What is Sustainable Fashion?

Sustainable fashion is where fashion brands work towards creating their products with less impact on the environment and pay more attention to the people who work to produce the products. To put it simply, products that are made in an ethical manner, morally justifiable and environmentally friendly.

Now, you may be wondering how ZALORA implements sustainable fashion? Well, I am going to tell you how!

Sustainability at ZALORA

ZALORA is about coming together to an endless universe of fashion where we aim to do it sustainably and appropriately. We are dedicated to building a mindful fashion ecosystem where we are devoted to driving towards a positive impact in how we manage our business. We are aware of the social and environmental impacts of our business and we move forward cautiously when making business decisions that affect the People and Planet. ZALORA also knows that we play a huge part in influencing the fashion industry to operate more responsibly. Therefore, we strive towards inspiring our customers through a wide range of Sustainable Fashion which will work towards a Circular Fashion Movement!

Climate Action

ZALORA is aware that we must take urgent action to fight climate change and adapt towards a low-carbon future. Through our accomplishments and the delivery of our 2030 Climate Action Targets, ZALORA will remain steadfast in overall decreasing the carbon impact of our business.

Therefore, we implemented low-carbon logistics which plays a huge part in our carbon emissions. ZALORA launched a low-carbon last-mile delivery service in Malaysia where parcels get delivered to customers by hybrid vehicles, electric motorbikes, bicycles and even walking deliveries! As a result, we reached 311,000 parcels delivered in 2023! 

ZALORA is also transitioning our energy source to renewable energy and working closely with partners to evaluate the likelihood of solar photovoltaic panel installation for the roof of our facilities. 

Next, is products made from preferred materials as the most significant environmental impact in the fashion industry comes from the raw materials used. Improving the proportion of the products made from low-impact materials is another goal under ZALORA’s strategy to reduce environmental impact. 

Circularity & Conscious Consumption

With ZALORA’s unique position in the fashion industry, we aim to help influence and make a positive impact by incorporating circularity principles into every single stage of our product life cycle. A circular system is a long-term solution for the fashion industry where there will be a minimization of waste throughout the product life cycle. Therefore, other than implementing circular design principles, we also strive to solve end-to-life solutions so that it enables customers to close the loop. 

Starting with responsible waste management, we try to decrease the amount of waste accumulated to work towards solutions to divert waste from landfills. Packaging from our suppliers and customers is returned and upcycled or recycled. We were able to even divert 86% of our waste, they were compressed and turned into furniture! 

Other than that, extending life through taking back solutions is a circular fashion movement ZALORA is kickstarting in Southeast Asia. It is an opportunity to encourage customers to donate apparel items that they do not want back to us so that they are diverted from disposal. 

Earth Edit

Lastly, is driving sustainable consumption with our Earth Edit Assortment! ZALORA aims to inspire our customers to push supply and demand for a selection of low environmental impact and ethical products to create a more conscious fashion ecosystem.

What is Earth Edit?

Earth Edit comprises a wide range of products from brands that promote ethical and environmental benefits. To come up with a common foundation and and ensure ways to consistently communicate sustainable attributes of the products across all Brand markets, we have created a specific guidelines for brands and products to be tagged as part of ZALORA’s Earth Edit range. 

Why Earth Edit?

The impact of the fashion industry socially and environmentally is a shared concern between ZALORA and our customers. We seek to lay out the largest assortment of sustainable choices of styles, whilst making thoughtful shopping easier, accessible and transparent. We actively choose to work with brands who align with our sustainability goals and therefore provide more visibility to them in hopes that sustainable products will increase in demand.

The selection criteria are Organic Materials, Responsibly Sourced Materials, Recycled Materials, Animal-Friendly, Low Impact Production Process, Pre-Loved, Organic & Natural Ingredients as well as Circular by Design.

In a nutshell, ZALORA aims to understand our impact and make significant differences by assessing our journey and face our biggest challenges head-on so that we will be able to create a big impact whilst continuously seeking knowledge on sustainability, revising our strategies if necessary and committed to showing transparency by reporting on our progress regularly.

For more information, you can visit ZALORA to find out more about Sustainability at ZALORA Malaysia.