Sustainability in fashion isn&rsquo;t just a trend &mdash; it&rsquo;s a responsibility, but do we really know what it means?

We&rsquo;ve all seen it: the eco-friendly tag on a cotton T-shirt, the &ldquo;green choice&rdquo; label on a new pair of sneakers, the promise that this purchase will somehow save the planet. Sustainability has become the fashion industry&rsquo;s most popular &mdash; and most flexible &mdash; promise. But if sustainability is marketed everywhere, why does it often feel like we&rsquo;re falling for the same tricks over and over?
Fashion brands love to boast about their eco-friendly credentials, but what does that actually mean? Is it just a well-worn marketing gimmick, or is real change happening beneath the surface? The truth is, sustainability in fashion has become as trendy as the products it&rsquo;s meant to improve, but the language surrounding it is often vague, inconsistent and, at times, misleading. Terms like &ldquo;eco-friendly&rdquo;, &ldquo;carbon neutral&rdquo; and &ldquo;conscious&rdquo; flood our inboxes, flood the streets and flood the labels of clothes we&rsquo;re told we should buy. But do we even know what they mean? More importantly, do the companies that use them?
Dr Adrian Mabalay, a professor at De La Salle University-Manila, with expertise in environmental management and sustainable development, sees the core issue clearly: &ldquo;Instead of vague promises, brands should specify what they mean. Show the impact. Be measurable. Just like nutrition facts changed how we read food, we need that for fashion.&rdquo; That&rsquo;s the crux of the problem: marketing has made sustainability feel good, but it often hides a much more complex truth. Sustainability isn&rsquo;t just about buying better &mdash; it&rsquo;s about understanding the deeper processes and implications of what we&rsquo;re purchasing.

Many sustainable fashion campaigns boast about switching to more &ldquo;eco-friendly&rdquo; packaging or reducing plastic usage in their production. But is this really enough to undo the damage of overproduction?

Greenwashing is the term we&rsquo;ve coined to describe the practice of marketing something as sustainable when, in reality, it&rsquo;s more about optics than substance. The problem with this is simple: there are no universal definitions for terms like &ldquo;eco-friendly&rdquo; and companies have learned to select the language that suits them best. With no standardized certifications or third-party accountability, a product can be marketed as sustainable for using &ldquo;natural dyes&rdquo;, while the real environmental impact remains hidden behind the glossy image.
Think about it: a brand might boast about &ldquo;recycled materials&rdquo; used in a new collection, but is that really enough? Can we trust that &ldquo;recycled&rdquo; actually means what we think it does, or is it just a buzzword thrown around to make us feel better about the overwhelming impact of mass production? According to Dr Mabalay, transparency in sustainability isn&rsquo;t just about ticking a box; it&rsquo;s about telling a real story. &ldquo;Transparency becomes a creative strength when it&rsquo;s part of the brand&rsquo;s narrative,&rdquo; he explains. It&rsquo;s not enough to slap a label on a garment and call it green. True transparency means telling the consumer why it&rsquo;s green, how it&rsquo;s green and where it comes from. It means showing us the journey, not just the destination.
Many sustainable fashion campaigns boast about switching to more &ldquo;eco-friendly&rdquo; packaging or reducing plastic usage in their production. But is this really enough to undo the damage of overproduction? Can swapping a plastic bag for a paper one solve the problem of an ever-growing fashion cycle driven by the demand for &ldquo;newness&rdquo; and constant consumption? Dr Mabalay doesn&rsquo;t think so. Overproduction, even with better materials, is still unsustainable. He points out that until the fashion industry addresses overproduction, any effort to be &ldquo;green&rdquo; is simply a smokescreen. Real change must focus on slowing down production cycles rather than masking the underlying problem with greenwashing strategies.

&ldquo;Sustainability for me is learning how to focus on longevity. It&rsquo;s less about output and more about purpose.&rdquo; &mdash;Jude Macasinag

Jude Macasinag, a Filipino designer who works between Paris and Manila, offers a refreshing perspective on what true sustainability looks like in practice. For Macasinag, sustainability goes beyond using better materials. It&rsquo;s about slowing down and focusing on longevity rather than speed. &ldquo;Sustainability for me is learning how to focus on longevity,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s less about output and more about purpose.&rdquo;
His work, which often uses deadstock or repurposed fabrics, proves that smaller-scale production can be far more sustainable than mass production. He isn&rsquo;t interested in competing with fast fashion. Instead, he&rsquo;s focusing on creating pieces with meaning. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t need to be B-Corp certified to make thoughtful clothing,&rdquo; he says. You need intention, and you need to know who you&rsquo;re making it for.
Macasinag&rsquo;s process highlights the power of working with what&rsquo;s available, which is more sustainable than mass production. His collections embody the slow, deliberate process of making clothes that last, both physically and culturally. This approach contrasts sharply with the fast pace of the global fashion industry, where trends come and go. Macasinag&rsquo;s work is a reminder that sustainability isn&rsquo;t about scaling up, it&rsquo;s about scaling down. The key lesson here is that small, intentional steps are often more sustainable than sweeping changes that promise fast results. In fact, these deliberate actions &mdash; whether working with deadstock materials or producing limited collections &mdash; embody the essence of sustainable fashion: to reduce, not just reuse or recycle.

&ldquo;Sustainability is a lifestyle that is hardly practiced because of satisfaction.&rdquo; &mdash;Dr Adrian Mabalay

Sustainability in the Philippines often looks nothing like the glossy, aspirational versions we see in Western markets. For many Filipinos, sustainability isn&rsquo;t a trend or a seasonal buzzword &mdash; it&rsquo;s a way of life. From handwoven pi&ntilde;a fabric to the practice of mending and reusing clothes passed down through generations, Filipino communities have been living sustainably long before it became a marketable concept. Yet, this practice is often overlooked in the global sustainability conversation, relegated to the status of quaint traditions rather than celebrated as a living, breathing model of eco-consciousness.
Dr Mabalay calls this out: &ldquo;Sustainability is a lifestyle that is hardly practiced because of satisfaction.&rdquo; The truth is that sustainability is seen as a luxury by many, but it&rsquo;s also a necessity for those who&rsquo;ve never had the privilege of mass consumption. It&rsquo;s easy for the global fashion industry to commodify sustainability when it&rsquo;s been a way of life for many communities in the Philippines and beyond. But it&rsquo;s another thing entirely to honor these practices for their true value.
We talk about reusing and repairing like it&rsquo;s a trend. Dr Mabalay adds, &ldquo;But many Filipinos do it out of necessity. And when fashion repackages that behavior as aspirational, it removes it from the people who&rsquo;ve always done it.&rdquo; In other words, what the industry often brands as a modern innovation is, in fact, a way of life that&rsquo;s been practiced for generations. These acts of sustainability, like mending clothes or reusing materials, aren&rsquo;t new &mdash; they&rsquo;re just being recognized now as a selling point.
The challenge lies in giving these practices the respect they deserve without commodifying or romanticizing them. Filipino communities have long been masters of sustainability, and their knowledge should be acknowledged, not marketed. As Dr. Mabalay notes, &ldquo;Sustainability is about mutuality. It&rsquo;s not just about reducing harm &mdash; it&rsquo;s about actively restoring.&rdquo;The global fashion industry must shift its focus from repackaging old practices as new trends and instead honor the communities that have sustained these traditions for centuries.

In a world where sustainability is often reduced to a logo or buzzword, the real work lies in creating a system of fashion that is as sustainable in its production as it is in its rhetoric. It&rsquo;s time to move beyond the labels and embrace a deeper, more meaningful understanding of what it means to produce, consume and wear clothes.
The true question is: how can we, as consumers, shift our thinking? Sustainability isn&rsquo;t about buying into the latest collection that boasts about its green credentials. It&rsquo;s about understanding where our clothes come from, who made them and what impact they have on the environment. It&rsquo;s about slowing down, buying less and investing in quality rather than quantity.
For Filipino designers like Macasinag, sustainability means working with materials that are available, celebrating the traditions of the country&rsquo;s rich craft heritage and telling stories through their clothing. It&rsquo;s about creating value, not just for the product, but for the people who make it. Macasinag&rsquo;s focus on small-scale production and intentionality shows that sustainability doesn&rsquo;t have to be a large-scale, expensive process &mdash; it can be as simple as using materials that already exist and putting thought into the creation process.
The truth is that sustainability is more than a passing trend &mdash; it&rsquo;s an ongoing responsibility. But it&rsquo;s one we need to approach with care. The fashion industry may never be fully sustainable, but it can be more honest, transparent and human.
The real future of fashion lies not in who can claim the greenest credentials, but in who can show the most integrity. It lies in the brands, designers and consumers willing to move beyond surface-level claims and ask the tough questions. Where does this come from? Who made it? What can I do to make a difference? Because real progress isn&rsquo;t driven by trends; it&rsquo;s shaped by thoughtful decisions and a commitment to doing better.

Photography by Paulo Sérgio Zembruski, courtesy of Pexels.

The New Green Gloss: Why “Sustainable” Isn’t Always What It Seems

The New Green Gloss: Why “Sustainable” Isn’t Always What It Seems

Recommended posts for you

Hommes

The New Green Gloss: Why “Sustainable” Isn’t Always What It Seems

Hommes

The Most Striking Watch Moments Spotted at the 'F1 The Movie' Premiere

Hommes

IWC’s Hollywood-Powered Lap Around the F1 Circuit

Hommes

The Rado Anatom Gets a Style Upgrade With High-Tech Ceramic Bracelets

Hommes

An Interview With Saan Saan Founder Mark Zavalla

Fashion

Uniqlo's New Linen Collection Refines Everyday Dressing

Hommes

Inside Montblanc's Wes Anderson Short Film Reveal, Ready-to-Wear Debut in Milan

Hommes

G-SHOCK Launched Its Boldest Reinvention Yet at Atmos BGC