Today, the term sustainability in fashion is tossed around endlessly, so much so to the point where it has become extremely confusing to identify what is actually sustainable and what is just a marketing ploy. Furthermore, the fact that the word ‘sustainability‘ has so many different interpretations makes it incredibly difficult to authentically enter the conversation. As the Co-founder and CEO of Maison de Mode, the world’s leading ethical fashion retail, consulting, and communications company, I am often approached by brands looking to thoughtfully incorporate sustainability into their business. With this piece, I’ve outlined a few ways a brand can tackle this obstacle.

It’s time to stop thinking about sustainability as a micro-trend and observe the problem from a wider vantage point by ultimately understanding that our planet cannot sustain the rhythm in which we deplete natural resources, excessive energy and water use, and waste ending up in our oceans and landfills. The earth has been communicating this message of unrest through the climate crisis we face today and the natural disasters that we can attribute to man-made impact.

In the same manner that we got ourselves into this crisis through years and years of taking and abusing from the earth, it’s now going to take an equivalent amount of time to make up for the damage and heal our earth in a way that creates permanent results. It is about both consumers and brands committing to doing their best day after day, purchase after purchase and not just looking for a quick fix solution.

At Maison de Mode we define sustainable fashion as anything that has a social, environmental or economic impact greater than the aesthetic value of an item. So as consumers, in addition to looking for pieces that are ethically produced and have longevity, one of the best ways we can make smart buying decisions is by researching and asking about a brand’s entire process. As you begin to research and explore you’ll find there are great sustainable options that resonate with your values and meet all of your fashion needs.

With that in mind, I’ve outlined my top four ways in which a brand can cut through the noise and authentically enter the sustainable fashion conversation and how consumers can support in the process.

1. When producing any item whether it’s a basic need -shirt or high-fashion item, take a look at your process from start to finish and explore how to improve each step. Ask yourself— how can you decrease your negative impact in each stage while adding a positive impact to offset those negative impacts you aren’t able to remove completely. Brands restructure their supply chains and manufacturing process understand that is how real long lasting change is made and it opens the way for others in the industry to follow suit.

2. Where and who are you producing your items? This is one of the most important questions a brand should be asking themselves. Producing in your region supports your local economy, saves on transportation impacts, and ensures you can closely monitor fair labor practices while simultaneously allowing you to be in more control of your entire production process. Of course, for those brands looking to produce outside their locality brands can choose to support artisans from indigenous communities. This is a great way to incorporate social impact into your brands ethos, one of the key pillars of sustainability.

3. Another great way for designers to breakthrough and authentically enter the conversation is to focus on creating fewer, timeless, year-round collections instead of the antiquated 4-6 collection a year approach. Produce pieces that will last a lifetime in your customers’ closets and that they can mix from season to season year after year. This action alone will help significantly decrease waste production all round if adopted by enough brands.

4. Lastly, upcycle— in short, reuse your fabrics and materials! Brands can find multiple uses for the raw parts of any piece once its lifetime has ended, whether by recycling or reusing dead stock or scrap fabric appropriately, there is always a better option than a landfill. Brands should also encourage consumers to donate, re-sell or adopt in-house recycling programs for consumers’ clothes when they no longer have use for them. If brands incentivized consumers with promotions if they recycled, it would be a win-win for the brand, consumer and the planet.