SAVE THE WORLD - BUY BESPOKE

Invest in a Savile Row suit and help save the world. That may seem a somewhat exaggerated claim, yet a recent report from the highly respected Shirley Technologies suggests that buying fast fashion, low-cost clothing is in fact costing the earth.

"People purposely buy 'fast fashion' to wear a few times and throw away, but in
doing so they are going through raw materials four times as fast, using four
times as much water and four times as much chemicals,” reports Asif Shah of Shirley Technologies.

As one of the world's foremost textile testing laboratories, this body has conducted research which shows that low priced garments come at a high environmental cost. Add to this the fact that only 12 per cent of textiles are recycled when they are disposed of, and a Savile Row suit, made to last, in cloth of  natural fibres, and even passed on to the next generation, clearly is the environmentally sound choice.

For over 80 years, Shirley Technologies has been dispensing an unrivalled technical service on textiles, used by manufacturers, retailers, the legal profession, police, consumers and related interest groups including Trading Standards, respected for its independence and authority. www.shirleytech.co.uk

The cost of a Savile Row suit, like these fine example, is to be considered in context with environmental concerns. At top, from Anderson & Sheppard, using another of the popular Prince of Wales-type checks, here with the black and white glenurquhart design and a pale blue overcheck, in a fine wool worsted. Left, a Huntsman suit, in green wool tweed with overcheck.

FOOTPRINT LABELLING LEADS ENVIRONMENTAL BANDWAGON

The environmental lobby grows apace, from bespoke salvation, above, to that most ubiquitous of clothing items, the common T-shirt.

At  the Spring London Fashion Week, the very first  clothing label to detail the carbon footprint of a garment was launched by Continental Clothing.

From raw materials and manufacturing, through to consumer use and care, the label aims to inform on the entire lifetime footprint of the item. Continental Clothing claim to have reduced the CO2 emissions from their manufacturing stages by an impressive 90% through the use of renewable energy and low-footprint production approach.

With a government goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by the year 2050, we can expect to see increasing measures to bring about changes. Labelling is one way of educating the consumer and although Continental’s move covers just T-shirts and sweatshirts, these are the mass market lines sold in such numbers that reducing their carbon footprint can indeed make a difference.

Research shows that as much as half of the total footprint of clothing can come from consumers’ home laundry activities, a particular hotspot being tumble-drying, which produces twice the emissions of automatic washing. Avoiding tumble-drying and ironing could reduce the total footprint by as much as one third overall, as advised in the label, shown below, with its total carbon footprint.  

“With the application of the carbon label, the humble T-shirt has become the environmental product,” said Continental Clothing director, Philip Charles. “T-shirts are worn by virtually everybody, everywhere, and so are the ideal ‘first step’ through which to take action to combat climate change.” 

This points up the benefit of tailored suits - though they should be cleaned regularly, they obviously do not require instant washing. For them to remain fresh and retain their shape, each one should be worn on a rotation basis - so that each suit in a wardrobe is 'rested'. Unhappily, looking at the ingrained concertina creases on some, especially those worn by politicians, it is obvious they suffer from being worn constantly, and without pressing.

There is clearly a need for a campaign to "Rest Our Suits".

Meantime, Savile Row tailors may soon be promoting the environmental benefits of their creations. Watch for further developments, as others leap onto this bandwagon.