Sustainable by law: fast fashion and the new regulatory framework

“Sample” (2020) è un’opera fatta di fango e rifiuti tessili di Minga Opazo, artista cilena di stanza a Los Angeles, che esplorala relazione tra cambiamento climatico e produzione tessile. Nelle sue opere, Opazo indaga il concetto di solastalgia, un termine che descrive il disagio mentale ed esistenziale causato dai cambiamenti ambientali e dal vivere in un’epoca di eccessi, di consumo e di spreco.

It is natural to wonder whether a similar law would make sense in Italia. “The context is very different: France imports 97 per cent of the textiles it consumes, so the law essentially affects products from other countries,” explains Milena Prisco, a lawyer and ESG expert in the sustainable fashion sector. “Italian imports, by contrast, stand at 50–60 per cent, and our manufacturing supply chain in the sector is well-structured and strategic. Such a law would be a double-edged sword: on the one hand, it could certainly enhance Italy’s competitive advantage, because targeting the ultra-fast fashion model means rewarding those who produce quality, and Italia’s textile manufacturing excellence is based on the values of durability, reparability and circularity set out in the EU Textiles Strategy. On the other hand, however, that part of our industry operating in the mid-to-low price segments could be penalised by overly rigid criteria. The most desirable scenario is for Italia to play an active role in shaping European rules – the Ecodesign Regulation and the Textile EPR are already being implemented – rather than proceeding independently, at the risk of creating a national regulatory framework that is out of step with the EU’s.”

It must be said that, beyond the political and legal implications, the French law gives rise to reflections of a general, almost philosophical nature. According to Benoît Heilbrunn, lecturer in Branding, Design and Consumer Behaviour at ESCP Business School in Paris, the legislation alters our relationship with an important freedom: the freedom of choice. ‘For the first time, a state is not concerned with protecting consumers by ensuring they can make informed and, above all, free choices: by stipulating that certain market practices are unacceptable, it is safeguarding a new and collective principle – that of the world’s liveability.’ According to Heilbrunn, the strength of brands such as Shein lies in their ability to resolve a cultural contradiction. Today, in fact, consumers are faced with a vast array of products and ever-diminishing purchasing power. Ultra-fast fashion allows them to participate in the capitalist mechanism of acceleration at minimal cost. ‘It is no coincidence that, unlike traditional brands, these platforms do not create a brand image: they rely entirely on consumers’ freedom of choice and self-expression,’ he explains. The lecturer does not believe in the distinction between fast fashion and ultra-fast fashion. ‘The fashion industry has always been based on a principle of seasonality, which has been undermined by the invention of Black Friday; from that point on, a process of progressive acceleration began that must be condemned regardless of the number of garments released onto the market each day,’ he explains. ‘The platforms will certainly find ways to circumvent the law, which nonetheless has great symbolic significance, because it generally establishes that the time has come to set limits and return to the principle of garment durability. Governments can support and encourage this change: on the one hand, through tax systems that ensure quality textile products are affordable; on the other, by promoting information campaigns that explain to consumers how the notion of cheap products is a myth, because whilst purchasing them guarantees immediate satisfaction, in the long term it is financially detrimental’. In short, for a paradigm shift to take place, environmental awareness alone is not enough: we must ensure that consumers clearly perceive the benefit. This is the challenge for the future, and whilst Paris has pointed the way, it is Brussels that will have to chart the course.