The modern fashion industry has faced a tremendous shift in rethinking its manufacturing and reducing the mass-produced garments to fight the environmental impact of the current fashion business. I have many favorite clothing items in my wardrobe; however, I do my best to eliminate the number of clothes and shopping, in general, to support the new ecological system in fashion. I have one T-shirt that I have recently purchased from the Mango brand (Fig. 1). It is a mineral dye organic cotton T-shirt, short-sleeved, in light pink color. One of the main reasons I decided to buy a fashion item from Mango is that it recently launched the new sustainable and environmentally-friendly clothing line, Mango Committed.
I was very intrigued by this new idea behind Mango as a mass fashion retailer. According to the brand itself, Mango is “on a journey to making fashion more sustainable and ethical” (Mango, 2021). Such a forward-thinking vision entails the decision of the brand to be committed as the way to express Mango’s willingness to act and help change the world to make it a better place to live in the future. The natural dyes that my T-shirt contains are made from organic pigments extracted from plants and minerals. According to Gordon and Hill (2015), contemporary fabric dyeing and associated environmental pollution pose critical concerns that have “a historical precedent in the development of chemical dye processes in the nineteenth century” (p. 91). The sustainable approach to running the fashion industry in terms of textile dyeing is focused on minimizing pollution, waste, and water consumption.
Mango follows an essential business practice toward environmental, economic, and social sustainability. The brand claims that 79% of its garments have sustainable properties with a promise to keep it 100% by 2022 (Mango, 2021). I believe that this is a crucial step toward committing a material difference in fashion production and addressing the accelerating adverse impact of the mass market. However, despite the sustainable approach in fashion, Mango still keeps producing the main collection instead of focusing more on a capsule clothing line. Sustainable clothes remain to be mass-produced, affecting the future of our planet. The company should also focus more on designing for the longevity of the use (Bruns, 2019, p. 88). The durability mindset and a slow fashion philosophy are imperative for responsible marketing mindful of people and the planet.
References
Burns, L. D. (2019). Sustainability and social change in fashion. Bloomsbury.
Gordon, J. F., & Hill, C. (2015). Sustainable fashion: Past, present, and future. Bloomsbury.
Mango (2021). Dear planet, we are committed. Web.