With the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 6), The Circular Fashion Initiative Campaign, in collaboration with the Circular Research Foundation (Italy) and the Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Services at Arizona State University (USA), presented the premiere of their documentary, Beyond Fast Fashion, followed by a conversation. 

The subsequent panel discussion, moderated by Felix Dodds, created a rich dialogue with prominent voices in the fashion industry, including Aslı Filinta, Iona McCreath, Abel Kamau (TBC), and Christine Omollo. Contributions from discussants Görkem Hayta, Michael Stanley-Jones, and Henry Wanjala enriched the discussion. The panel, which brought together designers, entrepreneurs, and sustainability experts, dove into the complexities of the fast fashion controversy and explored innovative pathways toward a sustainable fashion ecosystem.

In her speech, Aslı Filinta shared her views on global fashion waste and the significant role of luxury brands in setting trends and consumer behavior. The designer further discussed solutions by using creativity and media to transform the understanding of sustainability and consumer habits.

I have discovered sustainability with the motivation to be a better person from being a mother when my son was born. I have discovered the word upcycling while searching for ways to make my son’s clothes last longer. This gave me the idea to launch our Upcycling Service in 2016. The aim is to help our clients to use the most of their own wardrobe by extending the life of the garment. The following year, we stopped designing new collections and producing rapidly, or catching up with the buying seasons and started to limit our production in accordance with our fabric stocks. Never used wrapping papers for packaging; instead, offered bags produced with leftover fabrics. And spent hours designing clothes that are ‘One size fits all’ as sizing is also another reason for producing more. And end-of-season discounts were never an option for us; as discounting is a specific kind of promotion to trigger an increase in sales. 

 

All these efforts were part of our brand’s transformation into sustainability, and the real, sustainable impact came when we shifted our business model into fair trade by local production with women’s cooperation as together we carried out our mission of bringing Anatolian cultural heritage to contemporary designs. This way, our brand’s sustainability approach has found a deeper meaning, providing a strong ground for us to continue. I see this as a problem in many other brands when the sustainability efforts do not align with the brands’ deeper purpose. When this is the case, sustainability is not long-lasting and it’s used as a trend.

Fashion’s environmental impact is not just caused by the fast fashion brands; luxury brands also generate waste, we don’t see them in the landfills but in their warehouses. They used to destroy their unsold stock, sometimes worth millions of dollars. Most importantly, luxury fashion houses are the true trendsetters, dictating styles through their seasonal collections during Paris or NY Fashion Week. Most of them create at least four collections a year, meaning four different trends; the trends that are supported by the fashion magazines, luxury department stores, influencers and celebrities… The fast fashion brands mimic these trends, producing collections with delivery windows every three weeks. Backed by celebrity endorsements and lavish marketing campaigns, luxury brands shape mass consumer perceptions, profoundly influencing the industry.

Understanding these relationships and actions is crucial to tackling one of the main barriers to sustainability: the perpetuation of never-ending trends. We must find ways to counter the notion of ever-changing trends; people are not motivated to change their shopping habits by confronting the image of overflowing landfills, or through data and documentaries alone. We must use creativity to cultivate compelling imagery, narratives, films, and influential figures capable of captivating consumer behaviour with the same potency as the luxury fashion brands shape trends. This endeavour demands a fusion of aesthetic allure and strategic precision to inspire meaningful shifts in consumer consciousness.

 

Sustainability doesn’t have to be boring, full of data and bad news. We can find new creative ways to motivate people and make sustainability cool again! Like the days our moms had to go to the neighbourhood tailor, re-use the fabric she had, and design her own dress. Sustainability can be fun and appealing. We can work with like-minded and creative people to make sustainability popular. How about a reality show series about sustainability on a popular online streaming service? Looking through the closets of celebrities, re-styling their unused clothes? Upcycling the old clothes of grandparents for the grandchildren? How about a fashion design contest using garments from the landfills? 

Sustainability is not a trend, yet the consumers will always seek idols to emulate, and I firmly believe that, through creativity, we can cultivate new role models.  Sustainability is a state of consciousness that is deeply connected with our inner values that we all share; and that’s protecting our mother earth and her children. This consciousness is already spreading, yet we can leverage our creative power of design and marketing, to illuminate the intrinsic value inherent in sustainability approaches, guiding individuals beyond fleeting trends towards a deeper and more meaningful existence.