in the early 1990s and roughly coinciding with the united nations conference on environment and development in 1992, popularly known as the rio earth summit, 'green issues' (as they were called at the time) made their way into fashion and textiles publications. typically these publications featured the work of well-known companies such as patagonia and esprit, who in the late 1980s brought environmental concerns into their businesses. the owners of those companies at that time, yvon chouinard and doug tompkins, were outdoorsmen and witnessed the environment being harmed by over production and over consumption of material goods. they commissioned research into the impacts of fibers used in their companies. for patagonia, this resulted in a lifecycle assessment for four fibers, cotton, wool, nylon and polyester. for esprit the focus was on cotton—and finding better alternatives to it—which represented 90% of their business at that time. interestingly, a similar focus on materials impact and selection is still the norm in the sustainable fashion thirty years on.