Do you know where the clothes in your wardrobe come from,
not just if they are from the high street
or if your cupboards are packed with designer labels,
but what they're made of?
Do they come from materials that are harming the planet?
Are our clothes just a mirror reflection of what is happening to our environment?
Hi, I'm Michelle Yeoh.
I like to look good,
not only for the red carpet but in everyday life.
The connection between our clothes and their impact on the environment
doesn't immediately come to mind.
If a jacket, a skirt or a dress looks good and if we can afford it, we buy it.
But the environment pays the price.
I'm going to find out what sustainable fashion could look like
without compromising the beauty of our clothes.
The United Nations promotes a better future for people and the planet
through a global effort known as "The Sustainable Development Goals".
So I've come to the UN's office in Geneva,
to learn more about what some are calling
"an environmental emergency in the garment industry".
The environmental impact of the fashion industry's actually immense
and a large part of that is the production of textiles.
Manufacturing of clothes is very water intensive
and releases high levels of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
The fashion industry generates around 10% of global carbon emissions.
That's more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined.
It is also one of the world's biggest users of water
and produces around 20% of global wastewater.
It takes up to 10 thousand liters of water to produce just 1 kilo of cotton.
Enough to make a single pair of denim jeans.
That's as much water as a human being drinks
over the course of 10 years.
When we wash synthetic fibers, the other most commonly used materials,
they release microplastics into our rivers which end up polluting the oceans.
With clothing more affordable and more availabe than ever before,
is it time to move on from throwaway fashion?
Today with fast and cheap production,
85% of textiles end up in landfills or are incinerated.
So, what's the alternative?
Forests can provide part of the solution.
Using the latest technology to produce wood based fibers for our clothes.
Of course this has to go hand in hand
with sustainable forest management.
If we are to use forests' products,
we need to make sure the forests remain healthy
and continue to grow.
So fashion out of forests is possible and sustainable.
Let's see how it looks like.
We are traveling to Biella in Italy.
So I can see for myself if clothing that has little impact on the environment
can look as good or even better than the ones we are all used to.
We have 4 young italian designers.
All of them, wathever they do is with sustainable fabrics.
I'm choosing a design for a dress
and a jacket to make from natural wood based fibers.
My dress and jacket will be made to order here in Cittadellarte,
a place where artists come together to explore connections
between their work and broader social issues.
Welcome to Cittadellarte!
Its founder is the world renowned artist Michelangelo Pistoletto.
Fashion is very important because it brings the aesthetic into the society.
But for me, it's not enough. We have also to bring the ethic.
Designer Tiziano Guardini represents precisely
this greater awereness of ethics and production
a young generation of creative artists bring to the fashion industry.
I've picked his design.
I love the simplicity but at the same time when you go in you see the details.
But explain to me the whole process.
I use only eco sustainable materials
because, for me, it's important to think about our future.
In the second step I search fabrics that can explain my idea.
Tiziano works with wood based fibers
that use on average 60x less water compared to cotton
and produces 50x fewer carbon emissions than synthetic fibers.
Wood chips from certified susteinable forests
are processed into pulp.
Reduced to a viscous solution that produces fibers.
And ultimately, these are turned into threads,
with create soft and silky materials with a light footprint on the environment.
Smart fashion from sustainable sources is already widely available.
And not only from high end designers.
It is also affordable.
As we insist for our clothes to be produced sustainably,
more and more brands are quickly joining this new trend.
I'm in Paris,
one of the fashion capitals of the world,
where I will be wearing my new outfit for the first time.
Wearing this dress is a privilege, I realized.
I would have never thought that it came from the forest.
A beautiful outfit is even more satisfing
knowing that it's been made from natural materials.
Materials that are not harming the planet.
From the forest to the city.
I made my choice.
What choice are you making?