Fashion with a Focus Eco-Ethical-Organic-Sustainable-Enviromental

[Benn98]

The only way fashion could ever be “eco” or “sustainable” would be to go back to an industry model like it was in the 20’s, 30’s or 40’s before RTW. Couture garments made custom of the highest quality for individual clients who kept these clothes for generations, also demanding and ensuring a large and stable job market for skilled laborers to make these clothes…and the rest of us who couldn’t afford Couture learned to get by making our own clothes or purchasing what we could afford and when.

Anything less than that is fluff and a waste of time.

LOL, don't know why you're going on about potato sacks because Dolce & Gabbana (Phuel's faves) literally sent models down the runway in hessian...



Basically, you're advocating for the current sustainable movement because that's pretty much what we're championing for as well. Not to return to the 30s model of manufacturing and not for every single middle-class person to have their own tailor (virtually impossible), but to buy less fast fashion and instead look in your area for smaller labels, dressmakers, vintage stores, and brands who specialise in handcrafted pieces using materials that are locally available or by upcycling. It's called 'slow fashion'. That's what sustainability is all about, and it's happening right now. American Vogue did a lengthy feature on all the micro brands (over 40 I think) scattered across your country. You may have missed it (was in the Kamala Harris issue LOL).

What a lot of the bigger brands are doing is small capsules to test the waters, or phasing out exotic animal skins entirely. These efforts should also be applauded because it creates a demand where there may not have been one. And ultimately, to convert to a fully sustainable model.

In 2021, there are a variety of incentives for brands to adopt a sustainable model. Government rebates, human rights, animal cruelty, great replacement materials (cactus leather, PET etc) and probably more important to them than everything.... the customer. If the customer wants a coat made from a sustainable material and manufactured under ethical practices, the brand will deliver. I really don't get why there would be any pushback on a brand's decision to ditch fur/exotics or going green. Firstly, it speaks to the current global warming crisis which everyone is aware of. And secondly, if you as a consumer don't like it, you're more than welcome to shop elsewhere. They're a business and I can assure you that they've weighed the pros and cons.

I do agree that some brands do label themselves 'eco/sustainable' when they're not. But thankfully, because there are more conversations around sustainability and more brands who embrace it, customers are at the same time becoming more educated to pick up who is greenwashing and who is doing it honestly.

The only area with the shift from animal-derived products is that we don't have a lot of clarity on synthetic replacements and how the toxic ingredients may affect us or the environment in the long run. That, and also the quality and longevity of goods. Once we have more transparency on that, it would be great.

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[fashionista-ta]

^ There are a ton of startups growing meat in the lab, so I don't see why they won't be able to grow leather and even exotic skins. The better the fakes, the greater the confusion though ... but I think this is the direction we should be headed.

Birkenstock really does a great job with vegan materials, though I prefer leather myself (and will wear it into the ground).

There are a number of people in the industry who are sincere and serious about sustainable fashion--Eileen Fisher, Gabriella Hurst (now scaling up at Chloe), Stella McCartney--I think they've all backed up the talk with real action. And the pandemic pushed many more brands to use what they had on hand. I would love to see a wider range of styles in this group ... can't wait to see what happens at Chloe. We don't have a freestanding boutique here, so I'm not sure how well I'll be able to get the story when I go to buy things locally. But I know she's already making leather coats from scraps. I want to know more.

 

[Benn98]

And the pandemic pushed many more brands to use what they had on hand.

You're so right about this! I've seen the movement happen as well under the 'support local' umbrella and it was interesting to see how creative some brands got.

As for Gabriela Hearst, she's currently in a bit of a tight spot because of this.....

 

[fashionista-ta]

PETA has little credibility with me. Eileen Fisher has a Responsible Wool product line. I don't doubt that there are cruel people producing wool somewhere and being cruel to the sheep. This is not, however, a necessary part of producing wool, which should not result in the deaths of animals. I also have no doubt that it can be done right, and is being done right (e.g., Eileen Fisher). It does have a significant environmental impact, so everyone should be prepared to help their wool clothes last a lifetime.

It's common for dog breeders to not give heartworm preventative. They're only interested in the first 6-7 years of the dog's life ... after that, who cares? A more passive form of cruelty, with dog rescues and rescuers left to pick up the pieces and clean up their messes. But more cruel still is what PETA would do.

 

[dior_couture1245]

^ There are a ton of startups growing meat in the lab, so I don't see why they won't be able to grow leather and even exotic skins. The better the fakes, the greater the confusion though ... but I think this is the direction we should be headed.

I will never understand this.

Everyone wants eco, natural, "slow," "real"....which somehow translates to this lifestyle of having potted plants at home and eating meat grown in a science lab???

People have worn fur since the beginning of time. They also have eaten meat since the beginning of time. The planet is still here after all that fur and after all that meat. But now suddenly and urgently we need to wear and eat things grown in a lab? No thank you. We're all fooling ourselves thinking that these things look and taste as good as the real deal. There isn't a single fake fur I've ever seen that doesn't look like a matted rats nest after two or three wears. And things like the "Impossible Burger" have an ingredients list so long it could be mistaken for a Tolstoy novel.

 

[dontbeadrag]

Everyone wants eco, natural, "slow," "real"....which somehow translates to this lifestyle of having potted plants at home and eating meat grown in a science lab???

This is the problem.
People in 21 century have become so hypocritical within themselves, that a lot don't even notice the bigger picture. People ban fur, and become vegan/seek substitute for good reasons that I understand well, but it comes at a huge cost, because the production of faux-fur is actually extremely polluting, and so is fake leather, and I assume fake meat. I think the cause itself, the problem noticing, are actually noble reasons - nobody wants to hurt animals deliberately and people truly would do just fine without more fur (we already have enough fur coats on the secondary markets to cover all the needs anyway). However, us here, and most other fashion sites, are all hypocrites anyway, since fashion itself is a giant pollutant, the biggest one in history, actually.

But at least some people aren't playing angels. I admit myself that I am a bigot - I do not buy fur, but I am still proud of receiving my rabbit fur Salvatore Ferragamo bed throw 10 years ago. And I love fashion and will always do so. All of us here are sinners this way and it would be silly of anybody to reject this - we are all waiting for the latest magazine that requires resources to create photographs, paper to be printed, energy to be published online, and what it does? Shows us people in clothes that change so fast, we will never ever need so many clothes anyway, and none of us need 15 new models of Balenciaga bags each season, yet here we are.

The majority of people be like "stop animal testing", yet launch and use 10934 make up brands, fuel them even more money and force even more resources to be used. And while animal testing is bad anyway, in general people should consume less of anything, but the trend is opposite - with the Internet and all else, we only want everything new and everyday.

Remember when we waited a month for a magazine and then we had to wait a season to get new clothes from only the established brands, yet we weren't so "woke". Today we are so accepting, yet we have all Nanushkas, Fentys, Pyer Moss, Off Whites, Telfars, Mansur Gavriels, and about 5000 new brands churning out at least 8 collections a year, when we were perfectly fine with those 100 we had 4 times a year.

I feel like people want things to be better, and a lot of genuinely so, but everything goes actually in the opposite way.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^^ What you are forgetting is how many more people we have on this planet than we did in all the years humans have 'successfully' worn fur and eaten meat. I am an omnivore and am not at all ready to eat meat grown in a lab--but the process is definitely more eco-friendly than certainly the industrial process and perhaps the slow process as well. I am not prepared to put something lab grown in my mouth at this moment, but I'm willing to put it on my feet if they've done a good job. Hermes is using mushroom leather for a new bag--clearly they realize there's a market they're missing out on. My dinner's here, so that must be all I have to say for now!

 

[singsomethingnew]

People have worn fur since the beginning of time. They also have eaten meat since the beginning of time. The planet is still here after all that fur and after all that meat. But now suddenly and urgently we need to wear and eat things grown in a lab? No thank you.

Barely

In all seriousness though, there's a huge difference in pre- and post-industrial meat consumption with regards to scale, profit motive, and the sheer resources necessary to feed a population that has grown exponentially.

Until the way we structure society changes, it's impossible to make 100% ethical choices, which is why it doesn't behoove anyone to judge the people around them for choosing something less than ideal. A lot of people can't choose entirely plant-based diets and lab-grown meat has a huge way to go until it's fully sustainable and accessible. A lot of people can't choose slow fashion for socio-economic reasons and rely on cheap, unethically produced clothing in order to literally have anything to wear. Still though, if you're digging your heels in instead of figuring out what you can do to move the needle, even slightly, I might suggest reconsidering your values.

 

[dior_couture1245]

Still though, if you're digging your heels in instead of figuring out what you can do to move the needle, even slightly, I might suggest reconsidering your values.

What’s with all these new members showing up and lecturing us elders?

Kind of sick of it.

 

[singsomethingnew]

What’s with all these new members showing up and lecturing us elders?

Kind of sick of it.

It was a general “you.” Hope that helps! <3

 

[MulletProof]

I use the same handbag until it falls apart to be honest! I saved up for a new one from The Row & can already tell it will last me YEARS of daily use. Their prices are shocking but I'd rather pay for the quality & invest in repair services. It's also non-descript enough to avoid the trend trap.

Same.. I don't even do it for ecological purposes, I just find it so tacky when someone has a different bag for different clothes and their bags are very.. designed, to put it nicely. I know it makes no sense but honestly the tackiest women I know do that haha, same for needing a new pair of shoes for every new garment and then discarding a ton of junk every year.. I honestly don't understand that and maybe I should given that I've maintained an interest in fashion for a very long time, it just screams vulgarity and insecurity to me.

I agree with dior_couture in the previous page.. I think deescalating mass production is really the only way.. this level of globalization helps no one, it affects the healthy economic development of developing nations, it really affects industries like fashion and it's bad for the planet. Individual efforts are great but there's a convenient narrative pushed by the private sector and colluding governments that it comes down to each of us to carry out actions in order to change the course of society and climate and if only all of us are convinced, knowledgable and put enough effort into it, it will be accomplished.. and that is not true, not even plastic usage. There are different stages of development even within one same country so expecting everyone to modify lifestyle or the only choices they have, when that is not a possibility for them, is ludicrous. Even if we all became eco warriors, we'd still have a lot of challenges if the biggest industrial polluters continue to resist and if large economies continue bullying smaller ones into letting them set up tons of factories for cheap labor, and if these countries continue to lean towards corruption and sell the idea that factories "help the local people".. something I've even read around tfs from people with the luxury to judge from afar.

That being said.. focusing on the smaller and inconsequential things in life and good things we can rescue from the lifestyle of our grandparents: I don't know why someone would prefer plastic bags over a tote bag, why hurt your fingers when you can hurt your entire arm lol.. there's a reason why people used basket-y stuff many decades ago, it's just more comfortable and you can carry way more. But speaking of potatoes and if we must use plastic bags at all costs, did anyone ever smell the 'eco' plastic bags from Muji made out of potatoes? my god.. that stuff was addictive, such a beautiful smell, and the texture felt different too. All bags should be made out of potatoes.

I think people in general get too divisive on this for no reason.. there's certainly a type of rampant capitalism that I've seen in the US where people adopt literally anything, something that is absolutely normal (like simply expecting your vegetables to not have chemicals!) and make it a better-than-thou philosophy and preach about it to the extent you start feeling pretentious when eating vegetables, you bite a leaf of kale and wonder whether you are like them after all .. but that's really just people and their identity crises and it's not hard to just disassociate from all of that and.. carry on. I've seen people going out of their way trying to discredit someone for not eating meat, or for eating something that resembles meat but is not actual meat and it's like.. who cares? do you eat meat every single day? cause a lot of people around the world don't and not because they can't, you just.. have a ton of pumpkin maybe and like pumpkin dumplings, whatever. Everything is annoying when you start labeling it or appropriating it into some exclusive, GOOP-ish lifestyle and the people that respond to it like 'but soy is b*lls*it!!' are not any better lol.


Finally..

Kind of sick of it.

WHY? .. doesn't it make you more hopeful that this near-dead forum is still able to attract people that are knowledgable, good at debating and with critical-thinking capacity in order? like this newer member (susseinmcsomething), he/she is welcome to lecture me any time, such a breath of fresh air and a really educated eye that you can detect in some of these posts, and singsomethingnew is essentially saying what you said in the previous page, just adding the minor difference that mass production was not a thing 120,000 years ago when people were making bonfires everywhere they pleased, wearing fur and grilling steak and it was a very harmless lifestyle that hurt no one.. because for starters, there was no concept of society!.

But yeah.. ridding myself of my filter for a second: I'd honestly prefer 50 singsomethingnews over one effin' lapdog who likes all my posts, comes after me like 'agreed!', piles on whoever I'm having an exchange with and can be spotted repeating whatever I said in a different thread like I need any help. Experienced that over the years, seen that happens to others (especially with the liberal vs. conservative discourse) and.. that's one annoying 'new member' syndrome, I know I sound ungrateful (and might as well be) but like.. any thoughts of your own to share? is nodding all you do cause herd mentality happened to you? do you need help breaking out of that?. Just.. get the 'yaaaass 100%' instagram culture away from me, I would not be in an old-fashioned f-o-r-u-m if that's all I wanted to see.

 

[fashionista-ta]

What’s with all these new members showing up and lecturing us elders?

Kind of sick of it.

Kinda like it (speaking as someone who might actually be considered an elder )

 

[fashionista-ta]

Barely

In all seriousness though, there's a huge difference in pre- and post-industrial meat consumption with regards to scale, profit motive, and the sheer resources necessary to feed a population that has grown exponentially.

Until the way we structure society changes, it's impossible to make 100% ethical choices, which is why it doesn't behoove anyone to judge the people around them for choosing something less than ideal. A lot of people can't choose entirely plant-based diets and lab-grown meat has a huge way to go until it's fully sustainable and accessible. A lot of people can't choose slow fashion for socio-economic reasons and rely on cheap, unethically produced clothing in order to literally have anything to wear. Still though, if you're digging your heels in instead of figuring out what you can do to move the needle, even slightly, I might suggest reconsidering your values.

I grant you that there is a certain luxury to considering problems that are beyond one's own immediate survival. However, there are many people with few resources who are extremely committed to living lightly on the earth (freegans, for example). I just read the book The Tiny Mess, and it's filled with examples of such people. When I had very little money myself, I chose to mostly spend it on the second-hand market rather than fast fashion, and this option is well-known to those with little money. Making ethical choices doesn't necessarily require wealth, but it might require some imagination. And poor people everywhere are doing a much better job than rich people of using less than their fair share of resources (granted, much of this is forced rather than chosen). Now, I'm not recommending judging anyone, which definitely doesn't move the needle. But some people are so good at conspicuous waste that it's certainly hard not to notice.

 

[Benn98]

This is tremendous!
A PETA X H&M collab

 

[susseinmcswanny]

H&M is one of the biggest polluters on this planet but yippee another "sustainability" "eco-friendly" marketing tactic slayyyyy. Unless they wanna completely revolutionize the way they operate, who tf cares

 

[cestmagique]

^agreed unfortunately... also, how hard is it to find vegan clothing?

 

[Benn98]

H&M is one of the biggest polluters on this planet but yippee another "sustainability" "eco-friendly" marketing tactic slayyyyy. Unless they wanna completely revolutionize the way they operate, who tf cares

Glass half full, Sussein, glass half full. Lol. I think it's always about the smaller steps that one can take.
Yes, it's a bit like having a vegan burger at KFC, but we have to meet these greedy, slaveowner corporations halfway and make it financially viable for them to change their ways. That's the sad truth. Because no government mandates will force them.
The mere fact that H&M agreed to this collab shows how far the vegan movement has come. Who knows, maybe it will evolve into a permanent subline and gradually grow bigger?

Full disclosure, I'm not fully vegan. I only eat meat or fish maybe once-twice a week at most, and it started with small steps.

 

[susseinmcswanny]

Glass half full, Sussein, glass half full. Lol. I think it's always about the smaller steps that one can take.

Lmao I feel you I've been so cynical lately I just don't believe anything they say. I totally agree the small steps people take is KEY. Btw I too am a baby vegan hehe. I used to be more diligent with it but I've become more lax.

It is interesting because altho h&m, inditex, etc are legitimately evil, we are obv a big part of the problem too because we all enable it. We are in the 21st century. We are all smart people, we know what they're doing, we know what's out there, we have so much information at our fingertips, but so much of what we do is out of convenience, out of sight out of mind. If we ceased to be customers, companies would cease their F'd up ways! If we made a collective effort to be more conscious of what we're doing, step by step we could improve things. It is just hard because there's so much corruption coming from every direction how can we possibly be on top of everything. Goes for fashion, food, electronics, everything.

Fun fact yesterday I was reading YSL's terms and conditions and they literally write in like Kering tries its best to only work with ethical suppliers/manufacturers etc, but ultimately it is out of our control what they do. ??? Do less. And you know what I did? I BOUGHT A PAIR OF BOOTS BC I'M A PIECE OF sh*t

 

[fashionista-ta]

This is tremendous!
A PETA X H&M collab

Ah, two of my least favorite brands.

I have never bought anything from H&M, and it's honestly very easy, just two steps:

1. Never walk in their door.
2. Never visit their website.

 

[Benn98]

^Unfortunately their price point makes H&M the go-to for the masses, which again, is part of the reason why it won't be easy for a large group of consumers to just switch to ethical fashion. That's the only reason why H&M is so popular. Hopefully this PETA collab will be at an accessible price point.

I get why you wouldn't like H&M, but PETA? I'm not educated enough on the dog heartworm issue, but PETA is right about wool production. Brands like Eileen Fisher are in the minority. There's simply no way to regulate all the wool brands, and because wool is a commodity there will always be farms that will cut corners.