SUSTAINABILITY WITHIN THE FASHION INDUSTRY: INTERVIEW BETWEEN KATHRYN WELLS AND JO - ANNE KELLOCK 

Kathryn Wells, Communications Manager, Craft Australia, (CA) interviewed Jo-anne Kellock, the CEO of the CTFIA, to ask her about sustainability for the textile and fashion industry and how CTFIA are involved in industry programs, policy and marketing. March 2011. 

CA: What do you see as the key components of sustainability for textiles in fashion?
Jo Kellock:
Last year Australia purchased one billion units of clothing and ninety percent of this was imported. This happens because it can be delivered faster and cheaper. However this faster, cheaper, easier model is not sustainable.  Not only are there serious consequences for the environment and social issues in the supply chain but, there are also serious consequences for the Australian textile and fashion industries.

There is an alternative view which is underpinned by an emerging trend where people are starting to value their purchases.  This means people are looking at what the value is in terms of production value and what related costs there are to their garments. Consumers now want to know where their clothes and shoes come from, what processes were involved in producing them and who has made them. This is a slower, more considered, more complex view that considers people as an investment.

The slower model is also more expensive in the short term. However, the faster model is not sustainable in the longer term as it is predicated on over-consumption. The principles of the slower model are reduce, re-use and re-cycle.  The slower model relies on recognizing that sustainability has to consider economics (in the full sense of the word), ecology and social equity.

This is relevant to our research into the need for our product within the marktet, people are becoming more interested in where products come from, how they are made and how sustainable they are. Thus our recycle focused product will be appealing to this growing consumer group.