RAWALPINDI: From opting for limited production to going plastic- and waste-free and creating and using biodegradable materials, Pakistani designers are on a quest to transform the fashion industry and send out the message that fashion, too, can be respectful of the planet.
Globally, the fashion business is responsible for 10 percent of global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined during the pre-pandemic period, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) said in a report last year.
Fashion houses around the world are thus now seeking to improve their green credentials to appeal to increasingly environmentally conscious consumers by reducing waste, cutting chemical use and producing biodegradable garments.
Many Pakistani fashion houses are also following suit.
In 2020, Islamabad-based designer Javeria Haroon launched Bridge & Ciel, a direct-to-consumer contemporary western-wear line, which she said represented a “conscious and green route” to fashion.
“Every article is made to order with minimum wastage patterns, choosing synthetic-free fabrics that will not abuse the earth, using environment friendly materials that can be recycled,” Haroon told Arab News in an interview. “And if and when these garments end up in landfill, they will biodegrade.”
She said there was room for “conscious fashion” in the Pakistani market, and designers needed to be aware of their climate effects from the “studio to the creation of the fabric, to the hands that stitched it, and lastly, the wearer.”
Haroon’s own company, she said, was 100 percent plastic-free even in its shipping and packaging and scraps left over from designs were reused as a commitment to a “zero waste” philosophy.
This year, one of Pakistan’s top designers, Zara Shahjahan, also launched sustainable fashion brand Jehan, which was “born out of the intention to create a forward movement toward careful consumption that is respectful of the planet,” its Styling Director Azka Shahid told Arab News: “Sustainability is the most significant design challenge that clothing is currently facing, and it is absolutely essential to engage with it if the art form is to survive.”
Jehan, which employs local craftspeople, has a philosophy of producing everything — from clothes, accessories and homeware — in small batches, has manufactured a type of cotton called kora that is completely untreated and free of chemicals, and aims for zero-waste, with some signature cotton pieces dyed using left-over vegetables from the local market that would otherwise be trashed.
“Though this is more time-consuming and costly than regular dyeing, we believe it is worth it,” Shahid said.
Another Islamabad-based fashion designer, Anuje Farhung, has taken her brand in a similar direction. Throughout the pandemic, she researched how she could transform herself into a conscious producer of fashion and replace existing materials with more eco-conscious options.
“I grew interested in symbiosis and the idea of materials doing more than just existing,” she said, saying she had asked herself multiple questions like, “What if they could have regenerative qualities? Or what if they were formed from a natural process as a bioproduct?”
Farhung thus teamed up with biologist Sarah Khan and produced a biodegradable solution to one of fashion’s most recognizable products: the sequin. Instead of the plastic that sequins are typically made of, the duo created a prototype made of red algae. They are now in the testing phase of dyeing the sequin using microbial processes to make it completely zero-waste.
Another brand, Repeat by Izza Fayyaz and Amna Mishal, features shalwar kameez and kurta designs using traditional craftsmanship to make modern cuts with biodegradable materials.
“Consumers are aware of environmentally damaging practices and they now want fashion that is sustainable, fair and circular,” Fayyaz told Arab News.
Jehan’s Creative Director Zara Shahjahan agreed, saying sustainable fashion was the future.
“Brand owners feel they can’t make money in sustainable fashion,” she said. “We have a chance to make a real change by being one of the first sustainable Pakistani brands and show the rest that it can be done. It’s a slow process but we are heading in the right direction.”