Stella McCartney Helps Launch New Sustainable Fashion UN Charter

(Photo: Fashion designer Stella McCartney via StellaMcCartney.com)

by | Nov 30, 2018

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Stella McCartney

(Photo: Fashion designer Stella McCartney via StellaMcCartney.com)

Fashion designer Stella McCartney plans to announce a United Nations fashion industry charter for climate action in early December, the Guardian reports.

The new charter will launch on December 10 during the Katowice Climate Change Conference in Poland (COP24), according to the news outlet. Besides McCartney, other signatories are expected to include large brands known for fast fashion.

“There is a reason the fashion industry clings to old-fashioned ways of doing things — it is cheaper and it is easier,” McCartney told the Guardian’s Jess Cartner-Morley. “What is essential is for the big players in the industry to come along with me, because that changes the price point.”

Approximately 30 to 40 international high fashion brand CEOs will be in attendance when McCartney unveils the charter next month, Cartner-Morley reported.

Earlier this month, the United Nations Environment Program released an article pointing out that the fashion industry produces 20% of global wastewater and 10% of global carbon emissions. “Textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of water globally and it takes around 2,000 gallons of water to make a typical pair of jeans,” the program says.

The UN Environment Program also noted that last year McCartney collaborated with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation on a Circular Fibers report proposing a new system based on circular economy principles. With backing from Nike and H&M, the report highlighted several key ambitions for a new textiles economy that included breaking away from disposable clothing, phasing out substances of concern, and radically improving recycling.

McCartney told the Guardian that she doesn’t want to pressure them into prioritizing sustainability but get them excited about participating. “We can only fix this mess if we work together,” she said.

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