I love fashion. I love its creativity, playfulness and ability to surprise us, provoke us and make us think. Fashion is much more than the clothes we wear. It is a means of communication, an expression of identity, social values and belonging. Through clothes, we tell others who we are, who we want to be and even what kind of world we hope for. This is precisely why I believe that, despite its large environmental, economic and social footprint, fashion has exceptional potential to become one of the drivers of society's sustainable transformation. But can fashion truly be sustainable when its modern industry is based on continually producing new collections, encouraging consumption and creating the feeling that what we bought yesterday is already outdated today?
Critics of the fashion industry will readily argue that fashion cannot be sustainable, that the concept of sustainable fashion is an oxymoron, a contradiction in itself.
The complexity of sustainable fashion was also illustrated by a PETA protest at the COS fashion show in New York on 13 September 2026. Activists criticised the use of wool and drew attention to the treatment of animals in its production.
The case raised an important question: can fashion be considered sustainable if it meets some environmental criteria while also raising serious animal welfare concerns? In the broader debate about sustainability, we cannot overlook working conditions and the human rights of workers in the fashion industry either. The answer is not simple, because sustainability involves considering different, sometimes conflicting criteria.
At first glance, this seems an insoluble contradiction. Fashion implies change, while sustainability calls for responsible resource use, durable products and less waste. Yet the problem is not change itself, but the belief that every change requires buying something new.
The problem is consumerism, not fashion
In my academic work on sustainable fashion, I have explored precisely this contradiction. Fast fashion has democratised access to clothing and fashion trends, but at the same time it has created a production model in which huge quantities of cheap clothing are produced, used briefly and discarded. The real cost of low retail prices is often borne by the environment and workers in global production chains. The consequences are well known: high water and energy consumption, pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, accumulating textile waste and working conditions that seriously threaten human rights.
Still, it would be wrong to conclude that the solution is to give up fashion. Fashion has existed far longer than the fast fashion industry. People have always used clothing to express social status, belonging, creativity and individuality. What must change is the economic model that measures success primarily by the number of garments sold.
Sustainable fashion is therefore not just clothing made from more environmentally friendly materials. It includes fair working conditions, quality, repairability, reuse and recycling, as well as a change in our relationship with clothes. The most sustainable item is often the one already in our wardrobe.
Fashion as a force for communication
I am particularly interested in fashion's potential for communication. Research I conducted with Nikolina Borčić showed that Croatian media mostly presented sustainable fashion as an interesting lifestyle or a promotional story about individual brands, and far less often as a serious economic, environmental and social issue. That is a missed opportunity.
Fashion attracts the attention of the wider public, especially young people, and can communicate complex topics in a simple, visually appealing and emotionally powerful way. A photograph, fashion show, documentary or story of how a garment was made can spark interest in issues that scientific reports struggle to bring to a broad audience.
When analysing documentaries about sustainable fashion, I noticed how powerfully they use emotions and persuasion techniques. Such communication can encourage change, but it also raises the question of manipulation.
Sustainable fashion must not become just another marketing label used to sell consumers even more products. Communication must therefore be credible, transparent and based on real changes in production practices. Calling a product sustainable is not enough. It is necessary to show why it is sustainable.
The future of fashion: less waste, more creativity
I believe the future of fashion will be shaped by connecting creativity, new technologies and the circular economy. Digital design, virtual clothing, more precise production, innovative materials and recycling technologies can reduce unnecessary resource use. However, technology alone will not solve the problem if we keep producing and buying more.
Changing business models will be equally important. Clothing repair, resale, swapping, rental, repurposing and designing products that last should become normal parts of the fashion economy. In that future, I see a special place for small designers, local manufacturers and creative entrepreneurs. Their competitive advantage need not be volume, but originality, quality, responsibility and the ability to create an emotional connection between a person and a garment.
Of course, we cannot place responsibility solely on consumers. We need clear rules for manufacturers, responsibility for products throughout their life cycle and public policies that encourage sustainable business models. Sustainability must also not become a privilege reserved for those who can afford expensive designer clothes.
Finally, alongside the question of whether fashion can be sustainable, another arises: can fashion really change the world? I think it can. Not because one sustainable collection will save the planet, but because fashion has the power to change social norms, desirable lifestyles and our ideas about value.
Imagine a society where it is prestigious to wear a quality garment for ten years, creatively redesign it or proudly say that we inherited it. A society where innovation matters more than overproduction, and personal style more than constantly following trends. This is not the end of fashion. Quite the opposite: it could mark the beginning of its most creative period.
Fashion can be sustainable if it stops selling the idea that we constantly need something new to be happy and starts promoting the idea that what we already have can be valuable, beautiful and special. Perhaps this is its greatest transformative power: to turn sustainability from an obligation into a desire, from sacrifice into creativity, and from a passing trend into a lasting social value.