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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q.What is sustainable fashion?

A.Sustainable fashion is fashion that values diversity, prosperity and well-being of both people and the environment. For clothes to be considered ‘sustainable’, their environmental and social impact must be evaluated across the entire product life cycle — right from fibre to factory and onwards to consumer, point of disposal and potential reuse.

Q.Can fashion ever be sustainable?

A. Fashion will only be regarded as sustainable when it begins prioritising social and environmental concerns over making a profit. Any effort on the sustainable fashion front will remain insignificant if the rates of production, consumption and disposal of fashion constantly keep increasing.

Q.Can sustainable clothing be affordable?

A. There is a common misconception that sustainable fashion is expensive, but this isn’t necessarily the case. While it does come at a slightly premium price in comparison to mass produced fast fashion, it definitely brings you more return on your investment compared to the latter. As a brand, we have been honest about what our clothes are worth because we would never want to price people out of making a difference. To know more, take a look at our pricing transparency in detail here.

Q.Is sustainable fashion a trend?

A. While it may seem like a trend due to the sheer volume of fast fashion brands that are trying to use ‘sustainability’ as a greenwashing strategy to make more profits — sustainable fashion is definitely not a trend. Fashion makes a sizable contribution to climate change; to set that in context, the industry emits about the same quantity of greenhouse gases per year as the entire economies of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom combined. Sustainable fashion is not only the need of the hour but a way of life.

Q. Why buy sustainable fashion?

A. Unlike fast fashion, sustainable fashion values the well-being and prosperity of the environment and people. Sustainably made clothes are created with a conscience, so when you make a sustainable clothing purchase, you can breathe easy knowing that your purchase is not going to negatively impact you or the planet and that it will last you a long time.

Q.Is silk vegan?

A. Conventional silk is not vegan but peace silk is. The method of obtaining conventional silk involves mercilessly killing silkworms while they are in the cocoon itself by means of boiling, steam or hot air. To put it into perspective, 6,600 silkworms are slaughtered for the production of 1 kilogram worth of silk. Since vegan fashion is all about cruelty-free clothing, conventional silk cannot be considered vegan. However, ZAVI uses peace silk that does not harm silkworms and is actually vegan.

Q.What is peace silk?

A. Peace silk (also known as ‘Vegan’, 'Eri' or 'Ahimsa' silk) shares the same qualities as conventional silk, but it’s the method of fibre extraction that sets the two apart and what makes peace silk the more ethical and environmentally-friendly choice. Peace silk involves sericulture that encourages the silkworm’s natural process of metamorphosis by obtaining the cracked cocoon after the moth has broken free and emerged. Conventional silk, on the other hand, is obtained mercilessly by boiling or gassing silkworms while they are still in their cocoon.

Q.Is cotton biodegradable?

A. Cotton is plant-based and can therefore be considered a biodegradable material. In the right compost, the material could take anywhere between a week to five months to biodegrade. However, it should be noted that from an ecological perspective, organic cotton can biodegrade in a manner that is a lot cleaner than conventional cotton. Conventional cotton is notorious for its chemical use — producing 1 kilogram worth of conventional cotton garments can use up to 3 kilograms of chemicals.

Q.What is GOTS?

A. When an item of clothing has the GOTS label you can be certain that it is certified organic. The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) verifies the organic status of textiles across the supply chain — from raw materials to processing, manufacturing, packaging, labelling and distribution. To obtain their authentication, products must contain the minimum of 70% natural organic fibres.

Q.What is the difference between sustainable fashion
and slow fashion?

A. Slow fashion, just like the name suggests, is the exact opposite of everything that fast fashion stands for; it promotes the conscious consumption of made to last pieces that outlive trends. Whereas sustainable fashion values the well-being of both people and the environment. Both of them are interconnected; sustainable fashion cannot exist without slow fashion practices and fashion can’t be considered slow, unless it abides by the principles of sustainability.