The function is that garments need to be kept unsoiled while being transported from the manufacturer to their final retail destination. The point of customer acquisition is the end of a complex journey made by most of the clothing produced in today’s global economy. Most goods are now produced in Asia so, for the American market, they are shipped by sea to the West Coast. Next, the goods are shipped by truck or rail to the company’s Distribution Center, or DC are they are commonly referred. For most American clothing companies, these DCs are on the East Coast (Predominantly Virginia and North Carolina) or the Mid West (Predominantly Ohio and Wisconsin). Once in the DC, goods are sorted according to that company’s Allocation Plan. For example: two-thirds of Shirt X will be kept at the DC to fulfill online sales while a third will be distributed to retail stores. The amount of Shirt X allotted to retail stores will then be shipped by truck to various local distribution companies who are contracted out to distribute to the company’s retail locations. Once the garment reaches the retail location it will finally be removed from the plastic covering it was placed in at the manufacturing site. As for the supply of Shirt X allotted to online sales, they will often remain in their plastic packaging until reaching the consumer.
Obviously, some measure of protection is required to prevent goods from being damaged as they travel farther from manufacturer to consumer than most people will travel in their lives while being handled by more people than most of us interact with in a day. The problem is that using individual single-use plastics to provide that protection is – as is so often the case with plastic use – the easy way out that requires the least initiative. Organizing a global supply chain is arduous and fraught with challenges at every step and avoiding another challenge by continuing to rely on single-use plastics is understandable. However, the time has come that it is also irresponsible.
It has always been ecologically irresponsible but that has never been an impetus unto it’s self in a capitalist society. The impetus for change always comes from the consumer. 2019 has seen an unprecedented swell in consumer environmental consciousness. Every industry is feeling the push back against decades of disrespecting the environment to boost profits but the Fashion Industry appears to be both feeling and responding to this pushback the hardest. According to a poll recently published by Hypebeast, 2/3 of consumers polled place a high importance on brand activism. It’s worth noting that 73% of respondents to this poll were 25 or younger which means they are the consumers of the future and their influence on the market will only continue to grow. For the first time in the history of the Fashion Industry it has become fiscally imperative to implement environmentally responsible practices and to do so transparently because that’s what the market wants to see.
The overwhelming size and complexity of the supply chain for any retail company makes any move toward sustainability seem fiscally hazardous but theoretical options do exist. The two viable alternatives right now are reusable plastics and biodegradable materials. A system of resealable bags and lightweight stackable containers can be implemented to cycle from manufacturer to DC then resorted and sent to the retail market. The bags and containers can then be sent back to the manufacturer to reuse. This system would take an enormous financial investment to establish but could, in theory, cut costs in the long term. Most companies are currently too large and do not have the capital to invest in this kind of system on a large scale. It would have to begin with a small sample size and gradually scale up. For small companies and those just starting out, this is an ideal alternative if the initial investment for supplies is available. Biodegradable materials are applicable for large companies that can afford to swap out one material for another while keeping the rest of their system in tact. These are just starting off points once the decision has been made that a change in necessary.