Who says being fashionable and being eco-friendly cannot coincide with one another? In this age, publications like Vogue and The New York Times are using words like “eco-friendly” and “sustainable,” which occurs simultaneously in the sentence with the word “fashion” in it. These words may not commonly be used to associate with fashion. Still, times are a-changing, and taking care of the environment and planet is a significant concern that we are facing nowadays.
Keeping up with the trends in sustainable fashion is essential, you do not want to wear clothes that are over decades ago. Some brands are using synthetic fabrics producing to low-quality clothes that, if worn twice or thrice, it tends to fall apart. Moreover, it is essential to support brands that venture on using environmentally friendly methods and use natural and recycled material.
Fashion brands are now putting the health of our planet first in their acquisitions, may it be creating an ethical t-shirt, renting a garment, or configuring a seaweed and turning it into shoe soles. Hence, as fashion progress and morphing into something different every single day. Below is the list of some sustainable fashion tips on how to stay trendy and fashionable. More so being sustainable and eco-friendly at the same time.
Preloved Luxury
It is abundantly apparent nowadays that the practice of acquiring preloved items is becoming mainstream. As they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Before the idea of owning a secondhand piece is widespread, there is a considerable stigma pertaining to it labeling it as shameful. Since we have evolved and accepted the notion of rising eco-consciousness and the growing campaign in reducing waste fashion guru and social media influencers displays their thrift finds ostentatiously
Due to this, many people are now turning to preloved fashion. There has been a drastic change in the global scale of the preloved luxury fashion sector. It experienced astonishing growth and popularity, and it is continuously growing each day.
Finding New Material
Instead of using materials that may pollute the earth and helping to destroy the environment, why not use an alternative? Something environmentally friendly and organic. On this day, a lot of brands, manufacturers, and designers are using organic cotton, which is more natural and sustainable. Others use an alternative such as soy, corn, bamboo, and wood pulp in their textile. Some use natural dyes in their efforts to create and develop a sustainable fashion that would be beneficial to everyone.
This alternative solution is not only applicable to clothes and garments but also in watches. The swiss military watch is using a clean energy source through solar power, and their straps are made of woven cotton fiber or natural rubber. So, instead of supporting brands that contribute to the destruction of our planet, why not support manufacturers and designers who use natural and ecologically sound materials in their products.
Staying Cruelty-Free
There is no room for cruelty in this world. Thus, using animal leather in clothing and garments is banned. People are seeking an alternative solution, and that gives us Pinatex. The plant-based leather extracted from pineapple waste, specifically its leaves. Pinatex presents a lighter and cheaper leather compared to the commercially produced leather coming from animals.
Moreover, fur is officially out in the world of sustainable fashion. This long-controversial material may have been popular in the past, but it is slowly eradicated. Aside from the animal cruelty problem, fur farming has a negative impact on our planet. Fur production releases gases, fossil fuels, and a high volume of chemical pollution. Furthermore, its preservation process consumes a large quantity of energy.
Rent It or Swap It
The normalization of preloved fashion gives way to the practice of renting or swapping your old clothes with new ones. The vital approach to reduce waste is by extending the lives of our clothes. We spend so much money on clothes that we only twice or thrice a year. By the idea of renting and swapping clothes, we are able to save a crazy amount of money at the same time, lessen the waste on the environment.
There are rental platforms like Le Tote and Rent the Runway, which lay the groundwork for the practice of sustainable fashion. The increased demand for rental subscription services allows companies like Urban Outfitters, Bloomingdale, and the Banana Republic to unfold. There are also informal clothes or wardrobe swapping that is usually conducted in locally organized events or parties. This kind of approach is accessible to all and encourage collaborative consumption.
Repeating Outfits
Many people are concerned and feel an absolute pressure to wear if not new well, different outfits on every occasion. Since it is deeply embedded in our mind that it is shameful to be seen wearing the same outfit twice. This kind of perception should be eradicated and extinguished. Repeating outfits should be normalized. This year there has been a spectacular leap in terms of this notion.
Everyone was shocked when the Duchess of Cambridge wore the same clothes a couple of times; thus, breaking the norms and stigma of outfit repeating. And when everything seems to calm down, Megan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, rewore the same outfit on numerous times, and she was taking pride in it. In these instances, a lot of people wonder why repeating an outfit becomes such a fashion sin.
Reduce Reuse Recycle
The fashion industry reinvents their style and fashion every single time, and this is one step further in carrying the idea of recycling. Some of the eco-friendly fashion brands and designers are discovering ways on how to recycle all the discarded designs. Through this, it will lessen energy in production and generating less waste.
There is also an introduced zero waste sneakers in which shoe designers are inventively reducing waste and, at the same time, creatively creating stylish and durable products. There is a Spanish brand that establishes a ‘Shao’ shoes that are designed with a yarn that comes from five plastic bottles. The outer sole of the shoe is made from a type of algae.
Takeaway
The love for fashion and the concern for the environment can go hand and hand. Before there are a slim amount of clothes that are sustainable and eco-friendly, but as time progresses, a lot of brands are now using cruelty-free materials and non-polluting fabric in their products. Thus, sustainable fashion and global awareness are building bridges with each other and breaking down norms and stigma.
