100 h o n g k o n g tat l e r. a u g u s t 2 0 1 9
EDWIN KEH
CEO OF THE HONG KONG RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF TEXTILES AND APPAREL, WHICH PROVIDES SERVICES FOR APPLIED RESEARCH, TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AND COMMERCIALISATION
industry to adopt sustainable practices by
transitioning from the linear production
model of “take, make and waste” to a more
circular model that preserves value and
returns materials to the marketplace. This
is being achieved in both the manufacturing
process (think responsible labour laws,
upcycled materials and zero-waste
manufacturing) and consumption (such as
through vintage and second-hand trading).
But each part of the chain comes with its own
set of challenges.
THE CHALLENGES
Even in the 21st century, certain mindsets
hold the industry back from making positive
progress. During a recent visit to the Paris
headquarters of a luxury brand, Edwin
questioned senior directors about their
continued use of animal leather. “They said
it’s because they’ve been doing it for 100
years,” he says. “It’s almost sacred—the idea
that it’d be a compromise if they don’t do it
exactly this way. But, actually, they’ve just
locked themselves into this world they’ve
created and are fearful of deviating from it.”
Christina Kountiou, professor of fashion marketing and
management at SCAD Hong Kong, adds, “We humans don’t
take on an idea unless we’ve heard it three times at least.
One of my favourite fabrics is Tencel [an environmentally
friendly fibre made from cellulose]. It’s been around for
years but I don’t see how it’s not of equal importance as
organic cotton. If you talk to people in the industry, many
still consider it new.”
Often, technology that supports more sustainable
practices in manufacturing already exists but the industry has
failed to harness its power for a variety of reasons, from cost
factors (pineapple leather, for example, is readily available
but the meat industry makes cow leather cheaper and more
accessible) to, as Edwin experienced, tradition and inertia.
One brand that’s committed to heading in the right
direction is The R Collective, whose sophisticated garments
are made from recycled fabric waste. Given that up to 80
per cent of the non-financial cost of a garment—water use,
fossil fuels, emissions, etc—is generated before the garment
is even made, the use of recycled fabrics represents a huge
saving for the environment.
‘ ‘
t makes me want to cry,” says Hula CEO Sarah
Fung, one member of the Tatler round-table
discussion, as Edwin Keh, CEO of the Hong
Kong Research Institute of Textiles and
Apparel, brings up one of many unsustainable
practices of the fashion industry: the
destruction of unsold goods by luxury brands
to maintain scarcity and thus high prices.
After oil, fashion is the most-polluting industry in the
world today, causing environmental degradation and
pumping out ever-increasing amounts of greenhouse
gases. Despite efforts by luxury and mass fashion brands
to become more eco-friendly—huge conglomerates and
specialty retailers including Kering, Burberry, H&M and
Inditex, for example, have signed the UN’s Fashion Industry
Charter for Climate Action, which pledges to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2030—progress
is slowing down, according to a report in May by the
Global Fashion Agenda, Boston Consulting Group, and the
Sustainable Apparel Coalition.
Today there’s a growing movement in the fashion
