Sustainable fashion terms for beginners
The 5 most used sustainable fashion terms: explained!
When you are new to the sustainable fashion movement, and just starting to learn about conscious shopping and ethical clothing, the number of new terms can be overwhelming. Sustainable fashion terms may seem similar to each other. Or the definition of sustainable fashion terms might be entirely unknown to you.
Not to worry! Below you will find the main terms you need to know, to understand sustainable fashion, along with their definitions.
Sustainable fashion
Let’s start with the most obvious term. What is sustainable fashion, exactly? This term means environmentally friendly practices in the fashion industry, like designing, manufacturing and consuming clothes.
When fashion is sustainable, it means that it causes little to no damage to the planet. This means that it does not use up the planet’s natural resources.
Ethical fashion
Ethical fashion focuses on the social impact of the fashion industry. It refers to the wellbeing of the individuals and communities involved in the designing, production, retail and purchasing of fashion. Ethical fashion covers issues like living wages, working conditions, animal welfare and vegan fashion.
Fast fashion
Fast fashion describes the process of designing and producing clothing quickly and cheaply. Fast fashion brands often create clothing based on seasonal trends and sell them for affordable retail prices. This business model of mass-production is dangerous because it results in overproduction, mass waste, poor working conditions and a negative environmental impact.
Slow fashion
Slow fashion is, as you might have guessed, the opposite of fast fashion. Slow fashion is the choice of consumers to slow down their consumption. To be mindful when buying something and invest in high-quality pieces of clothing that will last longer.
Greenwashing
Greenwashing is when a company uses marketing to make their policies, activities, or products (like clothing) seem sustainable when in reality they are not.
Some companies try to benefit from the increasing demand for sustainable and ethical clothes, by launching one small ‘sustainable’ collection. They then try to promote themselves as entirely sustainable and environmentally friendly, which is not the case. This means they are greenwashing the customer.
I hope you feel a bit wiser after reading the explanations of these sustainable fashion terms. What are other sustainable fashion terms you would like to know the definition of?
If you would like more inspiration on how to start your sustainable fashion journey, then check out my Pinterest page or read my last article on my sustainable fashion mistakes, and how you can avoid them.
