Despite the exponential demand for eco-friendly clothing, most consumers don’t want to pay more...

First things first, what’s the impact of common fashion producing nowadays? Considering the enormous impact on the environment, fashion is estimated to be responsible for 10% of the global CO2 emissions, and almost 20% of global water wast. According to the UNECE, it is a must that sustainable options are available for all kinds of consumers. Eco-friendly clothing isn’t a luxury and should be affordable for brands to produce and also for finals clients to purchase.

“A survey conducted in April found that 67 % of consumers consider the use of sustainable materials to be important when buying clothes, while 63% also look at the way a brand promotes sustainability. The problem? Less than a third of consumers are willing to pay more for eco-friendly products, according to one report. “ - Vogue UK

Prices in fashion are extreme and becoming increasingly out of control. A phenomenon that occurs at both ends of the spectrum, with fast fashion and sustainable brands, the proliferation of such pricing disparity appears to symbolize something significant: Consumers have lost touch with how much garments are supposed to reasonably and responsibly cost.

MINT IMAGES - PAUL EDMONDSON VIA GETTY IMAGES

Sustainability comes with a price and involves more than fair pay to workers in factories. When shopping sustainable, you are paying for social, economic, cultural, and ecological terms such as caring for resources (natural and human), protecting land use and biodiversity, climate change, fight against modern-day slavery, hazardous chemicals, and pollution, consumption and waste. It’s all of us, manufacturers and brands, duty to keep spreading the impact of fast fashion and what sustainability means in order for consumers to value, and worth what they’ll be paying for. And also brands shouldn’t take advantage of the buyer's ignorance and overprice items.

"If you’re paying €3 for a shirt, let’s really think about what went into making that and the sacrifices that came along with [it]" - Brittany Burns, director of strategy and corporate development at non-profit Fashion For Good.

Next time we’re buying sustainable let’s consider, what am I paying for? And think about fast fashion and it’s super low pricing, which is constantly damaging the conception of fair-priced items, and the quality/pricing relation that has been misrepresented.

Source: Fashion United UK, Sustainable Fashion Forum, Vogue UK.