A Review of Sustainable Fashion Design Processes: Upcycling Waste Organic Yarns  

Participant Stakeholders: Bunka Gakuen University, Fashion Global Concentration; United Nations University - Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS)
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Exceptional Women in Sustainability: Claudia Arana, Bunka Gakuen University, Isabel B. Franco, Anuska Joshi and Jyoti Sedhai (UNU-IAS)

Impact: The fashion industry has had a significant impact on the environment and overall global sustainability. Evidence shows it is the most polluting industry and the largest consumer of water, accounting for 20 percent of global water wastage detrimentally affecting both life on land and underwater. As such a few key stakeholders in the fashion industry have begun undertaking key preventative measures. These include but are not limited to the use of organic cotton crops, reduction of water use throughout the production chain, the implementation of a zero waste pattern making technique, second-hand shops, recycling of production materials, recycling discarded fishing nets into nylon fibre, and increasing the use of biodegradable fibres, crop’s waste fibres, bio-based fibres, and bio-textile processes and renewable sources like bamboo and hemp. The review presented in this chapter examines the fashion production cycle, the use of alternative organic materials and recycling processes for the sustainable production of yarns, whilst exploring the connections between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 15 Life of Land and 14 Life below Water. 

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