I am afraid that I am that boring sort of guy that comes into fashion from time to time.

"Fashion? What fashion?"

I first starting sporting a beard when I was 20 years of age and I have never, no never, shaved it off from that day to this some 51 years later.  My beard is now very fashionable indeed as I would have been in late Victorian times; but for the majority of my life time, I have definitely been out of fashion. In my younger days, I might have been bolshie enough to shave off my beard at the thought I might be in fashion at all. However, I am now past caring about whether I am in out or out of the fashion at any particular time.  So the beard is here to stay for a bit longer. Once a nonconformist, always a nonconformist is what I say.

I am afraid that my clothes sense leaves a lot to be desired too. My wife ceased to try and change me about 30 years ago. However I confess that I do let her buy my clothes as I am really not that bothered what I am seen in. That suits me as long as every piece of clothing I have can be worn until it starts falling apart. That’s the happy bargain we have reached after nearly 45 years of married life. That means that on the subject of conservation and clothing I am probably one of the good guys especially as socks with holes graduate to the golf bag to wipe down the clubs.

The issue of conservation of the world’s resources and climate change is now beginning to touch parts of our lives that have remained unscathed up to now.  Just last week, the UN produced a report which urged the world’s population to eat less meat. It has been known for a long time that production of food by way of meat and dairy is the most inefficient use of the world’s resources and adds significantly to greenhouse gasses. Now it’s official, we all need to change our eating habits to help contribute to saving the planet. 

Again I am OK on this front. Although not a vegetarian, I am by choice not a great meat eater.  This so far has not been a conservation choice but simply down to a knackered digestive system. However when it comes to dairy, I really do have a love of milk and cheese.  Cutting down on that will indeed be a sacrifice for me.  Vegan and vegetarian are indeed becoming fashionable and what started off as a fad in the 20th century will become the norm in the 21st and that will be good for the world.  My uncle, another nonconformist, led the crusade to veganism in the 1980s and 90s.

But back to clothing and fashion itself.  Off the peg cheap clothes worn once and then discarded have become a big topic of discussion. Making clothes consumes the earth’s resources and requires energy to produce. To wear clothing once and then discard is surely the ultimate in the throw away culture that societies with too much engender. On the other hand, as someone immune from the desire to conform, I must not be too harsh on those who feel otherwise.  Looking good and feeling good about yourself makes us healthy self-confident individuals and I for one would not want to knock that.

Zara has been one of the leading brands to make conservation a big issue. Zara has been incredibly successful although it does no advertising and very little marketing; and yet its success is built on the ethos of its inspirational boss Spaniard Pablo Isla. His mantra is that there is no contradiction between commercial success and environmental sustainability. In his view the two go hand in hand. Cutting down on energy use and increasing recycling of clothing all contribute to cutting costs and increasing profitability in his view. Not that his company has been immune from criticism on the standards of third party suppliers which Isla says is still work in progress.

Jackson Lees has a long way to go to improve its environmental footprint but decreasing use of paper and other precious resources are part of plan to increase our profitability too. At least these sort of issues are now rising up the agenda for business.  If we don’t watch it, sustainable business might even become fashionable. I might be able to live with that.