7 TED Talks on Sustainable Fashion

While we are all coming together to fight global warming, it seems as though almost every aspect of our lives plays some role in the way in which mankind has contributed to our warming planet. Whether it is driving the car to work, disposing of waste, or the number of flights we make each year, it all feeds into the problem we are facing. Similarly, fashion is no different.

From manufacturing to how we dispose of our clothing, the fashion industry is a serious polluter. From cheaper garments through keeping them for less time to throwing them away when they are no longer in fashion or useful, it all adds up.

Therefore, we hope you enjoy our selection of TED talks on sustainable fashion. Each takes a view on the role that sustainable fashion, fashion that consumes fewer resources and ultimately causes less harm, can play in helping our environment.

Why We Need Sustainable Fashion Inspiration

Most of us follow fashion in one way or another. Whether we keep up with the trends of the fashion industry or we do our own thing, the vast majority of the clothes we wear have a detrimental impact on our environment².

The first problem we face is our throw-away society. As trends change, we often simply throw away clothing. Much of which will end up in landfills.

The other concern is what our clothes are made of. Many of us, unknowingly, will be wearing clothing that contains plastic. Even your wool jumper with 25% nylon contains synthetics derived from plastic. Staggeringly 65 million tonnes of plastic were used to manufacture our clothes in 2016. Plastic waste is a huge problem, and clothing plays a part in this.

As environmental concerns grow, we must encourage thought as to what happens to our clothing once we discard it. We have to actively think about recycling it or make sure we dispose of it correctly. Or even better, make it last.

One way to easily contribute to fashion not becoming environmental waste is to give someone else's items a new lease of life and a new home.  Buying vintage or second-hand from online thrift shops helps to create a more circular fashion industry. At least those thrift items get re-used.

As we get this right, then we are on our way to helping reduce fashions' environmental footprint.

The second problem we face is the manufacturing process. As we throw away clothing and purchase more, supply has to keep up with demand. Therefore, the manufacturing process becomes quicker, and we produce more, which causes us to use more resources and create more pollution.

Fast fashion may provide us with cheap t-shirts and on-trend garments a week after they’ve been on tele¹, but it doesn’t work for the environment. This is why we need to think about ethical fashion.

So, these ted talks are aimed at highlighting sustainable fashion. They are thought-provoking and help us to identify the problems we face.

7 TED Talks On Sustainable Fashion

1. How to Engage with Ethical Fashion – Clara Vuletich

Both a designer and a sustainability educator, Clara Vuletich has worked with big fashion brands to implement better sustainable practices. As part of this talk, she explains the lifecycle of our clothing. She also touches on the issues within the fashion industry while providing tips on how to be more eco-conscious when it comes to fashion.

She inspires and informs. Her impressive understanding is effective at conveying her message clearly. It enables viewers to learn about how our clothes are made and what they contain. She also discusses important values that the fashion industry needs to think about too.

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2. The Wardrobe to Die For – Lucy Siegle

A British writer and someone who feels passionate about environmental issues, Lucy Siegle has one goal - to make environmental issues surrounding the fashion industry clear and accessible.

This TED talk will introduce you to her work. She set out to help us understand the impact that our wardrobe has on the environment. She supports her argument by introducing key numbers and statistics drawn from scientific research.

Lucy ably shares her belief that we can all become a part of ethical fashion, and also maintain a fashionable look. And how this can be achieved by gaining an understanding of what we wear and where our clothes are made.

In “The Wardrobe to Die For,” she helps us to understand how our shopping, what we purchase, and the fashion decisions we make impact our environment. She follows this up with her ideas about how the fashion industry can make a change for the better.

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Buy Lucy's book on Amazon: To Die for: Is Fashion Wearing Out the World? Lucy Siegle

3. Changing the World Through Fashion – Eva Kruse

The Copenhagen Fashion Summit is the largest event that focuses on sustainability and fashion. The driving force behind this is the Danish Fashion Institute, of which Eva Kruse is the CEO and President.

In her TED Talk, she focuses on the way in which the fashion industry has the ability to tackle social, environmental, and ethical issues worldwide.

Further, she also indicates how consumers can play a role. As such, she states that consumers should not wait for sustainable options to come to them. Instead, they should take a proactive approach in order to alter the fashion industry and the way in which it approaches sustainability.

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4. You Are What You Wear – Christina Dean

Dr. Christina Dean’s work looks to enhance environmental sustainability within the fashion industry. As the founder and CEO of Redress, which is a not-for-profit organization, she aims to promote and encourage a new way of thinking about fashion

In this talk, she relays her deep understanding of the impact of fast fashion on our environment. Through her travels, she has seen first-hand the impact that it has. As a result, she encourages consumers to consider what they buy, look after their clothes, and recycle where possible.

By educating her audience with fast fashion facts and examples, she provides people with the information they need to make more ethical fashion decisions.

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5. Redressing the Fashion Industry – Orsola de Castro

Orsola de Castro is the founder of Fashion Revolution as well as the creative director. She is someone who believes in up-cycling clothing, and during her talk, she expresses the need to raise awareness of green fashion.

As a result, she discusses how we can use waste to create clothing. In doing so, she believes that this can provoke a circular approach to fashion manufacturing. What’s more, she also believes that it will change attitudes when it comes to sustainability and fashion working together.

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5. Why I Live a Zero-Waste Life – Lauren Singer

This talk differs slightly from the others as it is not based on sustainable fashion. However, it does discuss how our clothes are made and what they consist of.

Lauren Singer is the founder of the Package Free Store in New York, a zero-waste store. She is also a zero-waste blogger and influencer. As part of this talk, she discusses her journey to becoming a zero-waste supporter. She also provides her insight and experience in doing so, helping inspire others to become a part of the zero-waste movement.

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6. Wear Nothing New – Jessi Arrington

This talk is simply aimed at provoking consumers to consider that they no longer have to purchase new outfits. Jessi Arringtonaims promotes our ability to reuse and recycle. She believes that none of us has to wear anything new. Therefore, we can repurpose what we already own and purchase used items from second-hand stores.

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How We Can Take Inspiration From These Ted Talks on Sustainable Fashion?

The reality is that most of us are guilty of purchasing new clothing when we don’t need to. We change our looks, seek out new trends, and try to stay in vogue.

However, we don’t always need to, and we certainly don’t have to conform to the ideas and thoughts of brands and designers or the latest trends. In fact, arguably, one of the latest trends looks set to be keeping our clothes for longer, choosing to buy from sustainable fashion brands, and demonstrating our care for the environment.

Clothing has a real impact on our environment. However, the impact has taken a back seat because of other causes of greenhouse gases, such as cars or industry.

The truth is, we are all a part of this because we all need clothing. While some of us might not drive cars and contribute to the problem in that way, we can all play a part in improving the status quo with our clothing choices. As such, incremental changes to our purchasing decisions will further help create a more sustainable fashion industry for the future of the planet.