VICE: Why do you feel fashion should think about sustainability?
Rick Ridgeway: Fashion needs to consider sustainability for the same reason any sector making consumer goods needs to think about it. As all the stuff that we humans make on a global basis collectively uses more resources than our globe can replenish, we are by definition in an unsustainable situation. We realize, of course, that pundits are saying this all the time, but at our company we continue to be amazed how most people still don't pay attention to it.
Rick Ridgeway: Fashion needs to consider sustainability for the same reason any sector making consumer goods needs to think about it. As all the stuff that we humans make on a global basis collectively uses more resources than our globe can replenish, we are by definition in an unsustainable situation. We realize, of course, that pundits are saying this all the time, but at our company we continue to be amazed how most people still don't pay attention to it.
Advertisement
If each year we are using one and a half times the resources that the planet can sustainably replenish, as scientists measuring this say we are, and if in the US the number is over five times the sustainable resource use, then we don't think you need an M.B.A. to know that is not sustainable. Maybe that's the problem: We think we are so sophisticated and clever with our knowledge that we lose sight of this simple math. At Patagonia, we remind ourselves what out mentor, David Brower, the founder of modern American environmentalism, said: "There is no business on a dead planet."In your opinion, how can the fashion industry become more sustainable?
The single most important thing fashion can do is to make products more durable. When you analyze the environmental footprint of an apparel product, it decreases as the life and service of that product increases, and as a product's life extends ten years and beyond, the decrease is exponential.The second-most important thing fashion can do is ask their customers not to buy what they don't need, and when they do buy it, to wear it. We know of course that nearly everyone in fashion reading this will respond that you can't do it. And we respond that we at Patagonia are doing it, and our business is thriving. And then most people in fashion will say, "That's because you have customers who care about these things, so they support you." And we answer that our customers live on the same planet as your customers, and you would be wise to assume that if your customers at the moment don't have the same concerns about the health of our planet as our customers, they will soon, and it will likely be very soon.What does fair fashion mean to you? Do you think it's possible to combine design heritage, wearability, quality, and durability at a fair price?
First, you have to make sure your customers understand the value of investing in a high quality and highly durable fashion product that, if designed with heritage as a goal, will provide service for years, if not decades. Second, you need to ask yourself what fair price actually means, because at the moment the full price — what is commonly referred to as the true cost — of apparel products is not accounted in the price on the hang tag. If the price of product goes up because it uses more environmentally sustainable materials, then isn't that price more "fair" than the lower-priced product that has a bigger impact? Third, if you make the same investments in raising the quality of life and livelihoods of the people making it, isn't that also a more "fair" price?Here again, many people will respond that they agree, but they can't afford to do that. But can you afford not to do it. Can you afford the potential risk for not managing both the environmental and social issues in your supply chain? Can you afford to place your organizations at competitive risk if you don't manage these impacts and governments pass regulations that force you to, on their timetables and not yours? Can you afford to make your organization a place where the best and brightest young people coming into the workforce now will refuse to work for you if you don't make these commitments?What kind of change do you hope to be a part of through your life and work in this industry?
At Patagonia, our key performance indicators are the numbers that measure the health of our planet. And they are all going in the wrong direction: global temperatures, desertification, deforestation, ocean acidification, freshwater eutrophication. I'm now in my late 60s, but I am still hopeful that I can live to see these numbers go in the other direction, and to think that responsible businesses run by responsible leaders will have a role in turning it around.This article was paid for by Copenhagen Fashion Summit and was created independently from VICE's editorial staff.
The single most important thing fashion can do is to make products more durable. When you analyze the environmental footprint of an apparel product, it decreases as the life and service of that product increases, and as a product's life extends ten years and beyond, the decrease is exponential.The second-most important thing fashion can do is ask their customers not to buy what they don't need, and when they do buy it, to wear it. We know of course that nearly everyone in fashion reading this will respond that you can't do it. And we respond that we at Patagonia are doing it, and our business is thriving. And then most people in fashion will say, "That's because you have customers who care about these things, so they support you." And we answer that our customers live on the same planet as your customers, and you would be wise to assume that if your customers at the moment don't have the same concerns about the health of our planet as our customers, they will soon, and it will likely be very soon.What does fair fashion mean to you? Do you think it's possible to combine design heritage, wearability, quality, and durability at a fair price?
First, you have to make sure your customers understand the value of investing in a high quality and highly durable fashion product that, if designed with heritage as a goal, will provide service for years, if not decades. Second, you need to ask yourself what fair price actually means, because at the moment the full price — what is commonly referred to as the true cost — of apparel products is not accounted in the price on the hang tag. If the price of product goes up because it uses more environmentally sustainable materials, then isn't that price more "fair" than the lower-priced product that has a bigger impact? Third, if you make the same investments in raising the quality of life and livelihoods of the people making it, isn't that also a more "fair" price?Here again, many people will respond that they agree, but they can't afford to do that. But can you afford not to do it. Can you afford the potential risk for not managing both the environmental and social issues in your supply chain? Can you afford to place your organizations at competitive risk if you don't manage these impacts and governments pass regulations that force you to, on their timetables and not yours? Can you afford to make your organization a place where the best and brightest young people coming into the workforce now will refuse to work for you if you don't make these commitments?What kind of change do you hope to be a part of through your life and work in this industry?
At Patagonia, our key performance indicators are the numbers that measure the health of our planet. And they are all going in the wrong direction: global temperatures, desertification, deforestation, ocean acidification, freshwater eutrophication. I'm now in my late 60s, but I am still hopeful that I can live to see these numbers go in the other direction, and to think that responsible businesses run by responsible leaders will have a role in turning it around.This article was paid for by Copenhagen Fashion Summit and was created independently from VICE's editorial staff.