"Anti-fur" momentum is strong, China's fashion industry faces sustainable development challenges

Chanel's high-profile participation in the "anti-fur" camp has sparked a new wave of attention to the sustainability of the fashion industry. On December 7, France's Kaiyun Group and the global innovation platform Plug and Play announced that the Kaiyun Sustainable Innovation Awards will be established in Greater China.

“With the increasing scarcity of natural resources, whether it is climate change or lack of raw materials, new challenges continue to threaten the entire fashion industry and the society as a whole. How everyone takes action, adjusts, cooperates, and boldly innovates, will determine us. Whether the business is prosperous for a long time.” Francois Henry Pino, Chairman and CEO of Kaiyun Group, said that the sustainable development of the fashion industry is not only imperative, but also the winning way of business management. He set up a dedicated sustainability department 15 years ago to try to drive the entire group to achieve better economic, environmental, ethical and social performance with a sustainable strategy.

In September next year, the award will feature three winning companies, which will be given financing opportunities, invited to visit Europe and the United States, meet with leaders in fashion and innovation, and receive a prize of up to 100,000 euros.

“Today, it is necessary to rethink and examine the luxury goods industry.” Mary Clare Davy, chief sustainability officer and head of international institutional affairs at Kaiyun Group, told CBN that the sustainable development of the fashion industry is not new. The topic is not a marketing tool, but “in response to the changing environment and the concerns of a new generation of consumers”. When the concept of sustainable development goes deep into the supply chain of fashion enterprises, the circular economy will replace the operating mode of fashion enterprises.

“The apparel industry is the second largest polluting industry in the world, second only to oil.” In 2015, when Eileen Fishe won the Environmental Awards in New York, the $350 million from the start of the year to 500 million The dollar’s ​​clothing giant directly stood on the podium to expose the original sin of the clothing industry. When talking about the impact of the clothing industry on ecology, she said frankly, "That is really a mess."

The carbon footprint of the fashion industry is difficult to calculate. But from the raw materials, textile manufacturing, garment manufacturing, transportation, retail, use and even the final treatment of waste clothing, it can be said that this complex and globally-covered industry has caused non-negligible pollution to the environment.

A pair of jeans is likely to follow the container to board a giant freighter to travel around the world, and finally reach the consumer through local stores. After that, no matter how many thousands of fibers and chemical dyes produced during daily washing flow to the sea, or the environmental pollution caused by the final disposal, there will be unconscious consequences. Last year alone, the number of discarded textiles worldwide reached 12.8 million tons.

The most commonly used natural fiber cotton in the apparel industry is one of the most chemically dependent crops in the world. Organic cotton is more sustainable, but it takes a lot of money to make an organic cotton t-shirt and an organic cotton jeans. Water resources reach 18,000 liters. Moreover, organic cotton cultivation accounts for only 1% of the global cotton planting area, and the growth cost is quite high. What is more worrying is that chemical dyes bring irreversible changes to the environment. Lead, mercury, arsenic and many other toxins in dye wastewater from textile mills can cause damage to animals, plants and even residents living around the water. Sewage eventually flows into the ocean and becomes a global pollution. According to statistics, as the world's largest cotton grower and textile industry, China's chemicals discharged from dye wastewater account for 40% of global emissions.

Last October, when Gucci announced that it would no longer use animal skins and auctioned all the fur products in stock, donated money to animal protection organizations, and the fashion circle began to change. Foreign media for Gucci to calculate an account, give up the use of fur, the equivalent of giving up Gucci dozens of classic hot money, even the loss of this profit will be billions of yuan. Following this year, Burberry announced that the Spring/Summer 2019 series will no longer use natural fur and phase out existing fur products.

Gucci, a subsidiary of Kaiyun Group, is making itself a leader in sustainable development. Gucci's fur coat once sold for more than 400,000 yuan, but nowadays, more and more luxury goods tell the world with "anti-fur" action, fur is no longer a fashionable symbol. Gucci has developed artificial fur materials, and Michael Kors and Armani have also invested in financial and human resources to develop new raw materials and new processes.

Global topics such as resource scarcity, climate change, and excessive population growth are commonplace, and why we should bring sustainable topics to China. Cai Jinqing, president of Kaiyun Group Greater China, believes that as one of the world’s largest economies, China Playing an important role in sustainability, “Some Chinese fashion groups have begun this trend, believing that China can unlock a sustainable future.”

In China, companies like Ordos have developed for more than 30 years and have achieved the best examples of sustainable development. "We start from the source of a lamb on the grassland, to the processing of raw materials, brand design, production, and then to the terminal sales of consumers, and have the entire industrial chain." Wang Wei, president of Ordos Cashmere Group, said that advocating nature and adapting Nature is their core concept. Ordos has three pastures to ensure cashmere cultivation, and a modern new cashmere industrial park to achieve efficient, complex and environmentally-friendly automatic production process.

"In the back of a cashmere sweater, we are still thinking about how to recycle used scrap, how to reduce water, how to control chemicals, reduce pollution emissions, and how to recycle." Wang Wei said. Leading companies like Erdos enjoy the advantages of sustainability, they can control the entire supply chain and achieve effective control and management at every stage. Cai Jinqing believes that the selected winners will bring new demonstrations and reflections on the sustainable development of global fashion. “We want to listen to their opinions and start pilot projects.”

Mary Claire Davy is not rumored that a new generation of consumers is more concerned about a sustainable future than the previous generation, and millennials are the group they value. According to Merkle and Levo's Millennials Women Consumer Report, a brand's sustainability practices have an impact on their consumer behavior. In 2016, McKinsey’s statistics show that 66% of millennials are willing to pay higher prices for sustainable commodities.

In the field of climate change, China is becoming a global leader. In the past 10 years, China has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 4.1 billion tons while maintaining economic growth. In the future, China's fashion sustainable development model will also become the focus of global attention.