The Wellicious team is a strong believer that the only answer to fast fashion is not only slow fashion but slower fashion. Fast fashion companies manufacture their collections up to 20 times a year, whereas slow fashion companies produce their collections twice per year. But this is not enough for us! That is why we have even decided to not follow the normal fashion cycles of slow fashion such as Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter anymore, but only to manufacture our products as soon as we are low in stock. Slower fashion will allow us to offer even fewer but more durable and eco-friendly Wellicious styles in the future. This way we will minimise the impact of our products on the environment as well.
In addition, our products are Cradle to Cradle Certified®, the world's most demanding standard for manufacturing products, ensuring that all aspects of product design and manufacturing are transparent and sustainable. Wellicious therefore also received a 'Gold' Cradle to Cradle Certified® certification as well as a 'Platinum' award for Material Health. The garments in the Cradle to Cradle Certified® Yoga Collection are made from safe and biodegradable fabrics and accessories.
But why is fast fashion so damaging? Fast fashion makes the newest fashion trends accessible to consumers around the world as quickly and cheaply as possible and make its purchase tempting and the disposal painless for them. However fast fashion has an immense impact on the environment with each step of the clothing life cycle generating potential environmental and occupational hazards. Thus, the fashion market has become the second largest polluter in the world economy after the oil industry with the apparel industry contributing to 10% of global carbon emissions. According to the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC), textile manufacturing pollutes as much as 200 tons of water per ton of fabric.
An estimated 17 to 20% of industrial water pollution comes from textile dyeing and treatment, and an estimated 8,000 synthetic chemicals are used throughout the world to turn raw materials into textiles, many of which will be released into freshwater sources. Even natural materials such as cotton are responsible for 22.5% of the use of insecticides and 10% of the use of pesticides globally. Finally, a highly competitive environment and buyers who put pressure on their suppliers have also led to poor working conditions in a lot of developing countries.
Fortunately, things are changing, however not fast enough...
Wellicious is proud to offer an eco-premium, biodegradable, safe and circular Yoga line. Click here to check it out and join us in our sustainable revolution!
Until next time,
Your Wellicious team