In an age of conscious consumers and ever growing concerns surrounding the environment is it time to start choosing between sustainability or style when it comes to our buying habits?
Stella McCartney are one of the pioneers when it comes to sustainable fashion, founding fabrics including vegan leather which embodies the same buttery texture as the real thing minus the guilt. McCartney have become a force within the fashion space and their reputation has grown and grown in scale but has remained true to the core which is sustainable fashion is key and at the very foundation of everything they do. Some of my favourite campaigns which I believe depict the importance for sustainable fashion include the AW23 campaign showcasing the stark contrast between powerful clothing and beautiful animals which grace our planet. Highlighting not only the strong bond between people and planet but also showcasing that people and planet can work alongside one another and thrive, subtly showing sustainable fashion is the way forward if we want both elements to work in harmony. This relationship was later shown again in their AW24 campaign highlighting the relationship between people and planet, the positioning of these images I believe is incredibly significant; the model in white surrounded by the flower channels two main thoughts, one; that people are at the centre of the planet, but this may be for the wrong reason, being at the centre and leading to the downfall we have seen in the current climate, including global warming, and two; that humans are almost insignificant when it comes to the overall size of the planet and environment, giving the connotations that we shouldn’t be causing as much damage because in the grand scale, we are very small.
On the other hand Reformation, a brand known for creating sustainable dresses and a reputation for sustainable clothing, but as the brand grew reports as to whether the brand had starting running before it could walk began to appear. Is the brand truly still sustainable or had this element dropped down on the list of priorities? The Good on You app which rates brand for sustainability taking multiple different factors and research into consideration rates the brand ‘good’ with people and animals only receiving a 3 out of 5 rating. Going into further details and labelling the brand as ‘it’s a start’ for a brand which once highlighted it’s forward thinking mindset on sustainability including it’s sustainability report publication, is it still staying true to those founding thoughts of being a good force for the industry or has it got caught up in sales and forgotten why the brand was created in the first place.
On the other side of the fence we have Zara a brand known for following runway trends and pioneering the way for style conscious shoppers on a budget, producing all the latest trends for the masses at a fraction of the price. This brand has come into many difficulties when it comes to sustainability and greenwashing from the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013, killing over 1,100 garment workers in these unsafe factories. To the numerous greenwashing scandals, of late the claims of being eco-conscious and launching numerous campaigns including donating clothes and the sustainable cotton ranges. But can we truly label a brand as eco-conscious when a lot of the clothes donated inevitability up in landfill as the initiative hasn’t been mapped out properly or that only 1% of total Zara clothing is part of the sustainable cotton range which is advertised everywhere.
Overall as a consumer we have to be ever more savvy when it comes to what brands are telling us and what is truly going on behind the shinny facade, but one thing is for certain the fashion industry is responsible for the second most polluting and harmful industry in the world and if we don’t start changing our shopping habits and shopping more sustainably then there won’t be a planet to be stylish on.