How Hangers Became The Fashion Industry's Version Of A Plastic Straw

图片来源：上海大学-巴黎国际时装艺术学院

我们都知道，快时尚面临很多的问题，例如过度消费、一次性衣服、严重浪费，当然还有对环境的严重破坏性影响。但无论快速还是高端时尚业，都存在一个普遍现象。

We all know by now, the fast fashion industry has a lot to answer for. From encouraging over spending, creating disposable clothing, high wastage records and of course, their damaging impact on the environment, but there's one thing every fashion brand has in common, fast fashion or high end...

时尚设计师Roland Mouret特指出：“衣架就是时尚业的塑料吸管”。无论哪个品牌，无论使用什么技术，无论他们在哪里以及如何获得材料，每个时装设计师以及品牌都会用到衣架，这是衣物在运输中的必需品，以确保到达目的地的时候不像是皱巴巴的垃圾袋。但问题是，大部分的衣架都是设计单一，用完就扔。一个衣架就是一根塑料吸管。这些衣架是Polycerin材质的，是一种完全不可重复利用的材料，用完之后只能丢弃。业内大约有15亿个这种衣架，其中的1亿个已经扔掉了，而完全降解需要划掉1000年时间。多么触目惊心的数字。

Fashion designer Roland Mouret has just come out and said it, “Coat hangers are the plastic straw of the fashion industry.“ Hangers are something that every brand, regardless of the techniques they use and where and how they source their materials, have in common. Every fashion designer and brand uses hangers, they are necessary for the transportation of the garments and to ensure they don't arrive at their destination looking like a wrinkled garbage bag. The problem is, that the majority of these hangers are designed for single use, used once and immediately tossed. Just a plastic straw. These kind of hangers are made from polycerin, a completely non recyclable material that goes straight into landfill. Approximately, 1.5 Billion of these hangers are used in the industry, with 100 million of these thrown away, with each one taking 1,000 years to break down in landfill, those are staggering numbers.

幸好Megan Markle（英国王妃）的首席设计师Roland Mouret不仅提出了问题，也提出了解决方案。他把设计才能用在了衣架上，创造出了完全可持续利用的衣架，并希望鼓励所有设计师都能用他的作品。这种衣架利用海洋塑料垃圾，不仅清洁了我们的海洋，而且在破损的时候还可以循环利用，不会再对海洋或者土地造成塑料污染。这一设计外观上辨识度极高，衣架主体使用了石板灰色的海洋塑料，这表明衣架在生产过程中没有涉及到有害化工材料，然后使用了一个醒目的铝制蓝色吊钩，象征海洋，当然还印有一个非常重要的可再生利用的标志。

Thankfully, Roland Mouret, Megan Markle's Go-To designer, hasn't just outed the problem, he's providing solutions too. Turning his design talents towards hangers, he's created a fully sustainable and re-useable hanger he hopes to encourage every designer to start using. This hanger, created from plastic pollution found in the sea, not only helps to clean up our oceans but is fully recyclable once it breaks, meaning no more plastic goes back into the sea or into landfill. The instantly recognizable design uses the natural slate grey color of marine plastic for the base, showing there is no involvement with harmful chemicals during production, a striking aluminium blue hook symbolizing the ocean and of course the all important recyclable logo.

衣架被时尚届称作“肮脏的小秘密”，每个品牌都会碰到这个问题，他们无论使用了什么设计流程都要使用衣架。在时尚届，在其它可持续性问题上都会影响所有人，因为可持续性会改变一个品牌的创意过程，当然会与品牌有融合上的问题。另一方面，这种新衣架没有影响创意过程，而是仅仅替代了每一个设计师的日常所需，很可能别的品牌不需要做过多改变就能使用，而且成本基本保持不变，甚至还能低于那些单纯使用聚苯乙烯的衣架。

Dubbed, the fashion industry's “dirty little secret” hangers are something that every brand can get on board with, regardless of their creative design process. The problem with other attempts at creating sustainability within the industry is getting every one on board. Too often these ideas involve changing a brand's creative process which unsurprisingly, doesn't sit well with the brand. This new hanger on the other hand, doesn't touch the creative process, instead, simply replaces something that every designer needs and uses on a daily basis – making it far more likely that brands can actually adopt the use of them without too much change, providing the costs are roughly the same or lower than the single use polystyrene ones.

但不幸的是，Roland Mouret在今年上一个伦敦时尚周对他的想法做了个测试，免费发放了300个衣架，但只有20%的设计师愿意采纳。为了他的新设计，还需要进行更多的研究，去探究测试失败的原因，以及为何其余80%的设计师不愿意用他的设计。

Unfortunately though, Roland Mouret tested the idea at this year's previous London Fashion Week, offering 300 of them for free, yet only about 20% of designers accepted them. More research into why this initial test didn't succeed and why the other 80% of designers decided to reject them, needs to be investigated in order to truly take advantage of this new solution.

Roland Mouret may have been the first to boldly go public about comparing single use plastic straws and hangers but other retailers have attempted to provide their own solutions and efforts. have launched a hanger recycling service for industry professionals and large retailer John Lewis has for some time now, been inviting their customers to bring their old or disused hangers to them to be reused or recycled.

Roland Mouret也许是第一个公开把塑料吸管和衣架拿来比较的人，其它的零售商有他们自己的解决方式。“First Mile（第一英里）”发布了一个针对时尚界专业人士的再循环利用衣架服务，另一个更大的零售商John Lewis的做法是，邀请他们的顾客把旧的或者不用的衣架带过去进行并加以重复使用。

Another idea that has been bounced around by campaign groups and politicians is placing a compulsory 5p charge on hangers to the customer, in a similar way the successful plastic bag charge has worked in grocery stores. No matter which solution (s) we choose, something certainly needs to be done and fast. It's reported that many different species of bird and marine life have already been killed and injured due to improperly discarded hangers and the gravitas of the situation could soon surpass the damage done by straws and plastic bottles and bags.

有些团体和政客一直都纠结的一个想法就是对顾客强制收取费用，这一做法类似商店里对塑料购物袋进行收费的成功举措。无论我们选择何种方式，我们都应该要采取举措而且要迅速。据报道，许多种群的鸟类以及海洋生物由于废弃衣架的不合理处置而死亡或受伤，而这一情况的严重性将很快超过吸管、塑料瓶和塑料袋所带来的危害。

实际上，衣物只要折叠整齐，照样可以储存和售卖；商店可以大量使用已有的模特来展示穿在身上的样子。实际上，许多商业街商店采取了这种陈列方式，并在商店靠前的地方进行销售。模特穿戴齐整，而周围摆放了折叠好的各种尺寸样式的销售品，但是其它很多商店坚持使用衣架。有太多的时尚品牌卖衣服的时候会连带衣架一起，也没有什么好原因。有时甚至买内衣都会附送一个衣橱内使用的衣架，我们无法想象谁会把内衣挂在衣橱里面。毫无疑问，衣架是有用的，我们需要使用衣架，但是我们要对毫无意义的包装进行筛选，买其他东西的时候也要考虑到这一点。对于消费者，你们在下一次购买衣服的时候如果看到销售助理要把一个你不需要的衣架包装起来，你就简单的说：“我不需要，谢谢”。

There are actually very few clothing items that can't be stored or sold by simple neat folding and shop displays could rely more heavily on the mannequins they already have, to show how a garment sits on the body. In fact, many high street stores do adopt this method of display and selling at the very front of the shop. This is when a full outfit is dressed on a mannequin with the various pieces and sizes for the customer to pick up, are folded and stacked around the mannequin and yet the rest of the store insists on hangers. Too many fashion brands give away their hangers with purchases for no good reason. Even underwear often comes with a closet hanger attached and we can't think of a single person who hangs their lingerie in a closet?! There's no question, hangers are useful and we need and use them however pointless packaging is something we should have sorted by now, in all aspects of buying, not just in the fashion industry. To play your part, next time you're buying clothing and the sales assistant starts to pack a hanger you know you don't need, simply say “no thank you.”

上海大学巴黎国际时装艺术学院（Shanghai University - MOD'ART International），成立于2003年，被外界誉为”上海时装界的黄埔军校“，是国内第一个在上海创办的中法合作时装设计学院，国内率先引进法国奢侈品营销与管理专业和时尚传播专业。受到中国服装协会、中国服装设计师协会、中国国际贸易促进会纺织行业分会等专业社会团体的支持。