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Statement Fashion: Designs That Communicate Brand Values

06-11-2024   


Fashion brands have the enviable position of using their designs as powerful communication tools, and this trend for designing clothes that literally speak to consumers has become increasingly popular. Today’s brands are eager to create statement pieces with bold messages aligned with consumers’ values, from highlighting sustainability to supporting social movements.

Cutting-edge designers and brands are aiming to gain trust, drive forward sales, and communicate to existing or prospective buyers the sustainable journey of their fashion lines and all their shared values and ethics

This article explores why brands might want to showcase their sustainable values and the approaches they are adopting to get their brand’s message out.

(Vin + Omi use their designs and fashion shows to make a statement about current issues such as climate change, plastic waste, war and corruption, images by Chris Daw.)

Why Sustainability Matters in Today’s Fashion Designs

Today’s consumers are even more discerning about understanding where their clothes and goods have come from, what the brand is about, and what their actual sustainable fashion credentials are, in terms of tackling fashion pollution, water use, carbon emissions, human rights, and gender inequalities. 

Indeed, recent reports indicate that the global fashion industry causes significant environmental harm, producing greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 per year. Whether it’s the manufacture of fashion using heavy-duty textiles, overproduction, or textile waste from so called ‘fast fashion’, brands are under increasing pressure to address sustainability and regulate operations to minimise waste and adopt sustainable methods across a garment’s lifespan. 

The fashion industry is not alone in these sustainability campaigns and endeavours. Businesses are switching to circular economy models and facilitating re-commerce for fashion, household items, and tech, focused on designing products to be longer-lasting, repairable, and recyclable. Others encourage and facilitate the exchange of used items. Online retailers like MPB recirculate 570,000 items a year and publish an annual Impact Report to highlight their sustainability success.

Evolving Designs That Spell Out Values

The evolution of statement fashion has transformed clothing from mere aesthetic pieces into vehicles for brand messaging. Competing to be heard among big brands in the fashion industry can be tricky, yet successfully communicating values represents a positive market opportunity for small and emerging designers. 

Designers are increasingly using clothing as a canvas for communication. They can tailor designs to speak to consumers and convey niche messages, from simple slogans, fun or entertaining words, or the more high-brow complex messages on topical environmental insights, global plights, or their own corporate values. 

According to Statista, over four billion pieces of clothes are consumed every year in the UK with brands like Patagonia responding with eco-friendly campaigns, such as “Worn Wear” to advocate their message. This transformation goes beyond traditional branding, and is about a new realm of social commentary and environmental advocacy. With consumers more aware of fast-fashion’s negative impact on the planet, brands have had to respond and be more vocal if they do have an authentic ‘’Made in Britain’ label.

Therefore, today’s focus and drive in brand messaging has become about addressing and tackling the environmental impact of each piece of clothing designed and manufactured. It’s about documenting, evaluating, and justifying every inch of the life journey of that clothing from its raw material stage and design, through to its delivery or return date. 

Adopting Novel Eco-Friendly Approaches 

Fashion brands are exploring new eco-friendly dye techniques to address the level of waste generated by clothing that is bought, burnt, and sent to landfill every year. Their zero-waste designs demonstrate how sustainable practices can enhance, rather than restrict, creative expression.

Innovative material use has become central to this approach with designers developing sustainable textiles and creatively reusing materials. By adopting eco-friendly approaches, fashion brands not only minimise their environmental impact but can communicate these efforts through their product labels and brand messaging, authentically marketing their commitment to sustainability to consumers. 

In turn, this gives their designs a unique character, creating garments with both eco-conscious flair and an artistic licence. For instance, there is now more detailed information about sustainable farmed cotton, durable textiles, and production processes which are described and woven into garment labels and tags. From Primark to M&S, many high street UK brands offer tips to customers on how to repair garments, or offer options to trade them in for reuse to celebrate longevity and reduce overconsumption.

Embracing the Eco-Conscious and Luxury Catwalk Era

Transparent labelling has become a cornerstone trend, to communicate your brand values, whether you are a luxury or emerging designer, as an eco-conscious 2025 catwalk overview demonstrates. In fact, well-known and high-end designers like Stella McCartney frequently highlight their material’s origin story as part of the aesthetic, by incorporating recycled ocean plastics in ways that make a valuable ecological point.

Like other fashion and global pioneers, Stella McCartney continues to champion the relationship between luxury and sustainability, presenting collections that showcase the possibilities of cruelty-free and recycled materials. In doing so, these labels and high-profile catwalk shows inspire growing sustainable brands and smaller labels to incorporate sustainable practices and messages without compromising their unique design integrity, brand identity, or consumer appeal. 

Using visuals, icons, and symbols on clothes, brands are able to deliberately raise awareness on topical issues, have an impact, and make a difference. For example, clothes designed with nature-inspired patterns can be thoughtfully integrated into pieces to communicate and inspire environmental action. 

The future of statement fashion points toward even greater integration of technology, with smart fabrics containing embedded sustainability information and blockchain tracking ensuring ethical production standards are met. Advances in technology have enhanced these efforts with smart labels and QR codes inviting consumers to access detailed information about a garment’s journey from material to finished product. Likewise, artificial intelligence (AI) has a role to play in sustainable design solutions and innovative messaging or image possibilities..

In summary, statement fashion has evolved to become a key tool for brand communication and shared values attracting a greater awareness about sustainable fashion approaches,actionable changes, and awareness. With sustainability at the core of messaging, the role of clothing remains as a powerful medium for conveying ethical messages, ensuring that sustainability remains both visible and desirable in the fashion landscape.

Article by Dakota Murphey

All images Vin + Omi by Chris Daw




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