is a difference between them.
From the third chart it is clear that people have some knowledge about green fashion
and its process.

From the above charts it is clear that people occasionally buy clothes and they are
not willing to buy eco fashion clothes regularly. So changes should be made that
everyone at every time during shopping should purchase eco fashion clothing and
there is a need to popularise and differentiate between green fashion and
sustainable fashion.

CONCLUSION

Sustainability is kind of a Utopian concept. What it says is, if we meet sustainability

guidelines, or if a particular farm is to be sustainable, it needs to be economically
sustainable, environmentally sustainable, and socially sustainable. So the farm also
has to make money. It has to be good for the environment. But it also has to be
socially just the people working there should get fair wages, benefits, and it should
be good for the community. The adopted version of sustainability is also not 100%
sustainable. There are few stages where the conventional methods proves to be
incapable to tackle the serious environmental problems create by the textile and
fashion industries.\there is a vital need for a fully sustainable industrial setup which
will help the environment to be healthy without further loss of natural resources.
The disposal ecology ensures that the utilization of garments which are thrown as
garbage. The key concepts under the disposal ecology will certainly help to tackle
these problems. There is a need for research and adopt our disposal processes
according to the sustainable disposal ecology.

APPENDIX
1.How often do you purchase clothing ?
A. 3 month B. 6 month C. Yearly D. Occasionally
2.Have you heard of eco fashion clothing?
A. yes B.no
3.Will you consider buying eco fashion clothing?
A. yes B.no C. Rarely
4.Would you spend more on eco fashion clothes ?
A. yes B.no C. depends on the apparel
5.Is green fashion and sustainable fashion both same ?
A. yes B.no
6. What do u think is green fashion or eco fashion?
A. Recycle B. Organic fibres C. Eco friendly process D. All of them

7.Can green fashion be a sustainable fashion ?

A. yes B.no
8.Do u purchase brands while shopping?
A. yes B.no C. Sometimes
9.Is there a need to popularize green fashion?
A. yes B.no
10.What scope do u think is needed in green fashion?

BIBILOGRAPHY
Journal Reference
1) Cotton Textile Processing: Waste Generation and Effluent Treatment
B. Ramesh Babu*, A.K. Parande, S. Raghu, and T. Prem Kumar

2) Environmental Benefits Of Natural Fibre Production And Use

Jan E.G. van Dam Wageningen University, The Netherlands

3) Future Of The Consumer Society

Proceedings of the Conference Future of the Consumer Society
2829 May 2009, Tampere, Finland

4) Eco Textiles
Report by Groklink AB

5) Introduction to eco textile by Dr. Charu Jain

6) Textiles Environment Design Chelsea College of Art & Design, London
www.tedresearch,net

1) recycled craft ebook

2009, Prime Publishing LLC, All Rights Reserved

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-06/05/content_4646647.htm
Models parade fashions made out of recycled materials in Beijing June 4, 2006,
http://www.interbrand.com/app/controls/BGGB/BGGB2013/images/brandprofile/hero/HM/
HM.jpg
BRANDS- PRIMARK , GAP AND h&m
Topshop has reunited with Orsola de Castro's Reclaim to Wear initiative for a second collection of
womenswear derived from upcycled materials, including production offcuts and surplus stock otherwise
bound for the landfill.
9 http://www.ecouterre.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/topshop-reclaim-to-wear-2012-2-537x402.jpg
Reference http://www.lushome.com/clothing-closets-contemporary-textile-sculptures/1400#