WRAP publishes clothing durability guide for retailers and brands

UK advocate for sustainability within the fashion industry, WRAP, has published a new guide to help retailers produce and sell more sustainable clothes.

According to the organization, retailers and brands alike can make a "significant difference" to the life-cycle of clothes by introducing a few simple changes within the design and manufacturing stages. To help show them the way, WRAP has issued a new guide which highlights how retailers and brands can introduce these changes.

The guide, which was developed with the help of companies who signed up to the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan, is easy to follow and encourages designers and technologists to use it as part of their daily work.

WRAP has also published a clothing durability report, which compliments the guide, and offers technical data regarding the extension of the life cycle of apparel. The report includes a number of case studies from retailers like Cath Kidston, John Lewis and Stella McCartney, which share information on their durability trials.

According to research from WRAP, by extending the life of clothes by nine months of active use, carbon, water and waste footprints would be reduced by 20 to 30 percent each and resource costs would be cut by 5 billion pounds.

The guide and report are free to view and download online at wrap.org.