Degrowth: The future that fashion seeks?

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What does the fashion industry look like free from the cycle of trends? Imagine, for a moment: instead of throwing things away after a few years, you’ll learn how to fix them; exchange them; donate it to a clothing library for free rent; or recycle them into new colorways, functions, and silhouettes.

This could be the future of fashion, according to a growing number of academics and activists both inside and outside the industry, who are advocating for degrowth, managed economic reductions and new materials to actually tackle the climate crisis.

Degrowth stems from the ambition to balance the economy with planetary boundaries. Basically, this means reducing the amount we consume, and how much we produce. While case studies for degrowth are rare, support for partial degrowth can be found throughout mainstream Western culture, even if not so named. So-called “cleaners” including Marie Kondo have resonated with people trying to make their lives known, while new designers from Di Petsa to Collina Strada are pursuing smaller scale and more specialized operations, not keen on becoming a megabrand but happy to pay. fair wages to their suppliers and build the brand for the long term.

“The only way we can solve the climate crisis is to produce and consume less,” said University of the Arts London (UAL) professor Kate Fletcher. He highlighted conservative estimates by academics including Ernst Von Weizsäcker (author Factor Four, 1997) that fashion needs to quadruple its use and waste of resources in order to exist within the boundaries of the planet. Fletcher’s 2019 Manifesto — The Earth Logic Fashion Action Research Plan, co-written by fellow professor Mathilda Tham — envisions a system built on diversity and caring, with degrowth as one of its six core values. “Degrowth is interesting because it opens up a plurality of modes of action and expression,” says Fletcher, citing regenerative agriculture, repair, recycling, recycling, and localism, among others.

That plurality could mean consumers collaborate with designers directly to create custom clothing from existing or regenerative materials, he suggests. Outfits can be tailored to suit your personal taste and needs: custom colors to complement your skin tone, higher neckline for modesty, magnetic closures to make them adaptive.

Experts say existing initiatives could be brought together to form something resembling degrowth. US retailer Toward lets customers choose to limit themselves to 12 orders per year, a new policy that aims to curb consumption (but can easily be replaced by customers if they wish). Author and sustainability consultant Alec Leach points to the global “buy nothing” movement as an example of the degrowth action, and the people who make capsule cabinets a kind of degrowth-lite. The way Gucci Vault combines vintage items with supporting designers who have emerged to reduce pressure on Gucci to come up with new products can also be showcased, as is the case for 2020 Recycled by Miu Miu collection.