LibGuides: Sustainability: Sustainable Fashion

eBooks

Videos

Fast Fashion: The Real Price of Low Cost Fashion

More Resources

University of Fashion

The University of Fashion has several video lessons focusing on sustainability in fashion including Introduction to Sustainable Design, Sustainable Materials for Fashion Design, and Eco-Textiles.

More Databases

Search the following library databases for articles, reports, eBooks, and videos on sustainable fashion. For other fashion resources, see the library's Fashion subject guide.

Berg Fashion Library This link opens in a new window (Bloomsbury) Part of the Bloomsbury Fashion Central platform, fashion studies e-books, for faculty, students, and researchers of fashion, museum studies, cultural studies, anthropology, and more.
Details and Terms of Use
Bloomsbury Fashion Business Cases This link opens in a new window (Bloomsbury) Part of the Bloomsbury Fashion Central platform, business cases for the fashion industry, covering issues such as sustainability, technology, ethics, and leadership. Faculty: To access 'Teaching Notes', you must set up a separate Bloomsbury profile. Please e-mail your liaison librarians at librarians@senecacollege.ca from your Seneca faculty e-mail account for instructions.
Details and Terms of Use
Business of Fashion (BoF) This link opens in a new window (Business of Fashion) BoF is an authoritative news and analysis portal of information for the global fashion industry covering not only trends in design and beauty, but also technology, sustainability, marketing, global markets, and entrepreneurship. Note that you must set up a separate BoF account, using your Seneca College email address to create it, in order to log into this database.
Details and Terms of Use
Ecotextile News This link opens in a new window (MCL News & Media) Reporting on environmental aspects of the fashion industry and the global textile and clothing supply chain. Includes a back issue archive of the magazine, podcast discussions, and job postings.
Details and Terms of Use
Fairchild Books Library This link opens in a new window (Bloomsbury) Part of the Bloomsbury Fashion Central platform, fashion studies e-books, for faculty, students, and researchers of fashion, textile, design, and visual merchandising.
Details and Terms of Use
WGSN Fashion This link opens in a new window (Worth Global Style Network) A fashion and style forecasting service providing fashion trend information, market analysis, retail news, store window and other images, textiles and CAD design information, and trade and fashion show news. We only subscribe to the "Fashion" database/component of this vendor's product offerings.
Details and Terms of Use
Women's Wear Daily (WWD) and Digital Daily This link opens in a new window (Fairchild Fashion Media) Online news and business insights for the fashion, esthetics, and textile industries from a publication that began in 1910. Includes Digital Daily, a news resource released daily by WWD. Our licence is for 10 simultaneous users only. Please close your browser to logout when you are finished.
Details and Terms of Use

Websites

Considerate Design
EcoCult EcoCult is a curious, thoughtful, science-based view into the international sustainable fashion industry.
Eco Fashion Talk
Ethical Clothing Ethical Clothing was founded with a simple goal, to make ethical decisions easier when it comes to buying clothes and accessories.
Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action (UN Climate Change)
The Fashion Pact The Fashion Pact is a global coalition of companies in the fashion and textile industry (ready-to-wear, sport, lifestyle and luxury) including their suppliers and distributors, all committed to a common core of key environmental goals in three areas: stopping global warming, restoring biodiversity and protecting the oceans. Launched as a mission given to Kering Chairman and CEO, François-Henri Pinault by French President, Emmanuel Macron, the Fashion Pact was presented to Heads of State at the G7 Summit in Biarritz.
Fashion Revolution Fashion Revolution was founded in the wake of the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013. Since then, we have grown to become the world’s largest fashion activism movement, mobilising citizens, brands and policymakers through research, education and advocacy.
Inhabitat: Fashion
MISTRA Future Fashion Program Sweden's MISTRA Future Fashion Program consists of eight projects designed to "generate new knowledge and recommendations that can be used by the Swedish fashion industry" to advance sustainable fashion. Watch videos, read updated and learn about the different research projects on this site.
Permacouture Institute The Permacouture Institute is an educational non-profit "for regenerative design in fashion and textiles." Visitors to the site can access their blog and read about the Institute's projects including an interesting Fiber and Dye Walk map.
The SPIN OFF
Sustainable Apparel Coalition "The Sustainable Apparel Coalition was founded by a group of sustainability leaders from global apparel and footwear companies together with leading environmental and social organizations who recognize that addressing our industry’s current social and environmental challenges are both a business imperative and an opportunity."
TED: Textiles Environment Design TED, a project of Chelsea College of Art & Design, London, attempts to "look at the role that the designer can play in creating textiles that have a reduced impact on the environment and to provide a toolbox of designer-centered solutions." Follow the TED blog for conferences, events and articles of interest.
Victoria and Albert Museum, What is Ethical Fashion? This museum page provides a brief definition of Ethical Fashion along with a list of several key issues. The site also includes links to interviews with several ethical fashion designers as well as a reading list.

Articles

Search for more articles using Library Search

Reports

Fashion Transparency Index 2021 This is the sixth annual edition of the Fashion Transparency Index. This year, 250 of the world’s largest fashion brands and retailers were reviewed and ranked according to what information they disclose about their social and environmental policies, practices and impacts, in their operations and supply chain.
Fossil-free Fashion Scorecard (Stand.earth) Click any company to learn about its performance in taking steps to deploy renewable energy in its supply chain, how its climate targets stack up against others, its state of progress in transitioning from fossil fuel based fabrics to low carbon materials, and its actions to reduce fossil fuel pollution from shipping. Or filter by company type to view the leaders and laggards in each area and by market segment, including athletic wear, luxury, casual wear, fast fashion, outdoor clothing and gear, and shoes
The Green Supply Chain Corporate Information Transparency Index The Green Supply Chain CITI Evaluation dynamically assesses brands on the environmental management of their supply chains in China. The evaluation uses government supervision data and public information published by the brand to assess overall supply chain environmental management.Scores are updated throughout the year as brands continuously work with their suppliers to respond to pollution issues as they arise. The CITI report, an annual analysis of brand action, has been published annually since 2014.

Sustainability Standards & Certifications in Fashion

B Corp B Corp Certification is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials.
Better Cotton Better Cotton is the world’s leading sustainability initiative for cotton. Our mission is to help cotton communities survive and thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment.
BLUESIGN THE BLUE WAY by BLUESIGN represents the vision and mindset of responsible and sustainable manufacturing of textile consumer products. BLUESIGN is a system that provides safer and more sustainable environments for people to work in and everyone to live in. Powered by a holistic approach, BLUESIGN traces each textile’s path along the manufacturing process, making improvements at every stage from factory floor to finished product. BLUESIGN changes the environmental impact of textiles for good. As a solution provider and knowledge broker, BLUESIGN acts as an independent verifier to secure trust and transparency. Corresponding to this approach, BLUESIGN encourages the industry to increase their efforts in sustainable processes step by step.
Cradle to Cradle Cradle to Cradle Certified® is the global standard for products that are safe, circular and responsibly made. Leading brands, retailers, designers and manufacturers across the value chain rely on the Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Standard to ensure the impact of their products on people and planet is a positive one. For more than a decade, Cradle to Cradle Certified has been helping companies to innovate and optimize materials and products according to the world’s most advanced science-based measures.
Fair Wear Foundation At Fair Wear Foundation, we know there’s a better way to make clothes. We want to see a world where the garment industry supports workers in realising their rights to safe, dignified, properly paid employment. To do this, we focus on garment production, specifically sewing, cutting and trimming processes–the most labour intensive parts of the supply chain. We work with our 140+ member brands, who are committed to finding a fairer way to make clothes, and we engage directly with factories, trade unions, NGOs and governments to find answers to problems others think are unsolvable. Together we’re stitching together new solutions across the supply chain to make fashion fair for everyone.
Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) was developed by leading standard setters to define world-wide recognised requirements for organic textiles. From the harvesting of the raw materials, environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing to labelling, textiles certified to GOTS provide a credible assurance to the consumer.
Green Button The Green Button is a government-run certification label for sustainable textiles. Everyone who aims to purchase socially and environmentally sustainable clothes should look out for the Green Button. It is attached directly to the product, making it easy to find when you are shopping – in a reliable and consumer-friendly way.
OEKO-TEX OEKO-TEX® enables consumers and companies to make responsible decisions which protect our planet for future generations. We consist of 17 independent research and test institutes in Europe and Japan. They are responsible for the joint development of test methods and limit values which form the basis for our standards.
Organic Content Standard (OCS) The Organic Content Standard (OCS) is an international, voluntary standard that sets requirements for third-party certification of certified organic input and chain of custody. The goal of the OCS is to increase organic agriculture production.
Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) + Global Recycled Standard (GRS) The Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) and Global Recycled Standard (GRS) are international, voluntary standards that set requirements for third-party certification of recycled input and chain of custody. The shared goal of the standards is to increase the use of recycled materials. The GRS includes additional criteria for social and environmental processing requirements and chemical restrictions.
Responsible Down Standard (RDS) The Responsible Down Standard (RDS) aims to ensure that down and feathers come from animals that have not been subjected to any unnecessary harm. It is our hope that the standard can be used to reward and influence the down and feather industry to incentivize practices that respect the humane treatment of ducks and geese. We believe that education – through the RDS – is a meaningful way to drive demand for strong animal welfare practices. The standard also provides companies and consumers with a tool to know what is in their products, and to make accurate claims.
Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) The Responsible Wool Standard is a voluntary standard that addresses the welfare of sheep and the land they graze on.

Online Magazines

Podcasts

Conscious Chatter An inclusive audio space, Conscious Chatter opens the door to conversations about our clothing + the layers of stories, meaning and potential impact connected to what we wear. Hosted by Kestrel Jenkins, Conscious Chatter reimagines the narrative around sustainability, explores the importance of resourcefulness, questions conscious consumerism, and works to deconstruct how oppressive systems impact the sustainable fashion space.
Ethical Fashion Initiative Podcast
Fashion Revolution Podcast
Style With Substance
Sustainably Influenced
The Wardrobe Crisis The Wardrobe Crisis with Clare Press is the world's leading sustainable fashion podcast.
Wear Your Values