The Responsible FASHION Meter debuts AT COLOMBO FASHION WEEK
Introducing a new dimension to Colombo Fashion Week, Founder and
President of CFW Ajai Vir Singh has created a Responsible Fashion Meter which is a scoring system for each garment presented on the runway which addresses the journey towards circularity of the garment and beyond. Worldwide the shift is towards responsible fashion with discerning fashion consumers keen to know the story of the garment they purchase and the Responsible Fashion
Meter will help Sri Lankan designers convey the stories of the garments they create to fashion consumers.
Q WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO INTRODUCE THE RESPONSIBLE FASHION METER?
The world today is burdened by the problem each garment brings forth to strain the environment and every fashion supply chain is crying out for a solution. There is a need to assess the design plan and production process of each garment and its consumption that also encourages meaningful disposal. All this needs to give an actionable direction to the designer and the consumer. This need to encourage Responsibility was a key prompter. Hence, Colombo Fashion Week (CFW) in association with the Responsible Fashion Movement after months of research and behind the scenes work came out with a specific evaluation system that measures the Responsible journey of every garment. At CFW this season, we encourage our designers to think through the life of a garment and design in a way that the garment acts as a solution and minimises its negative impact on the environment. Therefore, this process enhances and makes the design process rich with creative thinking which brings forth a meaningful product.
Q WHAT IS THE RESPONSIBLE METER?
This is a new evaluation system which is relevant as a solution as it gives direction for a designer to move on a Responsible path, the first of its kind in the world. It evaluates the responsible journey of every garment on the ramp this season and thereafter. The scoring system celebrates the story behind each garment that is created by the designer. It takes into account the creative and the physical environment in which the garment was created and its impact on it. It is a progressive system that also captures other relevant factors that are key in fashion sustainability within the Sri Lankan environment. The three broad areas of this scoring system are Environmental, Societal and Organisational Wellbeing. It also encompasses circularity.
Q CIRCULARITY BEING A HOT TOPIC GLOBALLY, HOW ARE YOU TACKLING IT HERE IN SRI LANKA?
Circularity is an important emphasis for us, we have created action based impact areas which we are training designers on. So while Responsible Meter evaluates every garment, we have given ourselves a circular direction with the theme ‘Journey towards circularity’ and defined three actionable impacts, which every designer interprets for their garment. The three actionable impacts are
GARMENT ENHANCEMENT GUARANTEE
Each garment presented on the ramp this season comes with a Garment
Enhancement Guarantee. Each garment and designer has a different plan that prolongs the life of the garment. This also allows the designers to continue their relationship with the garment as well as allows the fashion consumer to enjoy the creative pieces by adding more value to that garment. This is an important aspect of slowing down consumption and enhancing perceptual value of the fashion garment.
DISPOSAL PLAN
Disposal is an important part of every garment designed that is shown at Colombo Fashion
Week (CFW) this season. This places special onus on the designer to think of the life of the garment in its entirety and the possibility of re-purposing its use after the fashion consumer has enjoyed their experience with the garment. The repurposing or giving new life to the garment into another form is an extension of the creative process as it transitions from one design piece to another. This impact-based action plan encourages circularity which reduces the fashion industry’s negative effect on the environment.
RETURN AFTER USE POLICY
The fashion consumer has a choice of returning the garment after reuse to the designer who will offer value for the next purchase. This policy makes the designer and their design process accountable. This expression is a testimony of completing a process where the creative piece returns to its creator after it has completed its journey with the consumer. The designer then plans disposal and re-use in a Responsible manner while being conscious of minimising impact on the environment.
Q WHY IS AN RM NEEDED?
For a responsible supply chain to make progress the eco-system for it needs to be created. The eco-system then builds a culture of consuming and appreciating responsible design. Responsible Meter facilitates the above while leading the designer towards his/her responsible goal. It also showcases and celebrates the journey of each evaluated garment and encourages the designer to continue the responsible journey and allows the fashion consumer to be aware while being part of the transaction. Increasing the life span and decreasing disposal is being kept at the forefront of the design process this season. The current issue the garment faces in its journey with the consumer is that it gets devalued with every wear or if not sold at the opportune time it faces the trial of “sale” at retail. This is the reason
CFW came forward to do the opposite to enhance the value and not allow devaluation.
Q WHAT IMPACT WILL IT HAVE ON FASHION CONSUMERS?
Each garment will carry a tag which details the responsible score thereby relating a story to the consumer. This dialogue is an important one as it increases knowledge and awareness amongst fashion consumers and builds an ecosystem to create and consume responsible fashion. A special emphasis is being placed on educating fashion consumers on the core theme of responsibility in fashion as they are an important stakeholder in creating an ecosystem that makes responsible fashion flourish and create a culture where consumers encourage designers to create more responsibly.
Q HOW HAVE THE DESIGNERS ACCEPTED THIS DIRECTION?
There was a process to acquaint each designer to this movement through one-on-one sessions. What was encouraging was that each designer had a heart for it and an intention to go on this journey. Then each participating designer was taken through training sessions which still continue as this is a new journey for them and it will move from phase to phase throughout the year. Each participating designer has pledged allegiance to this move and are advancing well on this journey. The ten point scoring system has been adapted by each designer according to their brand and scalability of it. The RM and the three key pillars have been uniquely adapted to each designer while working the parameters of the RM which is overseen by a panel of industry experts which include Ajai Vir
Singh, Founder CFW and RFM, Sharika Senanayake
Director Environmental Sustainability MAS Holdings and Upeksha Hager a Fashion Designer turned Eco / Organic enthusiast and promoter.