Slow Fashion: Think and Act in Cycles 慢时尚：思考和行动下的生态再循环

我骑单车到不同的地方，参观时尚品牌，农场或是有机贸易博览会，蹬车1500公里更像是运动。在我单车的后座上，有足够一个月使用的 物品：衣服、笔记本电脑、文件和准备送给沿途接待我的朋友的礼物。

On normal riding days I was wearing simple, function-driven outfits and in order to fade in with the environment, I avoided all genres of flashy sport wear. For maximum comfort, I was wearing layers of cotton and merino underneath. On the outside, man-made technical fabrics which dry faster in case of occasional light rain. On days brimming with extensive showers of rain and storms filled with snow, I wore a two-piece raincoat with extensions — covering yours truly from head to toe if need be. My outfits proved highly suitable across a smorgasbord of occasions; from your regular simple, comfortable and protective cocoon-mode to the occasional butterfly-mode — i.e. a set of appropriate swag to dive into the Munich or Berlin nightlives.

在正常骑行的日子里，我穿着简单实用的运动衣。为了与周围环境融合，我会避免穿花哨的运动衣。为了保证最大程度的舒适度，我会在外衣下穿几层的棉衫和羊毛衫。为了应付突如其来的小雨，我会穿速干型的人造纤维运动衣。在大雨雪天，我会穿一件把头和脚都盖住的两件套的雨衣。实践证明，从简单舒适的日常服到偶尔会用到的讲究的正装，我的装备在各种场合都能应付自如。

1.What is all that fashion jazz about?

与时尚相关的一切到底是什么？

2.How does fashion really make our lives better? Like the clothes in the spacious cupboard which we have never worn, what do they add?

时尚如何才能真正改善我们的生活？那些至今还在挂在衣柜里，我们从未穿过的衣服要如何处理？

3.There are plenty of reasons for the employment of fashion: Vanity, protection, formal obligations or individual expression. Which one is yours?

蔽体、义务、虚荣、或是自我表达，哪一种时尚是你所选择的？

To answer the first question right off the bat, most of all it’s one big play created, orchestrated and amalgamated by the multi-billion-dollar fashion industry in order to keep flourishing… In other words: Make consumers believe they need more clothes than they actually require.

回答我最开始提出的问题，时尚是经过精心策划的价值数十亿美元的产业。时尚产业通过各种途径让消费者坚信他们需要购买更多的服饰，这是保证时尚产业长期繁荣昌盛的关键。

NEEMIC’s Afternoon Collection. Copyright@NEEMIC

About Revolution, Reagan And Nylon 关于革命、里根和尼龙的链接

As co-founder of clothing company NEEMIC, I’m all too aware of this ongoing process. Amihan Zemp and I (Zemp is also the sole founder of Zuerich-born brand COLTRANE; to be continued) started out back in 2011, with the aim of creating a conscious fashion brand which both looks beautiful on the outside and helps to make the industry more sustainable on the inside.

作为服装品牌NEEMIC的联合创始人，我对所有这些早已熟知。从2011年建立开始，我们就想创造一个既美观又具可持续性的有意识的时尚品牌。

“More sustainable” … yes! A thought which should lie at the core of today’s fashion expression. The world needs us humans to act more sustainably. Big time! Starting with the industrial revolution in the late 18th century, the production of clothing gradually found itself centralizing inside factories, which in turn exploited both ecological and human resources. The textile industry also became increasingly chemical-heavy. After WWII had come to an end, many chemical factories manufacturing explosives for guns and bombs became obsolete and began looking for other ways of being useful. Subsequently, they changed up their original formulas and started producing textiles such as nylon; or — picking up the politically-propagandized Green Revolution signs of the times — fertilizer and pesticides for agriculture. From the late 1960s onwards, and especially during the American Reagan-ruled years (1981-1989), the globe witnessed a massive shift of production from the Western hemisphere to that of the East. The main goal(s)? To produce at lower costs, namely dishing out lower salaries, and to avoid environmental regulations.

更可持续的… 是的！这个世界需要人类去以更可持续的方式行动。从十八世纪底的工业革命开始，以制衣业为核心的工厂便成了剥削人们血汗和掠夺生态资源的罪魁祸首。纺织工业也开始大量使用化学药品。在一战和二战之后，很多以前制造枪支和弹药的化学工厂被废弃，工厂渴望找到其他途径生存下去。于是他们开始生产尼龙等纺织，有的工厂开始生产农业化肥和杀虫剂。从1960年开始，尤其是自里根执政以来，为了减少生产成本和开支，避开环境管制，大规模生产从西半球逐渐移到了东半球。

Smart marketing specialists then came up with the idea to further lower product quality and increase production quantity, allowing for wardrobes to become so cheap that consumers didn’t even have to think about the price tag attached anymore. Instant gratification, literally disposable after a few runs around the block. This new, modern, must-have consumption patterns was further triggered by increasingly high-paced trends: Magazines, celebrities and fashion bloggers telling us what’s in and what’s out on the very same day. The pattern of fast fashion: From dirty production, to trends, to trash!

接下来，聪明的营销专家又开始进一步降低产品质量，增加产品数量。一件衣服可以卖得如此便宜以至于消费者在购买时已经不需要再考虑商品的价钱了。消费者一时快感得到满足，但购买的衣服穿过几次后便被淘汰掉。快节奏地上新，在杂志、名人和时尚博客的刺激唆使下，人们开始不停地购买。快时尚的模式：从肮脏的生产，到潮流，再到丢弃！

Natan Alpaca Coat By NEEMIC. Copyright@NEEMIC

A Land Filled With Fast Fashion 一片充满了快时尚的土地

Forward to 2017, and we have arrived at a point where the average global consumer buys some 12 kg of clothing a year, with shopaholic fashionistas and self-sufficient farmers located at both ends of this extreme. As quality has suffered and careless behavior has skyrocketed, the average clothing’s lifecycle now ends after only three years of (often unworn) possession, being laid to rest on a landfill or inside the incinerator in most cases.

如今，全球消费者平均每年购买12公斤左右的服装（购物狂与自给自足的农民是另外的两个极端）。随着产品质量的下降和消费者不加思考购物行为的激增，一件衣服的平均使用寿命只有三年左右。在很多情况下，一件衣服还没被穿过就已经进了垃圾填埋场或焚化炉。

The fundamental problem with fast fashion is its inherent lack of responsibility. Production gets outsourced to local factory owners who are pressed to produce at the lowest possible cost. And these costs don’t reflect the real costs. The two dollar shirt you get at Primark is an irresponsible affront since the real cost behind its production is far higher. It’s society who pays the difference, having to deal with the environmental and social burden which is externalized upon all of mankind. This stands in stark contrast to the profits made, which are internalized toward the fast fashion company’s shareholders.

快时尚的根本问题在于它天生就缺乏责任感。服装生产外包给当地工厂业主，工厂业主被迫以最低的成本生产制造。可是这些成本却不能反映产品的实际成本。一件T恤在Primark只卖2美元是十分不负责任的，一件产品的真实生产成本比这要高很多。以牺牲环境和社会责任为代价，我们的生存环境成了这中间的差额的支付者。最终只有快时尚公司的股东才是真正的受益者。

In all fairness, we’re dealing with one very complex industry. Its supply chains are long and international and so the question beckons… Which policies of which countries or which standards shall the industry follow? This conundrum is precisely why international cooperation is required. Around 190 countries in 2015 ratified the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 which sets out to help reduce poverty and increase ecological and social well-being. They stated these 17 SDG’s (Sustainable Development Goals) as being the actionable and measurable guidelines. Many countries, including China, have copied these goals and are now shaping their individual down-stream national policies.

公平地说，时尚是一个非常复杂的产业，其供应链冗长而且跨越不同国家。到底哪个国家的政策和标准才是时尚产业所该遵循的？国际协作是必须的。在2015年，190多个国家签署了联合国《2030世纪议程》，其目的是帮助减少贫困和增加社会福利。《2030世纪议程》把17个可持续发展目标设成可操作和可衡量的准则。很多国家，包括中国在内，都会行动起来以这些目标作为基准来修改他们的下游企业国家政策。

Additionally, we must bear in mind that the impacts are difficult to measure as those in factual charge are often avoiding responsibility and sometimes do not even realize the mess their doings have created. And this group includes us as consumers! That’s why the role of independent observers such as environmental non-profit organizations is so very important. Take for example good ole Greenpeace or Chinese environmentalist Ma Jun’s Beijing-based IPE who investigate and make real issues transparent for public discourse.

快时尚造成的影响是难以衡量的。负责人惯于逃避责任，有些人甚至对自己的行为造成的混乱毫无意识，这其中就包括我们消费者！这就是为何像绿色和平组织（Greenpeace）或是马军所创建的公众环境研究中心（IPE）等环境公益组织的独立监察作用变得十分重要, 他们通过深入调查将问题透明化。

The Bigger Picture全局观下的时尚

When looking at the bigger picture, it’s important to gain a systemic understanding. Mother Nature forever remains unrivaled in Her beauty and complexity. The scientific field that delves into nature’s systemic design is called “ecology” and Biologist Barry Commoner summed it up as follows: “The first law of ecology is that everything is related to everything else.” More specifically, we’re talking about biodiversity and how energy and materials interact with one another. Just think of nature supporting plant growth by photosynthesis, which at the same time cleans the air, or how nature provisions pollination by bees and gives us the room to recreate. In this light, American Architect Sim Van der Ryn and Scientist Stuart Cowan some twelve years ago decided to apply the ecological perspective to human endeavors and coined the term “ecological design” (aka “the marriage of nature and technology”) as “any form of design that minimizes environmentally destructive impacts by integrating itself with living processes.”

当着眼于大局时，重要的是对整体有一个系统的理解。说到大自然，大自然有着无以伦比的美和复杂性。研究自然系统的科学领域被称为生态学，生物学家Barry Commoner将其概括为：“生态学的第一定律是自然中的任何事物都是相互关联的”，这就是我们所说的生物多样性以及能源和材料的相互作用。例如，植物通过光合作用生长，植物同时净化空气，通过蜜蜂授粉，更多植物生长出来，这些植物使我们的生活环境变得更美. Sim Van der Ryn 和 Stuart Cowan尝试用生态学的观点来指导人类的行为，他们将‘生态设计’定义为“通过与生态的整合，最大限度地减少对环境的破坏”。

COLTRANE Natsuko Organic Hemp S/S17. Copyright@COLTRANE

GOTS – the Global Organic Textile Standard – is regulating, certifying and controlling the production of natural fabrics in the most ecologically and socially congruent way. From farm to factory to consumer, its label can be traced for more transparency. No chemical fertilizers, pesticides or GMO to be found! In comparison to certified organic foods, GOTS does include some man-made chemicals at the processing stage. There exists a strictly controlled list of chemical dye-stuff which have proven to be non-hazardous. This brings along a broad range of colors which otherwise, using purely natural-based dyes, wouldn’t be possible.

GOTS，全球有机纺织品标准（Global Organic Textile Standard）是从生态与社会和谐的角度出发，调节、认证、控制天然纤维生产的准则。生产链变得更加透明，消费者只要看到标签就可以找到原料生产的农产和工厂。无化学肥料，杀虫剂和转基因产品！与认证的有机食品相比，GOTS允许在加工阶段添加一些人造化学染料。天然提取的燃料颜色种类毕竟有限，化学染料为人们提供了更多的颜色选择。通过严格的控制，GOTS保证这些化学染料是完全无害的。

Shanghai-born brand Klee Klee as seen at Shanghai’s LOFT Store. Copyright@Dirk Weibler

Time To Get Fashion-Forward-Specific 进入可持续性发展的时尚产业

Many of you are eagerly awaiting some fashion-specifics to appear in here, so let’s hereby enter my selection of designers who are using organic fabrics:

大家可能已经等不及想要看到最终产品了，以下我们推荐的使用有机面料的设计师品牌：

1.Hangzhou-based brand Klee Klee uses GOTS-certified cotton and silk. “Klee klee” is Tibetan for “slow”.

杭州的klee klee品牌，使用的棉和丝都是经过GOTS认证的。klee klee是西藏语，是缓慢的意思。

2.Zuerich-based brand COLTRANE proves that an all-organic strategy can lead to at least as beautiful creations.

苏黎世的品牌COLTRANE向我们展示了运用有机面料的精美设计。

3.New York-based brand Study New York is using a variety of fabrics including organic cotton, ethically sourced alpaca, and hemp. They make seasonless updated classics without subscribing to the traditional fashion calendar.

纽约的品牌Study New York使用有机棉、羊驼和麻等织物，突破传统，更新打造无季节 时尚经典产品。

4.TBT, not organically certified, yet very sustainable nevertheless, is Beijing-based fabric supplier Summerwood who is sourcing traditional handwoven ramie. One group exhibition of designers in 2016 who uses their fabrics got exhibited in collaboration with New York Fashion Week.

不但是有机的，而且是可持续的，北京的面料供应商Summerwood提供传统手工编织苎麻。在2016年，以跟团体设计师合作的方式，Summerwood生产的面料亮相纽约时装周。

A Day in China at NYFW. Copyright@Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation

Ecology is about cycles of materials and energy so modern design-approaches like cradle-to-cradle are leaning on these principles to make optimal use of all resources. On a larger scale, such zero-waste approaches are encompassed by the circular economy model. In the case of textile fabrics, it differentiates between the two major cycles of natural fabrics and man-made fabrics. Clothes made of natural fabrics do biodegrade and should ultimately be going to the compost. Whereas clothes created from man-made fabrics should be recycled endlessly. However “common-sense” this may sound, it lies on the other end of our reality spectrum which for the most part still functions in a make-buy-trash manner, the so-called linear model.

生态是原料和能量的循环，因此现代设计方法应遵循这些原则并最大程度地有效使用各种资源。扩展到更大范围，零浪费设计方法就是循环经济模式的一个体现。拿面料来举例，天然面料和人造面料有着完全不同的两种循环。天然面料制造的衣服可以生物降解，最终变成肥料还原大地。相反不可降解的人造面料应该一直循环使用。虽然这些观点听上去好像是常识，可是现实与之相反，在大多数情况下，人们仍然还是在遵循生产-购买-丢弃这样一个线性模式。

Looking at the sustainability of fashion requires to study the holistic spectrum, basically from the vast width of ecology to the mindset of each individual person. Education plays an important role to shape a more conscious understanding and decision-making. It is encouraging to see how fashion schools are extending their eco curriculum and motivate their students to engage with NPO’s like Redress, whose zero-waste advocacy culminates in the annual EcoChic Design Award.

从事可持续性时尚事业，需要从业者全面学习相关知识，对全局有整体的把握，广到生态学，细到个人思想模式。教育对意识的形成和决策的制定起着很重要的作用。令人欣慰的是时装学校也在拓展与生态相关的课程，鼓励学生积极参与非营利组织，例如Redress，Redress每年都会设立倡导零浪费的“衣酷适再生时尚设计”奖项。

A Potential For Change 改变的潜力

Systemic change happens not only on large scale, like from linear to circular economy, it happens also in specific ecosystems, such as the important niche of independent fashion designers. The London-based information- and sourcing platform Ethical Fashion Forum comes to mind, or the Hangzhou-based YCO Foundation.

从线性到循环经济，系统性变化不仅发生在大规模上，同时也发生在特定的产业中，例如，独立时尚设计师的品牌运作，像伦敦的Ethical Fashion Forum或是杭州的云衣间（YCO Foundation）就为独立设计师提供了信息资源交流的平台。

Powerful non-profit organizations like Greenpeace with their Detox campaign, local civil society like the Beijing-based IPE with their BlueMap or the global Fashion Revolution movement with their#whomademyclothes campaign make transparent and catalyze the relevant findings. They take their findings and address these to the respective target groups, often with seismic effects for the increased creation of consciousness among major stakeholders.

有影响力的非营利性组织通过各种宣传活动将信息透明化并分享相关发现，例如绿色和平（Greenpeace）的Detox，北京的公众环境研究中心（IPE）的BlueMap，或是全球时尚革命运动（Fashion Revolution）的#whomademyclothes等宣传活动。他们向各自的目标群体发表宣传演说以此来吸引投资者的注意。

The potential of consumption-driven change on the global scale can hardly be quantified. Nonetheless, it can be realized on personal level and there’s a minimalist movement of people who experience a more simple life as being mighty enriching. I certainly enjoyed my initially described slowed-down business travel. Having said that, I for one choose to stick with the philosophy of up-cycling pioneer and bag-producer FREITAG: “We believe in the next life of things. That’s why we think and act in ‘cycles’ and ‘cycle’.”

消费驱动的变化潜力在全球是难以量化的。但它可以在个人层面上实现，像极简主义者运动，通过体验简单的生活来丰富人们的内心。我在享受我的商务慢旅行的同时，坚持实践可再生先驱FREITAG的哲学理念：“我们相信来生，在循环中思考和行动，生命因此再次循环”。

The sense of simplicity in fashion can also be enriching if one opts for quality and continuously evolves a wardrobe instead of just adding more pieces to it, for example by swapping items. That might not be the first choice of the majority, but at least everyone in this scenario can vouch for having the right clothes of good quality. And care for them. Let’s take Vivienne Westwood’s advice to heart: “Buy Less, Choose Well, Make it Last”.

如果一个人追求质量，并一直努力提升自己衣橱中服装的质量而不是单单增加数量，通过物物交换等方式，简约时尚也可以变得丰富起来。这也许不是大多数人的第一选择，但通过这种方式至少每个人都能拥有质量好、适合自己并值得收藏的衣服。Vivienne Westwood的一句话值得我们牢记：“少买，选好，并一直穿下去”。

Slowing Down And Summing Up 总而言之，慢下来

To complete the cycle of my sustainable fashion tale, “slow fashion” comes to mind. These two words embody the entire life-cycle of one piece of clothing and extend to the facets of quality or ecology by cultural dimension. Similar to “slow cooking”, the concept comes with a multitude of desirable cultural advantages such as diversity, seeing the bigger (systemic design) picture, resilience through decentralized production or simply the emotional connection through being part of one and the same eco- or value-system.

慢时尚概念的出现完善了可持续时尚的循环环节。慢时尚会关注一件衣服从生产到完结的所有过程，同时也会重视像质量、生态等其他相关问题。这有点像慢餐概念的产生，多元化饮食、关注全局、恢复分散生产、提升生态价值观等观念，都对慢餐概念的产生起到了推动作用。

Slow fashion is the anti-thesis to fast fashion, yet there is more and more overlap to be spotted such as the aim to deter companies from purchasing or producing items that are not made from recycled, organic, or re-purposed materials. Another well-known much-talked-about topic is their requirement for a minimal carbon footprint left on the environment. Notably too is the up- and coming true-cost calculation to value in environmental and social externalities.

慢时尚不同于快时尚，慢时尚倡导停止生产或采购不可回收的材料，采用有机的、可循环利用的环保材料。另外还有值得注意的一点是，考虑到环境和社会方面，产品价格要反映产品的真实价值。

Slow fashion rewards companies for being more transparent and it strengthens the bond of trust with customers. Slow fashion facilitates a holistic type of development and therefore offers synergies right down to the personal level. It helps to empower yourself, the control you have over your life and the health of body and mind. It shows you how being conscious about your wardrobe can have a positive effect on both you as an individual and your environment-at-large. Life is as ecology, all aspects are related; so, in sum… Be mindful, take it slow and reduce to the max!

关注全局发展并深入到个人层面，慢时尚鼓励企业透明化来建立与客户之间的信任。慢时尚帮助人们意识到，改变自己的衣橱对个人的身心健康甚至对整个生态环境都有着积极的影响。生活就好像生态系统，所有的一切都是相互关联的，因此让我们慢下来，减少浪费！

Article source:

Original article by Temper Magazine on July 5, 2017.

Written by Hans Galliker of NEEMIC and Uncover Lab.

Edited by Elsbeth van Paridon, Editor-in-Chief of Temper Magazine.

Chinese translation by Li “Lily” Dan of Kitayama Studio.

Contact Galliker: hans.galliker[at]beijingfashioncollective.com

Featured Images: Copyright@NEEMIC.

Copyright@Temper Magazine 2017 - All rights reserved.

You can also find “An Eco-system of Creativity and Sustainability环保系统下的创造力和可持续性” that MetroStyle magazine has published before http://www.neemic.asia/press/clippings/MetroStyle-magazine_July2014_Cover-Story.pdf返回搜狐，查看更多