As a child in Punjab, couture designer Omar Mansoor walked with his father on muddy soil and through rows of crops to check the cotton crop. “There used to be a gadget with two extended wires, which we would put into cotton balls to measure humidity levels as a means of quality control,” he recalls. Little did he know that this activity, seen at the time as a mere necessity to seal the best deal for selling his crops, would provide him with the knowledge he would put to use on a global level decades later.

“In 2019, a university professor working on a report about sustainability reached out to me. The research was to be part of the fashion pact initiated by Kering (a French luxury brand) and French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron to encourage sustainability in fashion. Given my exposure to cotton at a grassroots level, they were surprised when I shared knowledge they weren’t even aware of, and I was asked to be a contributor to that report,” says Mansoor. After the report came out, Kering asked the contributors to help set up an online course for fashion and sustainability with the London College of Fashion.

Five years on, Mansoor has become a leading force in international fashion, stunning journalists and fellow designers with his sustainable collections at the London Fashion Week and, recently, the Paris Fashion Week. Recognised internationally for his efforts in establishing sustainability in textiles and crafts, he is a giant from South Asia, advocating for ethical supply chains and a circular fashion economy. “I was always aware of the waste in fashion and I would keep all my leftover fabric and think about how to use it, rather than discarding it.”

As one of the top 10 countries affected by climate change, there is a growing awareness in Pakistan of the need to change consumer consumption patterns – and this often starts from the soil.

From the use of agricultural land to production methods to consumer demand, where does the change begin? Perhaps the right place and the riskiest are consumers, given they hold the buying power. Can civil society be educated about the impact of their purchases and what this means for their future? Or does it come down to what is being produced and is put out there on offer?

The current circular model consists of recycling and reusing clothes. Although many people donate items, not all end up in deserving hands. Many are dumped in landfills or burnt, adding to carbon emissions and waste as stressors on the planet.

Mansoor went down the route of sourcing unused fabric –known as ‘deadstock fabric.’ This meant that the carbon footprint of his products was both limited and low. He then ventured into recycled fabric and decided to create a circular economic model by working with artisans in southern Punjab to establish an international market chain.

The question, however, is whether consumers are ready for products that are circular, ethical and sustainable. “Sustainability is a lifestyle that needs to be sold. If sustainably sourced products are made, but the demand is not created, they will end up as “deadstock,” says Mansoor.

This idea of sustainability as a way of life is an area where the Global South may differ from how the rest of the world understands it. For example, Mohsin Sayeed, Creative Director, The Pink Tree Company, a clothing brand, says sustainability is more than a term. It is, he argues, a dying way of life. “For people who have no idea of what a sustainable life is, it is just a buzzword,” he says. In his opinion, sustainability is recognising nature as the reason why and how we live. Nothing can be considered sustainable if it is not in harmony with the natural environment. “In our part of the world, we have always lived sustainably. Our fabric is natural, we use vegetable dyes and reuse our items. We use palm trees for food and their leaves for household items. An animal such as a cow offers meat, dairy and leather. Everything is done with a zero waste concept and utilisation is not for commercialisation.”

Sayeed pinpoints three factors that have led to unsustainability today. “Colonisation, industrialisation and capitalism have led to greed and get-rich-quick attitudes, and have made craftspeople vulnerable to exploitation.” With increasing demand for clothes at a lower cost, local producers who churn out clothing in the name of fashion are doing a disservice to nature. “More demand has led to farmers using chemical fertilisers for higher yields, resulting in soil degeneration. Now, there is a return to using cow dung to regenerate soil.”

The other issue Sayeed identifies is the lack of value afforded to artisanship, which explains the lack of sustainable financial modelling in fashion and longevity in engagement with craftspeople. “Design intervention is a negative term. We need design enhancement. I work with artisans in rural areas, using their blocks and dyes and create a design with their existing materials. While I focus on the silhouette, the embellishments are theirs, which is a design enhancement. This idea of working in cohesion with ancient techniques and crafts is a form of resistance against the old war of stolen art. There is an abuse of indigenous prints and patterns as industrialisation commercialised them without recognising or crediting the origins.”

Filza Mumtaz lives in Multan and runs Shahs Embroideries, one of the city’s oldest craft businesses. In her opinion, sustainability is not possible without addressing ethics – and she is not only talking business. “There is a need to recognise south Punjab, its ancient patterns, embroideries, techniques and artisans,” she says. She believes sustainability can only be achieved if the structure of the design process and the economic modelling are amended and the hands which pick the fibre and craft it, are recognised in the supply chain.

Like Sayeed, she argues that the commercialisation of ethnic craft has devalued handmade work and led to copyright issues, which is why handmade craft is dying. In her opinion, for sustainability to take root at the rural level, artisans need to be aware of their rights. “There is no idea of intellectual property. Handmade cross-stitch designs have been usurped by machines, causing artisans to lose work and the design and craft to lose authenticity.”

Although efforts are made to promote workers through digital and media campaigns, Mumtaz says, “Digital media campaigns focusing on fashion eradicate rural voices as they focus on urban centres. The recognition of the people working in craft should be included. It is a matter of aesthetics versus authenticity. We need to see the complete supply chain and that ensures artisans are respected as artists.”

Although strides have been made in advocating artisanal work as a form of art, there is still a long way to go. As climate change eats away at the country’s ecology, these artisans are at the forefront of the change as they live in rural regions. What is at stake is not just the environment but an indigenous life form, which perhaps holds the solution for sustainability.

Mehr Husain is an author and publisher based in Lahore. mehrfhusain@gmail.com