Have you ever wondered if sustainable and mainstream fashion were really that different? And whether ethical brands are truly worth the extra investment?

Today we’re going to deal with a touchy topic: why is sustainable fashion more expensive?

Change the narrative: Is Sustainable Fashion really more expensive or is Fast Fashion just too cheap?

How can something be too cheap? That would be when a price tag does not reflect the true cost of a product - the negative impact on people, the planet, and even your own health (think chemicals and such...). Once you reverse the perspective, you’re at the start of something.

The fashion industry has managed to change our perspective of clothing completely in the past 20 years. We’re now at a point where a lot of our fashion items are seen as disposable. It almost seems "normal" to buy clothes every week for a couple of wears or a festival, never to be worn again or thrown away.

Here are some pretty eye-opening stats on the trend that's been set in the last decade:

• We buy 60% more clothes yearly today than we did in 2000

• In Europe alone, billions of items hit the market each year, averaging about 48 items per person (nearly 80 in the USA).

• Meanwhile, the price of clothing has dropped by 30% compared to 20 years ago.

• Which translates into a much shorter lifespan, with many items being discarded of after less than 10 wears.

In short:

We buy more clothes while spending less, and wear them less often before tossing them.

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THAT is what’s unsustainable. Everything else – unsustainable and harmful practices – is a byproduct of the chase after growth and profits. To reach these unsustainable goals of constantly producing more with better margins, unsustainable practices must prevail. From intensive farming destroying the land and people’s exploitation, to the excessive use of fossil fuel for cheap synthetic fibres, the industry’s rapid growth comes at a high cost. The reality being: if you pay less, someone else (like the workers) will pay the price.  

Breaking down the Costs of Sustainable Fashion.

Sourcing sustainable materials:

One of the pillars of sustainable fashion is obviously the materials and fibres that are used in the garments. Opting for organic and natural fibres grown without pesticides, herbicides and other cides requires more time and manual labour. Natural fibres like organic cotton, linen or hemp are also more expensive than plastic-based synthetic fibres. Although, there’re also much better for our health and the environment, as they do not release harmful microplastics or chemicals during their use phase and once discarded. Designed for durability, these sustainable items have much better chances than mainstream items at being used for longer, reused, recycled or even composted.

Fair trade:

Another essential aspect of sustainable fashion is fair trade. It’s not just about ensuring fair wages for textile workers, but also providing them with safe and decent working conditions: regulated hours, stricter safety requirements around exposure to toxic products,ect. Given that most of the manufacturing of clothes is made in the Global South, employing in majority young women, it is essential to bring social justice at the heart of a more sustainable fashion.

For instance, in 2022, the fast fashion brand SHEIN was exposed for paying workers as little as 3 cents per garment, with gruelling 18-hour shifts. This equates to around 500 euros a month, resembling near-slavery conditions—less than half of what's considered a living wage in those countries. So, sustainable fashion brands that meet basic living wage standards at least doubles its manufacturing costs by ensuring safer conditions and basic working rights.

Innovation.

Sustainability also means innovation: from efficiency in processes to use less energy, water treatment or alternative materials (vegan, recycled...), this entails investments. You might have come across surprising products made out of pineapple leather, recycled cotton or even fully upcycled garments. As these are still made in small batches if not only by the brand itself, they are necessarily expensive and high skilled processes. Yet, they are vital to the renewal of fashion under creativity and sustainable principles.

Traceability

In this day and age, claiming you're sustainable is just not enough, and fairly so. With constant greenwashing from all types of stakeholders, citizens are rightly suspicious of any too green to be true claim.

That's why transparency is at the heart of building a sustainable and ethical brand. We need to verify every claim made, which can be difficult in an industry where transparency is sorely lacking at every level. Most major brands don't know exactly where or how their products are made. The larger the brand, the less control they have over their supply chain. Despite numerous scandals, little has been done to improve this. This lack of transparency allows brands to shift the blame onto suppliers when problems arise, claiming ignorance of the issues they're accused of.

Therefore, ensuring fair pay, natural or organic materials, and safe working conditions comes at a cost. Brands pay more to guarantee these standards from suppliers and subcontractors.

As a consumer, a good sign is when the brand is able to give your the name and location of the factory where the clothes were made, or when they have a certification like GOTS that guarantees a product with at least 75% of organic fibres and no use of harmful chemicals.

Overall, what is clear here is that sustainable fashion is not that “expensive”, it mostly reflects the real price of garments and all the resources that are necessary to make them: using materials that are healthy and sustainable for the land, the workers and us. All these things that are disregarded by the majority of the actors in the industry in the pursuit of lower prices and higher profits

The Challenge of Democratizing Sustainable products

In the past 20 years, the rise of fast fashion has forced counter-movements like slow fashion, which is now tied to sustainability, to niche up to survive in this sector. Slow fashion brands often position themselves as high-end, focusing on quality and timelessness, making them fall into more premium category. Because of this tendency, sustainable garments still lack a certain accessibility.  

The best way to lower prices traditionally is through scaling up, but this approach conflicts with the principles of sustainable business models, which are precisely rejecting the relentless pursuit of growth. Therefore, a balance must be found to help sustainable brands gain a larger market share without compromising their values. It's important to recognize that sustainable fashion will never reach the rock-bottom prices of fast fashion, nor should it. Yet Governments could make it more difficult for unsustainable businesses to operate, and consumers should meet brands halfway by prioritizing quality, ethics, and sustainability over sheer quantity. Only by making sustainable products the norm and reducing our consumption will we be able to make it accessible to all.

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