This is more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined.

Have you ever stopped to think about the environmental impact your clothes have had?

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, it takes an average of 3,781 litres of water to make just one pair of jeans, from the production of the cotton to the delivery of the finished item to the store.

This process equates to around 33.4 kilogrammes of carbon emitted into the atmosphere.

If the fashion industry continues to drive at this pace,  greenhouse gas emissions will surge more than 50% by 2030, according to the Worldbank.

The coronavirus pandemic has impacted luxury and high street fashion trade significantly.

It has exposed many fashion retail businesses to various vulnerabilities, as well as providing them with an opportunity to re-evaluate their commercial, ethical and environmental values.

And it's not just priorities across the industry that have changed: consumers are responding in a way that indicates shopping habits and behaviours are more aligned to a sustainable and socially conscious way of life than ever before.

There has been a rise in conscious consumption enabled by new consumers who want to drive social change and make the planet more sustainable.

A study states that 49% of consumers under the age of 24 had avoided certain products or services due to the negative environmental impact, and a further 81% of consumers say that it is the responsibility of companies to help improve the environment.

In particular, millennials and generation Z shoppers are driving this trend: a staggering 73% of millennials will spend more money on a product if comes from a sustainable or socially conscious company.

These two demographics represent a huge chunk of the global consumer community, accounting for 85% of global luxury sales growth. (PDF)

Therefore learning how to engage with these consumers is vital.

The expectation from these consumers is that brands should align to their personal values, which have a direct link with their shopping behaviours.

Those that don't are heavily penalised.

Only a few months ago, fast fashion label Boohoo dominated headlines with accusations of modern slavery for paying its garment workers as little as £3.50 an hour.

Retailers Next and Asos were the first of many to stop selling Boohoo items on their platforms.

In light of these allegations, Boohoo's executive chairman has promised to rectify these failings across the business.

To avoid the fate of Boohoo and remain relevant to the consumer, fashion retailers and luxury fashion houses must take steps towards enforcing sustainable and ethical practices.

So what can we learn from brands that are doing this well? Continue reading

• Alexandra Swabe is a senior marketing consultant

For a magpie like me, this store is my nest. Half of the dresses in my wardrobe are from this shop.

Forever New has received most of my income to date, and at this rate will probably end up with my inheritance too.

So when a friend told me they used slave labour to produce the gorgeous clothing…I kept shopping there.

"Now that I have seen, I am responsible
Faith without deeds is dead"
- Albertine, Brooke Fraser

I Have Seen.
Do you remember hearing about the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh in 2013? It was a tragic event where 1,100 garment workers lost their lives in the second worst industrial accident ever recorded.

It was only tonight, doing the research for this article, where I made the connection. That a disastrous event like the factory collapse had something to do with me.

In the Ethical Fashion Guide released this month by Baptist World Aid Australia, 59 companies and 219 brands were rated on two points.

An overall grade of the company's labour rights management systems (rated from A to F). Higher grades correspond to systems which, when implemented, should reduce the risk of modern slavery, child labour and other labour rights violations.

An indicator of whether companies are paying their staff a living wage. A living wage is a wage sufficient to meet their basic needs.

It is not without some bitterness that I say, thanks to this guide, I can no longer pretend I don't know that my favourite store Forever New only has an average rating of a C+ and does not provide adequate living wages to its employees.

I have pulled out of the Ethical Fashion Guide stores which are of relevance to the average shopper in New Zealand. Continue reading

• Jessica Claire in Restless Press

Jessica studied Music Performance at the University of Canterbury and works as both a model and photographer.