Fashion fever has hit Sydney, with designers from across the country showcasing their lines at Australian Fashion Week.
But behind the glamorous scenes and commercial opportunities of the country's fashion event of the year, the industry is under pressure to change how it operates.
"I do believe that the fashion industry is at breaking point," Leila Naja Hibri, chief executive of the Australian Fashion Council, told The Drum.
"It's because of the way we have been producing, designing, consuming and recirculating — or not recirculating — clothing.
"We have a big clothing waste problem."
More than 220,000 tonnes of clothing end up in landfill every year
A report by the council found that, on average, Australians buy 56 new items of clothing a year, and more than 220,000 tonnes of clothing end up in landfill.
To address this, the Australian Fashion Council is partnering with Charitable Recycling Australia, Queensland University of Technology, Sustainable Resource Use and climate-action NGO WRAP to create the National Clothing Product Stewardship Scheme.
The scheme is funded by a $1 million grant from the federal government.
"Our aim is to fundamentally transform our industry, and to do that we need to collaborate," Ms Naja Hibri says.
"No-one can transform an industry into a circular economy by 2030 if we work on our own as silos of businesses or government or individuals or consumers."
In fashion, "circular economy" refers to the practice of reusing clothing and recycling old fabrics to make new designs.
It is the focus of the new scheme, which will also help inform consumers about their role in the transition.
The Australian Fashion Council wants brands to voluntarily join the scheme and take responsibility for the landfill they create.
It has also recommended that a 4 per cent per garment levy be applied in the near future to enforce sustainable practice.
"Fashion is about creativity and we don't want to stop that," Ms Naja Hibri says.
"But I think it's gone to a point where it's just about volume without quality being considered."
Local designers already implementing sustainable practices
Sustainable business models have, however, already been adopted by some of Australia's mid- to high-end fashion designers such as Sydney-based designer Bianca Spender.
She has set key sustainability objectives within her brand, particularly around fabric.
"We started with using dead-stock fabric," Spender said.
This is fabric that has been over-ordered or over-supplied, and the person who has originally purchased it has decided they do not want it
"There were these huge stockpiles [of dead stock] building which often would be burnt or go to landfill," she says.
"I'm not just going to see how these fabrics integrate with my range. Instead, I'm going to start only with dead-stock fabrics.
"I love being creative but it will only mean something if it is going to be sustainable."
Spender welcomes the National Clothing Stewardship Scheme, which will launch in July 2024, but she says achieving "circularity" will require a range of approaches.
"There are huge education pieces, huge reforms [needed]," she said.
"We really don't have any manufacturing capacities to recycle textiles in a large way in Australia."
Consumers need to get involved in reducing fashion waste too
Beyond what brands and designers do, the industry believes consumer engagement and a shift in consumer thinking is needed for the scheme to succeed.
"I think it goes back to the values of a society, and I think unfortunately there's this superficiality about what am I wearing, what do people think about me," Ms Naja Hibri said.
"Rather than what do I need, what makes me feel good, we need to ask ourselves, how can fashion actually be a force for good rather than a force for bad?"
