Dressed For Disaster: Why Fashion Must Confront Its Environmental Impact

Fashion has always been about anticipating the future. Now we must ensure there is one worth dressing for.

By Patrice Louvet, CEO of Ralph Lauren

Fashion has always been about what’s next. What’s the next trend? What’s the next color of the season? Who’s the next up-and-coming designer that will reinvent the runway? This same sentiment of innovation and forward-thinking is the essence of fashion, and it is what continues to power the industry today.

As CEO of Ralph Lauren for the last 8 years and having spent decades in the fashion industry, I’ve witnessed our industry evolve through culture, economic shifts, and global changes. Now we face our most significant challenge to date: the climate crisis demands a change in how we create, consume, and dispose of clothing. With the rise of fast fashion, how we respond to this crisis and face what’s next is more important than ever.

What many industry veterans refuse to acknowledge, young consumers understand: continuing fast fashion practices places their future on the line. They don’t just want sustainable options, they need them. True sustainability requires ethical sourcing and manufacturing at every level in the supply chain, including fair labor practices, circular design principles, and recycling of products after use.  

If you don’t believe me, just look at the sobering statistics. Three out of five of the 100 billion garments made in 2018 ended up in landfills within a year, according to the Clean Clothes Campaign. What was once about craftsmanship, quality, and essentials has become a race from brands to produce clothes faster and cheaper than ever. While celebrity collections and micro-trends often exacerbate these environmental issues, our collaboration with Billie Eilish demonstrates that it is possible to create a timeless capsule collection that will withstand the test of time and serve as an inspiration for brands and celebrities to come. We urge other brands to follow our same direction and analyze how they can tap into trends, without impacting the environment. 

At Ralph Lauren, we are not only committed to tackling this challenge head-on, but being a leader in the industry in how to create fashionable pieces without sacrificing the environment. However, we recognize that this requires an unprecedented level of collaboration across a highly competitive industry. We cannot and will not be able to tackle this challenge alone which is why we need to share our innovation efforts, work together to establish new guidelines and initiatives, and most importantly, hold each other accountable. This cannot come from only one brand or one industry, but across all facets of manufacturing and distribution.

In response, we are in the process of establishing Future Fashion Collective launching at the end of this year where we will be donating millions of dollars each year to support environmental innovations across the industry. Part of this initiative will also include education and research-based sharing of knowledge, such as open sourcing of our sustainable production methods because planetary health supersedes patent protection. We urge other brands to take part in this collective.

The question isn’t whether the fashion industry will change – it’s whether we’ll lead that change or be dragged into it kicking and screaming. The choice is ours, but the consequences are everyone’s.

*All content is for academic purposes only and in no way affiliated with Ralph Lauren.