Consumers are waking up to the disastrous impact fast fashion has on the environment. Here are six clothing companies that are challenging it with radical approaches to sustainable fashion.
Textile production releases 1.2 billion tonnes a year of carbon dioxide equivalent, making it a bigger contributor to greenhouse gases than international flights and overseas shipping combined.
The industry also has a terrible environmental impact in the countries where garments are produced. Producing, spinning and dyeing raw materials such as cotton uses huge amounts of water and often involves large quantities of pesticide and toxic dyes that leach into the ecosystem.
Materials such as polyester, nylon and acrylic are made from fossil fuels and do not biodegrade. They also can release micro plastics into the water supply as they are washed over their lifetime. Fast fashion ? where consumers are encouraged to purchase lots of cheaply made, so-called disposable clothes ? has only accelerated these problems.

An EU report published in January 2019 found that only half of used clothes are recycled, and only one per cent of these are turned into new clothes. The majority ends up in landfill or is incinerated, releasing more carbon into the atmosphere.
But the technology to turn used clothes into virgin fibres are being developed, and pioneering brands are embracing them. Increased awareness of the wastefulness of washing is also leading to clothes that need to be cleaned less.
To make fash...