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Asian garment makers push new boundaries amid ‘wake-up call’ towards sustainable fashion
- They are embracing sustainable fashion to phase out fast-changing fashion trends that are choking landfills and accelerating climate change
- Despite higher cost, manufacturers are turning to regenerative farming practices that aim to leave the land in a better condition than the previous cycle
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For years known as the world’s garment factory, Asian manufacturers are now embracing a tectonic shift in consumption towards sustainable fashion to ease out fast-changing fashion trends that are choking landfills and accelerating climate change.
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European regulators are working towards introducing rules by 2030 that would aim for all textile products sold in the bloc to be made of recyclable, long lasting and materials free of hazardous substances. The US also appears set to follow suit over the long term.
Globally, just 12 per cent of clothing are recycled, and most end up as waste due to fast-changing fashion trends, but the trend promises to change.
A pioneering garment maker for leading global brands, Hong Kong-based TAL Apparel says the writing is on the wall to pivot from the era of hyper consumption where clothes are bought and discarded every fashion season.
“There’s a whole movement of people that wants to get sustainably going in the apparel business,” Delman Lee, vice-chair of TAL, told This Week in Asia.
TAL, which aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by half from a baseline of 2018, says it has adopted a multipronged approach across its supply chain for procuring fabric and raw cotton in the region such as Thailand and Vietnam.
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The company produces garments from these inputs – supplying premium US fashion brands such as Brooks Brothers and JC Penney.
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