The devil wears green

The podcast "The Devil Wears Green" explores the unsustainable nature of the fashion industry. It discusses the environmental, social, and economic costs of fashion. The industry is the second most polluting in the world, with issues such as intensive exploitation of resources, pollution, and overconsumption. Fast fashion, which promotes overproduction and low-quality items, contributes to the problem. The human cost includes low wages, poor working conditions, and tragedies like the Rana Plaza disaster. Major brands, including Levi's and Zara, have been involved in scandals related to worker exploitation. The capitalist mentality and profit-driven focus of the industry contribute to its unsustainability. To address these issues, awareness and changes in consumer behavior are necessary. Strategies such as reducing overconsumption, redefining seasonality, and promoting quality over quantity can help. However, there are challenges such as greenwashing, where brands falsely present themse Welcome! This is the Devil Wears Green. The podcast where, tapping into the evidence provided by Andrew Morgan's 2015 documentary, The True Cost, we shed light on the darkest side of the fashion industry, focusing on the costs it implies both from a production and consumption point of view. Are you ready? But wait a second! Before we dive into all of that, let me introduce myself. I'm Alessia Chiesa, Bachelor in Communication and Management at the Catholic University of Sacred Heart, and for the next 30 minutes I'm going to let you in on the biggest secret of the fashion industry. It is absolutely unsustainable by its very nature. Wanna know why? Well, keep tuned and let me walk you through this. But before we go into that, allow me to welcome my colleagues Lorenzo Bella and Francesca Di Terlizzi, who'll accompany us on this journey towards a more green fashion. Hello guys, I hope you're doing well! Good morning Alessia, I'm doing well, thank you, I hope you're fine too. I'm happy to be here and I'm personally thrilled for this new episode as we're going to touch on a very delicate and important topic, sustainability in the fashion industry. Let me shortly introduce myself. Hello dear listeners, my name is Lorenzo Bella, I'm also attending the Bachelor in Communication and Management at the Catholic University of Sacred Heart. As Alessia shortly mentioned before, today we're going to investigate the hidden side of the fashion industry, using as evidence a documentary, The True Cost. I really hope that the upcoming discussion is going to raise awareness on this topic. That said, I leave the floor to you Francesca. Good morning everyone, I'm feeling fine, thank you. I'm terribly excited to be here too. As Lorenzo was saying, this is an amazing opportunity to raise awareness and thus take things a little step further. But before we move on, allow me to say a few words about me too. Hello everyone, I'm Francesca Di Terlizzi. As Alessia Lorenzo, I'm a Bachelor in Communication and Management at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart. I'm really hoping that today's stories will make you more aware. In fact, as you'll soon discover, the fashion industry is in need of a change and only we can do something about it. This being said, I believe we can get started, don't you agree Alessia? Yes, definitely. Let's get to the point. Here's the rub. The fashion system is so problematic that if we were to cover all the factors that make it unsustainable, we'd stay here for days on end. Unfortunately, we're short on time, so I'll limit myself to summarise what are the main drivers of fashion's unsustainability. But before we go any further, let's rewind to what sustainability is really about. I'm sure that at least once you all have heard of it. Typically, it is defined as the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising those of the future. What you probably don't know yet is that it is made up of three elements environmental sustainability, social sustainability and economic sustainability. Don't worry, it is as easy as it sounds. Here's all you have to know. Environmental sustainability is about ensuring the beable natural environment. Social sustainability concerns nurturing the community and economic sustainability is nothing more than a sufficient economy. That being said, let's get back to where we were. We want to answer one fundamental question. What are the main drivers that make fashion one of the most unsustainable industries? Starting with the environmental cost of fashion, we must say that this industry is the second most polluting in the world, after the oil industry. Why is it so? Well, Lorenzo, would you mind helping me out here? Sure. Well, first of all, we must definitely mention the intensive exploitation of the ground for the cultivation of natural vegetable fibers, combined with the abuse of animals raised for the supply of natural animal fibers. To this, added the extra consumption of water and energy during both the production and maintenance phases of the garment's life cycle. Then, let's not forget the severe pollution of the environment due to the chemical use, which further contributes to the problem. That's astonishing, isn't it? Who would ever think that the production of a nice sweater or a cool pair of jeans caused so much damage to the planet? And unfortunately, that's only the tip of the iceberg. In fact, taking a closer look at the social cost of fashion, we'll see that another major issue is the overconsumption. This is due to fast fashion, which has created a system with around 52 seasons a year, instead of the traditional two. It follows that the stores have something new coming in every week. This is about 400% more than the amount we used to consume during the 1990s. But before we go any further, let's spend at least two words on fast fashion. Lorenzo, what is this fast fashion that everyone talks about? In a few words, we can define it as the exploitative and profit-driven business model that is based on imitating high fashion designs and mass-producing them at low costs. There are two crucial differences between the fashion industries and the fast fashion ones. The first is seasonality. In fact, as you said before, when the fast fashion was featured by only two seasons, nowadays, in a single year, it counts up to 52. This is mainly because now we have more series of fashion and fashion weeks. Indeed, since fast fashion copies and reproduces the designs displayed during the fashion weeks, the more collections, the more fast fashion production grows. I'm sorry to cut you off, Lorenzo, but this is why in the last couple of years Armani has diminished the number of its collections, isn't it? It was to reduce the possible sources of inspiration for fast fashion, right? Yes, yes, that's exactly it. Another brand that actively fights in the battle against fast fashion is Burberry. In fact, in 2019, Burberry showed its collection only through a virtual performance via Instagram stories. Anyway, going back to what I was saying, let's speak about the second difference between fashion and fast fashion, that is the relationship with quality and quantity. In fact, while fashion values quality and representation, fast fashion prioritizes quantity and profit. This is related to accessibility. To put it in other words, the aim of fast fashion brands is to produce cheap alternatives to high fashion products, which are unaffordable to most consumers. Now, let's dig a little deeper into the human cost. Let's face it, the textile sector is labor intensive, and garment workers are among the lowest paid in the world. I'm proud of this, we cannot fail to mention their terrible working conditions that often resulted in tragedies like the Rana Plaza disaster. What's that? Here's the deal. It was the most vicious disaster in the history of fashion production. It took place back in April 2013, when an eight-story commercial building collapsed into a bar, thus killing about 1,200 people and causing over 2,500 injuries. The worst part? No one ever claimed responsibility. And unfortunately, this is not an isolated situation. Rather, there have been many tragic accidents in garment factories, and always the perpetrators have not been identified. Yet, just because the exact names have never come up, doesn't mean these aren't there. In fact, not only they exist, but also many of them are the least you would ever expect. Does Levi's Strauss ring any bells? Yes, you heard that right. Also the big names are on the blacklist. Lorenzo, as I recall, you carried out a case on Levi's, didn't you? Yes, yes I did. When I carried out this research on Levi's Strauss, personally, I was shocked. Levi is a brand with a reputation of being sustainable and eco-friendly. I am wearing a pair of 500 ones in this exact moment. Personally, I never thought that a brand like Levi could be involved in such a scandal. For our listeners at home, let me shortly explain what happened. More than 20 years ago, Levi retrenched from China because of persistent human rights violations, in the attempt to prioritize working conditions over profits. However, Levi's decision to withdraw from China was criticized, as it came at a time where factory explosions and fires were drawing more and more attention to dangerous conditions of the Chinese workers. What's more, in 1991, Levi was also criticized for the violation of workers' human rights in the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory. Yet, in the same year, the brand issued a new conduct which banned overseas suppliers from using children as well as cheap labor. After Levi, many companies followed. So, what's strange about the Levi case is that although the brand claimed to have been the first one to adopt ethical codes, it incurred in a scandal due to disastrous working conditions of its Chinese workers. In fact, many factories even went on fire, let me just repeat that, on fire, due to the overload of work and chemicals. The Piazza Scandal is surely the most well-known, but many others, such as the Levi one, have been disastrous in the same way. Everyone always remember, gold that glitters is not gold. And this is also true for other fashion giants. Lorenzo, correct me if I'm wrong, but, if memory serves, other major enterprises have been involved in such scandals, haven't they? Yes, absolutely. In 2021, following some accusations, French prosecutors started investigating whether households' names like Zara, Uniqlo, Skechers, profited from exploiting opera workers in China. China denied all accusations of human rights violations in the region. Similarly, Zara and Uniqlo strongly denied the claims made in the compliant. Skechers even said it would not comment in the cases of pending litigation. Nonetheless, many international clothing brands, including Burberry, Uniqlo, H&M, Nike, Adidas, pledged last year to boycott cotton from the Chinese region. So, it all adapts to fashion being a problematic sector by its very nature. Now, you may wonder, why is it that the fashion industry is unable to support millions of its workers and guarantee their safety, whilst generating tremendous profits for a handful of people? Why is it that the fashion industry cannot learn how to produce as much and for the lowest possible price without harming the environment? Well, clearly, the underlying problem here is the capitalist mentality featuring the current economy, which promotes the idea that everything is about generating profits. In fact, the fashion industry only looks at the point which corresponds to the finished products, without considering the cost implied in the previous phases. What's more, big brands are free from any responsibility. Lorenzo, what do you think could be done about this? Well, acknowledging the problem is without any doubt the first step toward its resolution. So, personally, I suggest that everyone within the system, from producers to designers and consumers, should be informed about it in any possible way. That could not be more true, Lorenzo. Awareness is the very first step. In fact, only after having acknowledged the problem, stakeholders in the industry can question the impact of this immoral model built on careless production and endless consumption, and then take action to reach more mindful forms. But how is this done? Well, to answer this question, we'll use the help of Silvia Mazzucatelli, professor at Catholic University of Sacred Heart and Milan Fashion Institute, let alone a member of the Board of Directors of Mada Cult. Good morning, Professor Mazzucatelli. We are honored to have you here with us today. So, since time is running out, let me get started with my questions. We were discussing what strategies could be implemented to make every member of the fashion system aware of the industry's unsustainable nature. What do you suggest? So, I think that the core activity that needs to be revised is consumption. So, the first thing will be to try an effective way to fight against overconsumption, and this in terms of brand will start briefly through the creation of collections that present lower number of outfits, at the same time to redefine and rediscuss this idea of seasonality and the huge number of items that, of course, you have to produce, you have to design, you have to create in order to be on the page, to be exactly doing what they expect you to do. In this way, I think, you give a very powerful message to the consumer because the consumer understands that it's not so important to overconsume, but that it's more important to consume the quality of what they buy. Of course, it's not an easy question to be posed because fashion is built around overconsumption and overproduction. So, so far, the fashion system relies on the fact that there are different steps of selection from the design to the consumer, and it is, of course, mandatory to reduce the steps of selection and to make the consumer more aware of the fact that what they buy has an impact on earth, on natural resources and so on. I think that the communication is an instrument, advertising can be an instrument, but generally speaking, I think it's not about advertising per se, but it's about being a role model for consumers. So, fashion brands need to go back to the idea that they can be an example for their own consumers. I totally see your point. Now, let me ask you a quick question. Could you please mention to us the names of the brands which are, according to you, excelling in changing the consumer's mentality and approach to fashion, thus moving towards a more eco-friendly and sustainable fashion system? I don't want to say who is not performing well, especially if I have to mention big brands, I don't want to use it in a bad way. We've been working with a very small fashion brand that is doing a lot in terms of being able to control the supply chain, and it's a brand based in Rome. I can also say the name, it's Melide, but what is important is not the brand, but the fact that they decided that they can have a size in terms of the number of products that they can produce, the number of people that they can work with, the number of suppliers they can contact. That is the natural size that they can control. So they know that whatever they will be producing, they must be producing more than a certain number of trousers, pants, t-shirts, because they can't spend a large number, because a large number will imply to work with a larger number of suppliers, and a larger number of suppliers needs more time to control what the suppliers do, where the Roma, the suppliers do come from, and this is something they can't sustainably do there in their life. So I think that more than a name, it's the model. It's the model that understands that the size is evoked in order to maintain a sustainable approach. They also say that sustainability is like a mirage in fashion, and I think that is a very pragmatic point of view, because of course, even if you are doing the best of what you can do, you can't be sure to be totally sustainable, and at the same time, there is a lot of social control of what makes a brand sustainable, and even to which extent a brand can be sustainable. So it's interesting really to be aware and extremely concrete and pragmatic about the fact that we can work towards sustainability, but at this present moment in time, we are not sustainable. Even if we are doing better than others, this doesn't mean that this is the arrival point. And I like this approach, and this brand in particular is really embodying this kind of value. Of course, Professor. The most effective strategy to change the mentality of consumers and so win the battle against overconsumption is to act directly on seasonality, thus reducing the number of garments being produced. Then there is no doubt that also advertising is another very powerful tool. Right, Lorenzo? Yes, totally. Advertising is the best tool to change the consumers' conception of consumption and thus shape their consumption behaviors. And thank you very much, Professor Mazzucatelli, for your contribution. We'll see you next time. Now has come the moment when Francesca and her experience in fashion law jump in to tell us why advertising is a double-edged sword. In fact, although advertising can be a very favorable tool for brands and consumers, on the other hand, it could also be very improperly used to mislead the consumers. We are talking about the so-called greenwashing. Francesca, you have the floor now. Yes, precisely. Greenwashing is typically defined as the behavior of the companies which use advertisements to falsely show their goods as green. Of course, as under the law, advertisements must be correct, truthful and verifiable, greenwashing is illegal. A recent case of greenwashing was that of H&M. Second largest fashion retailer in the world, H&M contributes to monumental amounts of textile waste and produces millions of clothing items every year. That's why the first fashion company has made several attempts to adopt more sustainable practices, from implementing a clothing collection and recycling program within its stores to the launch of its conscious collection in 2011, where items are made with at least 54% sustainable materials. Despite these promising results, in 2019, H&M was accused of greenwashing because of the deceiving use of the term conscious within its campaign. I remember like it was yesterday that I also fell into a trap of that campaign. When I first saw it, I was greatly surprised to see that H&M had become so concerned with sustainability. Plot twist, it hadn't. I believe that recently there has been another scandal related to greenwashing, hasn't it? Francesca, do you mind helping me out here? Yeah, you remember well, Lorenzo. Lately, there have been several cases of greenwashing. But let me give you the biggest example, Zara. In fact, and similarly to H&M, the Spanish giant has made a big effort to boost its sustainability image with the launch of Joy Life nearly 20 years ago. The clothing company has also announced plans to use only sustainable and recyclable cotton and polyester materials, as well as reducing all emissions by 2040. Yes, many criticise Zara for not providing a detailed enough fact release and refraining from publishing the results of their audits. This, in turn, makes it difficult to evaluate how impactful their sustainability goals truly are. Thank you very much, Francesca. Next time, we'll definitely be much more critical before deciding that a brand is sustainable, just because it has made a beautiful advertising. So, getting back to where we were. By now, you will have understood that what is required is a huge systemic change, acting both on production and consumption. Bad news, guys. This is hardly as easy and immediate as it may seem. Good news, we've already got the balls rolling. In fact, right after the Ronaplaza accident, sustainability and transparency entered the global agenda of fashion brands, thus triggering a proper revolution. For example, in the wake of the tragedy in the UK was founded Fashion Revolution, a non-profit movement aimed at mobilising citizens, industries and policy makers towards a new way of producing and consuming fashion through the work of policy makers, designers, stylists and VIPs from the public world. If I remember well, in 2014, Fashion Revolution launched its campaign hashtag Who Made My Clothes. This was done in order to increase consumer awareness of the brands they purchase on the one hand and encourage brands to be more sustainable and transparent on the other. In fact, inviting people to wonder who makes their clothes is a way to ask brands to be accountable, distribute social responsibility among shareholders and pay more attention to living conditions and wages of their workers and suppliers. Besides Fashion Revolution, another organisation devoted to the issue of sustainability is Greenpeace. In 2011, it launched the Detox My Fashion campaign to make the fashion industry more sustainable, inviting fashion brands to adopt environmentally friendly practices such as reducing the use of harmful chemicals. Both initiatives, Fashion Revolution and Greenpeace, show how civil society plays a key role in the transition towards a more sustainable fashion. Yet, in order to be part of this change, being conscious about the issue is definitely not enough. Why is that so? Well, because changing one's habits may be difficult. Think it like this, I'm sure that no one of you would ever like to be waken up in the morning with a different coffee than the usual. Or no one of you would ever like to cook the cake of the house following a different recipe from the one that you have always used and that is handed down from generation to generation within your family. I certainly wouldn't love that. What about you, Lorenzo? I totally agree with you, Alessia. Let me just say that, as I come from Genova, personally I hate it when people ask me to make pesto without the mortar. That's simply not pesto for me. When they see me annoyed reaction to this, people always look at me with a strange face. But that's the way it is. Since using the mortar is a proper habit for me, I cannot stand not using it. Very well. So here is the big idea. To truly make the fashion system more sustainable, consumers must be put in the conditions to be prompt to transform their consumption practices. In fact, as changing one's habits may be difficult, it is necessary that stakeholders intervene to ensure that it is not only practically easy, but also pleasant for people to implement sustainable practices. And advertising, although effective, is definitely not the only path to be embraced. For example, fashion films, podcasts and interviews of any kind are equally functional tools that may be used to diffuse the right mentality among consumers. Don't you agree, Lorenzo? I totally agree, again. As I quickly said at the beginning, I truly hope that this podcast really influences the mindset of who is following us from home. And I will convince you that behind each fashion garment there is a dark reality that many people do not even imagine about. Wow, time really goes by fast when you have fun, right guys? But since I'm afraid we're running out of it, we'd better jump to our conclusions. The bottom line here is that many constraints to sustainability within the fashion industry arise from the very nature of the fashion industry itself. Does this mean that the issue of fashion sustainability cannot be faced? Well, absolutely not. It can. But to do so, the whole system needs to be changed. As we discussed, this implies a turnaround both from the perspective of producers and consumers. So fashion could become sustainable only in the perspective in which a change in both the production system and the mentality of its buyers would occur. Lorenzo, in light of this, let me ask you one final question. Have your shopping practices somehow changed after you found out the environmental, social and economic impact of fashion garments? If I have to be honest with you, yes, yes, they have changed. In fact, I now tend to avoid all the needless shopping sprees, rather I try to buy clothes and products only when I really need them. Moreover, I now favor vintage shops, not only because they offer actually cooler pieces than ordinary shops, but also because I've converted to the minimum waste mentality. This means, for example, upcycling clothes when possible, instead of buying new ones, in a few words. That's great! See everyone, it takes little to make the difference. I really hope that this discussion helped you to gain a better understanding of how the fashion system works and what you can do to become part of the change. Allow me to thank Lorenzo, Francesca and Professor Mazzucatelli for their contributions and viewpoints, as well as Andrea Licenzi for the music. See you soon!