An overview of some important milestones in eco-fashion

The Earth Day has officially started, and in view of the complexity of the current economic and ecological climate, this event seems more important than ever. This year’s topic ‘our power, our planet’ emphasizes this and focuses on renewable energies. The organizers: Inside the event therefore, a tripling of the global generation of renewable energies by 2030 and continue to encourage consumers: inside, industrial branches and organizations worldwide to support the matter.

In his 55 years, the relationship between Earth Day and the fashion industry was complex, but often productive. The day contributed to promoting certain laws and initiatives that typically aim to mitigate the effects of the notoriously environmentally harmful industry. Here is a brief overview of this story and some of the most important milestones that have been reached in this way.

1970: Earth Day is born

April 22, 1970 marked the first Earth Day. It emerged from non -partisan and grassroots democratic movements. His introduction was heralded through rallies in the entire USA, in which people – from farmers: inside to students to unions – protested against environmental pollution, pesticides and oil pollution.

Awareness of these problems had already increased in the 1960s. Santa Barbara’s like in 1969 in California is often mentioned as the turning point for this movement. The Earth’s Day was launched under the direction of Senator Gaylord Nelson, which had become a witness of the Echtlück and finally together with the Stanford activist Denis Hayes to organize the project.

Its foundation are often attributed to the establishment of the US environmental protection authority (EPA) in December 1970. In the following years, groundbreaking environmental laws followed, including the Clean Water Act from 1972 and the Endangered Species Act from 1973.

1980s: industrialization and production

Although “sustainability” and “environmentally friendly” had not yet been transferred to general language, awareness of these topics began to grow in the 1980s. This became particularly clear when cheap offshore production became the standard for western fashion brands as part of a more comprehensive globalization trend.

Until 1989, however, working groups and journalists reported: inside about working conditions in foreign factories, which made the topic on a topic in the mainstream media in the 1990s. Towards the end of the decade, certain organizations began to form in connection with this movement, such as the Clean Clothes Campaign based in the Netherlands and the Global Exchange interest group.

1990s: Industry leaders: Inside do pioneering work for early eco-fashion movements

Some brands were already ahead of their time when it came to carrying out eco-centered movements. Esprit, for example, launched its first ‘Ecocollection’ in 1992, in which recycled and organic materials were used. Meanwhile, Patagonia started with the first experiments with recycled polyester and had started to formulate obligations into environmental issues in the early 1990s. The label had also started to manufacture fleece from recycled PET plastic bottles, a revolutionary achievement at that time.

In contrast to the spread of some large sweatshop scandals, such progress was in global brands. In the early 1990s, for example, Nike was accused of child labor and physical abuse in his factories in Vietnam and China, which led to boycotting and protests against the sports clothing label. These problems led to a broader recognition of fair trade and sweatshop-free NGO campaigns.

2000: ‘Slow Fashion’ begins her triumphal march

These NGOs also had great influence in the 2000s and led to further explorations in relation to work transparency and experiments with organic substances. A person who played a pioneering role during this time was Stella McCartney who, after a stay at Chloé, founded her label of the same name on the basis of “fashion without animal suffering”, the focus.

The term “Slow Fashion” was finally shaped until 2007. Kate Fletcher, a professor at the University of the Arts London, is said to have introduced the concept in her article in The Ecologist, based on the idea of ​​the slow food movement, which was originally founded in 1986.

Further initiatives in connection with the now rapidly growing sustainability movement were also created. In 2009, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) – known as Cascale – was founded, the industry leaders: Interior brought together to reduce the damage to the environment for the environment.

2010: disasters promote consciousness

In the 2010s, sustainable fashion had become a mainstream. In this decade, awareness of ethical and ecological questions increased. This was mainly after the collapse of the Rana Plaza in Bangladesh 2013, in which over 1,100 textile workers were killed and the turning point has been the turning point in dealing with fashion with ethical questions.

In this decade, many fashion organizations focused on ecology. The Ellen Macarthur Foundation was one of these, as did Fashion Revolution, a movement that wanted to promote transparency in the industry and the consumers: inside asked the question “Who made my clothes”. The organization called the Fashion Revolution Day a year later, on April 24, to honor the victims of the Rana Plaza tragedy. Until 2016, the United Nations had also launched the goals for sustainable development, with the aim of moving fashion brands to align themselves with the global sustainability goals.

Some brands continue to campaign for sustainability – from Patagonia’s ‘Bude Buy This Jacket’ in 2011 to Vivienne Westwood’s ‘Climate Revolution’ at the final ceremony of the Paralympics in London to Stella McCartney’s photo shoot at a landfill. Meanwhile, others saw themselves exposed to increased control of their practices, especially when the idea of ​​’greenwashing’ began to assert itself. Towards the end of the decade, Burberry fought allegations of burning unsold clothing, while H&M had come under criticism because of his inventory.

Another important milestone was reached in 2019: the creation of the fashion pact. In conjunction with the One Planet Summit, the initiative was the head of state and government: Inside at the G7 summit in Biarritz by the French President Emmanuel Macron as a global coalition of companies in the fashion and textile industry, which have been committed to important environmental goals. The initiative has grown to over 75 members since then. With the introduction of the Alliance for Sustainable Fashion, the UN was still at the top of the environmental meeting in 2019. The organization said it hoped that the project would contribute to stopping environmentally harmful practices.

2020s: regulation, legislation, pacts and resale

The 2020s heralded the 50th anniversary of the day of the earth, to which numerous fashion brands started to celebrate the day. The following year, Earthday.org started his ‘Fashion for the Earth’ campaign, which deals with the environmental impact of the industry with educational projects such as the Fashion Footprint Calculator. Since then, the event has started to strengthen their connections to fashion through various campaigns, projects and initiatives.

In the early 2020s, regulation and legislation came into focus. In the United States, more and more states began to adopt bans for harmful products such as PFAs, while some also brought in law draft that prioritize transparency and employees: prioritize internal rights, such as the California’s Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, which was passed in 2023. In the meantime, companies are preparing for a new wave of regulations, especially in the form of the digital product pass, which requires companies to provide certain background information about the production of their products.