Sustainable Fashion

We could all make better decisions when it comes to making more sustainable clothing choices. But I think folks (like me) are missing authoritative and comprehensive guides that could help us minimize our impact while also acknowledging that fashion is an artform that we should still be able to find joy in. So I pitched a graphics-rich feature story that would:

• Provide global context for what’s at stake from a climate and human-rights point of view,

• Address how technology, policy, and people are contributing to change, and

• Break through the greenwashing to provide consumers with information that will help them make more informed choices.

I joined forces with my text editing colleague Jen Schwartz to execute the idea. We enlisted journalist Jessica Hullinger to write a main feature on article on the backlash against fast fashion, sustainability expert Laila Petrie to help with a companion guide to building a sustainable wardrobe, and art researcher Amanda Hobbs to pull together information that was invaluable for informing the graphics. Photo editor Monica Bradley and design director Michael Mrak rounded out the package.

A newsletter/social media-friendly animation sample and a few of the mobile-formatted graphics are shown here. All were also formatted for print and larger web viewing.

For more context—and to see more graphics—read the full articles at Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-fast-fashion-backlash-is-fueling-a-sustainability-revolution/ and https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-beginners-guide-to-ethical-and-sustainable-fashion/

Graphics by Jen Christiansen (design) and Amanda Hobbs (research support); Sources: Circular Fashion: Making the Fashion Industry Sustainable, by Peggy Blum; Circular Fashion: Sustainability and Circularity in the Textile Value Chain: Global Stocktaking, Published by U.N. Environment Program, 2020; Plastic in Textiles: Potentials for Circularity and Reduced Environmental and Climate Impacts, by Saskia Manshoven, Anse Smeets, Mona Arnold and Lars Fogh Mortensen, Published by European Topic Center on Waste and Materials in a Green Economy, 2021; Facilitating a Circular Economy for Textiles Workshop Report, by Kelsea Schumacher and Amanda L. Forster, Published by National Institute of Standards and Technology, May 2022; and “Microfibres from Apparel and Home Textiles: Prospects for Including Microplastics in Environmental Sustainability Assessment,” by Beverley Henry, Kirsi Laitala and Ingun Grimstad Klepp, in Science of the Total Environment, Vol. 652; February 20, 2019 (primary references)