Ecologically Sustainable Implementations in Contemporary Fashion Design

Abstract

Clothing is not only a necessity in modern life, but also a consumable to satisfy customers’ demands. People nowadays cannot live without the need for clothing. The number of spare clothes has increased dramatically due to the fact that consumers have a natural tendency to purchase clothes impulsively. The spare clothes that are left idle annually have resulted in a considerable waste of resources. The synthetic fiber fabrics used in clothes come from oil refineries. Even the natural fabrics utilized in the production process, which are not easy to break down, will inevitably generate massive air pollution and water contamination, causing severe damage to the environment. In order to alleviate the situation, we as fashion designers must bear in mind to adopt the concept of Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD). From the perspectives of careful clothing fabric selection, clothes recycling and multi-use clothing, the applications that realize the concept of ESD in contemporary fashion design have been assessed and analyzed. It is concluded that the ecological sustainable contemporary clothing design should pay close attention to the clothing fabric used throughout the production. Specifically, one needs to choose fabric materials that are environmentally friendly, and make effective utilization of the fabric.