Sustainable Building Monthly - September: Soft 3D Structures/Lasting Impact

September Updates

Shahira Kamal is a former classical pianist who now creates individual, bespoke outer garments for private clients, including coats, jackets, and motorcycle apparel.She emphasizes the use of natural materials in her custom garments, specifically wool, leather, and hemp.She loves working one-on-one with clients to make unique garments, but her mission extends to encompass a global perspective concerning garment-making. She's looking outside of fashion to partner with those specializing in economics, ethics, consumer behavior, labor practices, social initiatives, and land and water stewardship to promote low-volume production and consumption, and perhaps bring back vertically integrated, sustainable production processes for textiles and garments.

Clothing contributes significantly to the 3D built environment.

Like buildings or bridges, garments are three-dimensional design responses to human needs—providing protection, structure, identity, and comfort. They require the same integration of art and science, and they must contend with the same natural laws that determine the balance between quality and efficiency.

Yet while we demand durability, safety, and sustainability in our buildings, we accept obsolescence, exploitation, and pollution in our clothing. The mainstream fashion industry has driven quality down to near zero, flooding the world with short-lived garments made from synthetic materials by underpaid labor in hazardous conditions. Some might say, "It's just clothes." But this distinction doesn't stand. Garment production is a global engine of environmental and social harm:

• 120 billion garments made annually
• 20% of global wastewater comes from the fashion industry
• 500,000 tons of microplastics are shed from synthetic textiles into waterways each year
• 85 pounds of textiles per person are tossed into landfills every year

Like buildings or parks, garments shape our daily lives—and our choices around their production shape individual livelihoods, communities, and the planet. Efforts have been underway to improve the system for many years: brands recycle plastics into textiles, repurpose waste into alternative materials, and develop zero-waste design models. These innovations matter, but they still operate within a system that clings to the fallacy of increasing production and consumption in an infinite-growth economy.

If we want truly regenerative change, we must consider deeper, more profound changes. Hemp, for example, is a crop with an extraordinary range that can both clothe and shelter us—providing fiber for textiles, insulation, and hempcrete—while restoring soils, sequestering carbon, and requiring fewer pesticides than conventional crops.

It points to a future where materials don't just "do less harm," but help rebuild ecosystems. But no material innovation can replace the more profound shift we need: a cultural redefinition of enough. The real issue isn't a lack of knowledge, technology, or even willpower. It's primarily an emotional barrier around our resistance to lifestyle changes. The most impactful act isn't buying the "right" product—it's buying less.

Being willing to wear the same clothes more often, and being able to do so because we understand the value in caring for our clothes, and in investing in more responsible production systems. As consumers, we hold extraordinary power.

We've changed industries before with our buying habits, and we can do it again. Our clothes may be softer than concrete, but they are no less structural. No less meaningful.