The fashion industry and the textile sector have made great progress in recent years, betting on sustainable fashion and a more circular economy. Much is said about that, but do you actually know what ethical fashion is?

Sustainable fashion and ethical clothing consists of making clothes and accessories from materials that come from nature and even waste materials – as long as they can be recycled – such as plastic bottles or paper. These sustainable materials are used to manufacture new fabrics that allow making garments.

In addition, sustainable fashion is beneficial for our health. Ecological garments, or “eco-garments”, are made with natural materials such as organic cotton, bamboo, algae, tencel (cellulosic fiber), nettles, fish skin (used for shoes and bags) and natural dyes that give color to the sustainable fabrics. All these materials are free of toxic and dangerous chemicals, which prevents allergies and skin irritations, in addition to the low environmental impact.

The fashion industry has an important role to play in approaching global sustainability challenges, both because of its impact and its influence, but it is notoriously under-regulated on ethical practices and is the second most polluting industry.

Luckily that is starting to change. In Europe and the US, governments are considering new policies and regulations that could add sustainable practices, improve the wages and working conditions of garment workers and transform the fast fashion industry. Pressure to change is coming from investors, consumers and even brands themselves. Companies are responding with social and environmental commitments to do better.

But are they actually making a difference?

One way for fashion to reduce its environmental impact is by scaling circular business models, through which companies employ a range of strategies to reduce deadstock fabrics and recycled materials to make more efficient use of resources. Measures such as the EU’s carbon border tax will promote circular fashion by making the economics of onshore recycling and other sustainable practices more attractive.

How to Impulse the Future of Circularity?

A more circular fashion industry requires collective efforts in which fashion companies, customers and all participants in the value chain collaborate. The priority must be to set circular strategies, low environmental impacts and tackle scalability challenges.

One company that has embraced ethical fashion design is Dai Wear, a London-based company which employs recycled materials and sustainable fabrics to produce performance wear. The company uses biodegradable yarns for seams and air-dried fabrics to reduce washing needs.

Another American brand that is committed to sustainability is Christy Dawn, a fashion brand that creates vintage pieces with a big 70s influence. All clothes are manufactured in a very limited quantity, the brand uploads about 2-3 new pieces a week and are ethically made by artisans in Los Angeles. The creator Christy Dawn is highly committed to low environmental impact, so in addition to using deadstock fabrics, she makes sure to have fair trade conditions through long-term commitments with the manufacturers, suppliers and artisans who create the clothes.

How can you engage consumers to overcome stigmas and embrace sustainable practices?

As consumers become more engaged with sustainable fashion and ethical practices, circularity will be the key that unlocks the door to more sustainable fashion brands. While circularity is winning fans among some consumer groups, recycled materials still have some negative connotations. Nevertheless, consumers are willing to return recent purchases with the incentive of a refund.

Although social and environmental commitment of sustainable fashion is quite clear, by taking advantage of deadstock fabrics, plastic bottles,organic cottons and other natural resources, as well as fair trade conditions, these are the positive impacts of sustainable fashion brands:

Resources:

Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Clean Clothes Campaign

Ethical Time

Business Of Fashion

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, also known as Industry 4.0, is changing the way companies operate, their internal processes and, therefore, the technological environments in which they must be involved. But before we start analyzing the impact that this tech and digital revolution will have on organizations, people and assets, let’s do a beginners guide to talk about what Industry 4.0 is, what we mean by impacting businesses positively and the benefits of adopting it.

What is Industry 4.0?

Industry 4.0 is an evolution of industry that focuses heavily on interconnectivity, automation, machine learning, and real-time data. It integrates production and physical operations with smart digital technology and big data analytics to create a more holistic and better connected ecosystem. While every organization operating has different business models, physical systems and production processes, they all face the same challenge: the need for connectivity and access to real-time information.

Industry 4.0 is not just about investing in new technology and tools to make process improvements, change the manufacturing execution or boost productivity and efficiency, it’s about revolutionizing the way your entire business operates and grows in all the value chain.

These are exciting new technologies, but leaders of organizations must identify the ones that best meet their needs and support their manufacturing processes to increase efficiency in their companies.

Now that we have a scope of what the Fourth Industrial Revolution is, let’s analyze the impact of implementing this tech revolution in companies and their business process to stay updated. The impact that it has is much broader, affecting all industries, from the United Kingdom to the Middle East and its societies. Technologies related can also lead to entirely new products and services. The use of sensors and wearable devices, AI and machine learning to analyze large amounts of data, autonomous mobile robots, among others, will allow improvements in products from the creation of prototypes to the incorporation of connectivity, to other devices. These changes are reflected in the supply chain and, consequently, in customers.

What are the impacts of Industry 4.0?

The impacts of the Fourth Industrial Revolution can be felt at multiple levels: in ecosystems, at the organizational as well as individual (client) level:

– Ecosystems. In addition to the change in which horizontal and vertical systems operate, Industry 4.0 affects all the people who are part of the supply chain: suppliers, customers, board of directors, partner programs, among others. 

– Organizations. The ability to adjust and learn from data in real time can make organizations more responsive, efficient and productive. It also enables the organization to reduce its productivity risks, have preventive maintenance and smart manufacture in products.

– Individuals: Industry 4.0 can mean different things to everyone. For example, for employees it may mean changes in their inventory management, optimized processes and smart machines that are actual autonomous robots. While for customers it could mean digitally transformed processes and greater customization in products and services that better meet their needs.

What are the challenges of Industry 4.0?

Finding the right Industry 4.0 fit. The true challenge is that it isn’t always clear for companies which innovation initiative to adopt. Fourth Industrial Revolution offers a variety of options which carry high complexity risks due to the little experience we have in the implementation processes. That is why it is decisive for companies to make an exhaustive analysis and have a ROI calculator to make this great investment a success.

And for those companies that have already selected Industry 4.0, there are still barriers to  overcome. A real world example would be: How will companies build paths to select, justify and leverage the functionalities available to them? 

From a technology perspective, increased connectivity and cloud computing mean that issues like cyber physical systems and data ownership must be addressed. Companies must choose projects that are consistent with their business process, identify what the benefits of these technologies are and create the infrastructure to be able to incorporate them successfully.