FABRICS

Most of the designs are made of deadstock fabrics. Deadstock fabrics are fashion textiles that haven’t been able to sell or are leftovers from a brand or a fashion house that ordered too much, or they dyed the fabrics with the wrong color and are not part of any future use. I source the fabrics from the local textile mills because among the other advantages sourcing and producing clothes locally reduces the transportation distance of the products therefore it decreases the carbon footprint. With this practice, I’m preventing these fabrics from ending up on landfills and turn them into beautiful and exclusive garments.

Using deadstock fabrics is great for promoting slow fashion and producing in small quantities because each of these products or fabrics are in limited amounts and offers a range of a unique limited edition products.

I’m also into the idea of upcycling. It’s a great way to reduce waste and turn it into something wearable and functional. Upcycle is when you give another life to a product. Instead of throwing it into the trash, the product gets to be modified in a creative way and it is transformed into something of a higher value than its current state.

ORGANIC FABRICS

Another type of fabrics that you will see in Eira Gwin’s designs is organic fabrics with plant-based fibers like organic cotton, linen, hemp, etc. that don’t have a toxic impact on the environment, use less water to grow, don’t use chemicals that pollute waters and have a lower carbon footprint. They are also more durable and are better for sensitive skin and are biodegradable.

FOR EVERY PIECE OF GARMENT PURCHASED WE VOW TO PLANT A TREE!

Trees play an important role in our ecosystem. If there were no plants such as trees, we wouldn’t have air to breathe. They clean the air we breathe by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during the process of photosynthesis and when this process is complete as a result they release oxygen back into the air. Planting more trees is important for many reasons: they help in maintaining healthy soils and humidity levels in the air, reduce the risk of floods, filter the water we drink, provide food, support wildlife, and we as humans also depend on them too. Forests help cool the air around the earth. The planet is already warmer than it should be, but without trees, it would heat up even more. 

Trees are true wonders of nature.

They represent life and growth and the magical thing about them is that they give us a link between past, present and future.

When trees are threatened with extinction, so are we.

Trees need our love and care and we need trees. It’s up to us to take better care of the world’s trees and make this planet a better place to live.

sustainable development

Eira Gwin is based upon these following principles:

1. Slow production -Slow fashion- Less is more
2. Sustainable materials
3. Responsible use of resources
4. Recycling or reusing
5. Safe and fair working conditions

THE Fashion industry has a tremendous impact on the environment

water consumption

water pollution

The fashion & textiles industry is a major polluter of water at all stages of the value chain and is responsible for 20% of the world’s wastewater.   The discharge is often a cocktail of carcinogenic chemicals, dyes, salts and heavy metals that not only hurt the environment but pollute essential drinking water sources.

In most of the countries without strict environmental regulations, in which garments are produced, untreated toxic wastewater from textile factories is dumped directly into the rivers.

Textile dyeing is the second-largest polluter of water worldwide and the fashion industry produces 20 percent of the world’s wastewater.

Another major source of water contamination is the use of fertilizers for cotton production, which heavily pollutes runoff waters and evaporation waters.

The manufacturing and washing processes of synthetic fabrics, such as polyester, also release microfibers into water.

Manufacturing in the apparel industry also contributes to the water footprint of fashion. It’s estimated that around 20% of industrial water pollution in the world comes from the treatment and dyeing of textiles, and about 8,000 synthetic chemicals are used to turn raw materials into textiles.

In 2015 alone, the sector used 79 billion cubic meters of water. Meanwhile, UN estimates suggest that globally, 80-90% of wastewater is returned to the environment untreated.

Sadly, about 3,575,000 people die each year from waterborne diseases. Most of these numbers are children. Contaminated water in the textile industry may contain formaldehyde, chlorine, and heavy metallic chemicals and when contaminated water is used for drinking and other purposes, people get infected with various diseases.

 Many dyeing and finishing processes rely on toxic chemicals that affect the health of workers and leach out into rivers and groundwater systems degrading the land, compromising drinking water, and killing fish.

Once in the wastewater, dyeing chemicals are difficult to remove.

The substances don’t degrade so they remain in the environment.

CARBON FOOTPRINT

The fashion industry is responsible for 10 % of annual global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. At this pace, the fashion industry’s greenhouse gas emissions will surge more than 50 % by 2030.

The global fashion industry is generating a lot of greenhouse gases due to the energy used during its production, manufacturing, and transportation of the millions of garments purchased each year.

Fashion makes a sizeable contribution to climate change.

 The manufacturing and transportation of clothing from factories to their destination create emissions footprints. In addition, the synthetic fibers from which garments are made, such as polyester (a plastic made from oil), contribute twice as much pollution than these other sources to the overall process. 

Cheap synthetic fibers also emit gases like N2O, which is 300 times more damaging than CO2.

400% more carbon emissions are produced if we wear a garment 5 times instead of 50 times.

Synthetic fibers (polyester, acrylic, nylon, etc.), used in the majority of our clothes, are made from fossil fuel, making production much more energy-intensive than with natural fibers.

23kg of the greenhouse is generated for each kilo of fabric produced.

The manufacturing and transportation of clothing from factories to their destination create emissions footprints. In addition, the synthetic fibers from which garments are made, such as polyester (a plastic made from oil), contribute twice as much pollution than these other sources to the overall process.

WASTE ACCUMULATION

Waste itself is another big issue for the clothing industry. A lot of material is disposed through garment production, shipping, and wearing. In fact, 98% of textiles get sent to landfills, according to the book Circular Economy in Textiles and Apparel.

Synthetic fibers, such as polyester, are plastic fibers, therefore non-biodegradable and can take up to 200 years to decompose. Synthetic fibers are used in 72% of our clothing.

Only 15% of our clothing  is recycled or donated, and the rest goes directly to the landfill or is incinerated.

When clothes get incinerated, they release carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases, which diminishes air quality and contributes to the growing climate crisis, and that’s not the worst of it. Incineration also releases toxins from the dyes and chemicals used in the clothing. Some incinerators do have vacuum systems to keep the harmful vapors contained; however, most are vented directly into the atmosphere.

And when consumers throw away clothing in the garbage, not only does it waste money and resources, but it can take 200+ years for the materials to decompose in a landfill. During the decomposition process, textiles generate greenhouse methane gas and leach toxic chemicals and dyes into the groundwater and our soil.

If incineration is skipped, and clothing ends up in landfill, fibers can take hundreds, even, thousands of years to break down. And as most fibers are not compostable, so after years of decomposing, the chemicals and dyes begin to leach out of the clothing, and into the soil and groundwater. This is a significant problem, when you consider 115 million people in the United States rely on groundwater for their drinking water.

When clothes get incinerated, they release carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases, which diminishes air quality and contributes to the growing climate crisis, and that’s not the worst of it. Incineration also releases toxins from the dyes and chemicals used in the clothing. Some incinerators do have vacuum systems to keep the harmful vapors contained; however, most are vented directly into the atmosphere.

And when consumers throw away clothing in the garbage, not only does it waste money and resources, but it can take 200+ years for the materials to decompose in a landfill.

And as most fibers are not compostable, so after years of decomposing, the chemicals and dyes begin to leach out of the clothing, and into the soil and groundwater.

MICROFIBERS

Microfibers are tiny strands of plastic that shed off synthetic fabrics like polyester, rayon and nylon. Scientists have discovered that they are one of the main causes of plastic pollution in the oceans.

Microfibers shed from fabric through the production and washing of clothes and through normal wear-and-tear. Approximately 0.19 million tonnes of microfibers enter into the environment annually from the production and normal use of synthetic textiles.

Every year half a million tons of plastic microfibers are dumped into the ocean, the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles

synthetic materials are the primary culprits that cause plastic microfibers to enter our oceans. To be exact, approximately 35% of all microplastics are from these synthetic materials.  To further lower the price, producers turn to materials that may be of low quality. For example, many of the fibers are made of polyester, consisting of plastic and tend to release far more carbon emissions than cotton. Furthermore, plastic is slow to degrade in the ocean until a long time has passed. When plastic finally breaks down, it creates a toxic substance with a harmful impact on the marine ecosystems. As these plastic microfibers cannot be removed, they end up in the human food chain through aquatic life, causing many negative health effects. There are a variety of ways they can enter our ocean – most commonly from our usage of the washing machine.

Furthermore, plastic is slow to degrade in the ocean until a long time has passed. When plastic finally breaks down, it creates a toxic substance with a harmful impact on the marine ecosystems. As these plastic microfibers cannot be removed, they end up in the human food chain through aquatic life, causing many negative health effects. There are a variety of ways they can enter our ocean – most commonly from our usage of the washing machine.

WORKING CONDITIONS

Fashion industry is one of the world’s largest employers as a sector. The industry employs between 60 to 75 million people globally. The global fast fashion industry is often called out for the exploitative working conditions in its factories. The garment industry continues to use workers’ low-cost labour to make mass profits. they are exploiting the misery and taking advantage of poor populations who have no choice but to work for any salary, in any working conditions.

Approximately 85% of garment workers do not earn the minimum wage and are instead paid a piece rate of between 2-6 cents per piece. Garment workers are often forced to work 14 to 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. Workers are not paid overtime and toil in unsafe, cramped, dirty, and poorly ventilated factories , use of dangerous chemicals, inhaling fiber dust or blasted sand in unsafe buildings, no access to clean drinking water and restricted access to the bathroom.

.  Their basic wages are so low that they cannot refuse overtime – aside from the fact that many would be fired if they refused to work overtime. Workers who cannot keep up with production due to pain or discomfort are fired.

168 million children in the world are forced to work.  

Because the fashion industry requires low-skilled labour, child labour is particularly common in this industry. Many recruiters for the garment industry confess to deliberately seeking child workers, as children are seen as compliant and obedient.