Exploring the Hidden Connection between Female Empowerment & Sustainability in the Apparel Industry
• Only 0.7% of female founding teams in Norway receive risk capital to grow their business.
• 96.3% of all risk capital in Norway goes to all-male founding teams.
• The remaining 3% is allocated to mixed teams.
(Unconventional Ventures report, 2023)
These numbers are so lopsided they're almost unbelievable. How can this be true in Norway, a country often considered one of the most egalitarian and progressive in the world?
If we know this to be a fact, why haven't we made more progress in achieving gender equality in business?
And how do we address a problem that many people don't even acknowledge exists?
I've spoken to several people (men) who simply refuse to believe that women face greater challenges in building businesses and securing funding. And many women themselves are unaware of the extent of this issue, as very few women I know feel like they're victims of inequality or inferior to men.
But that doesn't mean the problem isn't real. Every statistic tells us that the glass ceiling, hidden biases, and systemic discrimination are very much alive.
Taking action against these injustices can feel like trying to catch a greased pig. It's a daunting task. Where do we even begin to address such deeply entrenched inequalities?
Because the numbers don’t lie.
This is the topic we will explore on the main stage at Startup Extreme for our panel debate, "Righting the Gender Imbalance in Venture – Whose Job Is It, Really?" on Thursday, April 25.
Similar resistance to change can also be observed in the apparel and fashion industry. Beneath the glamorous exterior lies one of the world's largest and most polluting sectors, characterized by unsustainable production practices and extreme wastefulness.
Consider these alarming statistics:
• 100 billion clothes are estimated to be produced every year.
• 85% of our clothes end up in landfills, often unworn.
• If the fashion industry were a country, it would rank third for carbon emissions after China and the USA.
• More than 60% of our clothes are made from synthetic plastic fibers that release toxic chemicals with every wash and take over 200 years to decompose.
With new EU regulations demanding drastic change by 2030, the fashion & apparel industry, like others, is being pushed toward a more circular operating model. But with so many outdated and unsustainable systems woven into its fabric, it's hard to know where to begin this daunting task.
So why not start with women? After all, we are the largest fashion consumers with significant purchasing power.
For decades, women have been bombarded with messages that we're not good enough as we are. And so we are constantly chasing the latest trends to feel accepted. To compensate for never meeting society's impossible standards of beauty and adequacy. Constantly striving to be skinny enough, pretty enough, tall enough...
Ironically, fashion is the one arena where women have products seemingly tailormade for us. Countless of products to make us look better, younger, skinnier, perkier…
Only, historically, these products have not been made by women for women. But rather made for women by men. For men.
Allowing us to believe that our wellness is less important than our appearance. Just think about it - the more difficult and uncomfortable it is to achieve a certain look, the more fashionable and unique we become!
I believe that if women want the power to reclaim our own beauty and take control of the narrative of our bodies, we need to place ourselves around the table where decisions that affect us are being made. Which means more of us need to start our own businesses, become CEOs and board members.
And we need to stop shopping short-lived self-esteem. Because with this mindset, we unwittingly contribute to harming our planet through overconsumption, fuelling the fast fashion beast with its wasteful practices rooted in cheap labour, toxic chemicals, and plastic fabrics.
It's time to become more conscious of our purchasing habits and reject an industry that has exploited our insecurities with false solutions.
Because here's the interesting part... Women may buy trend-based, uncomfortable fast fashion, but it's not what we actually wear in our everyday lives. Most women can't wait to change out of constricting clothes and into T-shirts and sweatpants as soon as we come home – just to feel free in our own bodies again.
Which is why we only wear 20% of the clothes hanging in our wardrobe.
I founded AWAN because I noticed a huge gap between the clothes we buy and the clothes we actually wear. And I realized that bridging this gap could be an incredible opportunity to disrupt the wasteful practices of the fashion industry.