Image courtesy of Peter Lindbergh
With famous Hollywood actors like Emma Watson speaking out against unethical fashion and magazines like Vogue promoting eco-friendly ideals, we’re starting to see a mindset shift when it comes to consumer purchasing habits.
As consumers are becoming more aware of how their purchasing decisions impact the environment, support for brands that adopt sustainable business practices has increased. And an interesting consequence of this has been the gradual gravitation toward eco-conscious fashion trends.
Here are a few sustainable fashion trends that we’ve noticed lately.
Help Save The Planet With These Eco-Friendly Fashion Trends
Refashioning Old Clothes
Image: blog.ladygirlvintage.com
Want to stay up-to-date with the latest fashion trends, but don’t want to buy a whole new wardrobe? You’ll be glad to know that there’s another alternative – one that’s budget-friendly too! Ever heard of the term ‘refashioning’? If not, you’re sure to hear it being used more often as ethical fashion trends are beginning to embrace the idea of reducing landfill waste by giving old clothes a new look.
With a few simple sewing tricks and some creative flair, you’ll be surprised by how you can quickly transform those drearily dull items in your closet!
Rent A Closet
Image courtesy of Rent the Runway
The term ‘collaborative fashion consumption’ has recently entered the sustainable fashion vocabulary, and has made luxury brands like Vera Wang and Giorgio Armani more accessible to middle-class fashion fanatics through the renting and sharing of clothing.
Initiatives like ‘Rent the Runway’ have followed in the footsteps of companies such as Netflix and Spotify by favouring access over ownership. And this is great news in terms of environmental impact, as this means that both the purchase and disposal of clothing is greatly reduced, resulting in less waste.
Want to know where you can rent designer clothing in South Africa? Check out online clothing rental service, Little Borrowed Dress – this clever start up is going places!
Viva Vintage
Image courtesy of Dover Design Photography
It’s time to raid gran’s closet! A renewed interested in vintage clothing is giving both budgets and overloaded landfills a break. So, look out for companies that re-pair or sell vintage outfits if you’d like to stay up-to-date with contemporary fashion trends and be eco-conscious at the same time. Some current examples of South African vintage clothing companies include Cape Town based online store, The Changing Room and Durban based store, Fantabulous (situated in Morningside).
Ethical Fashion Favours Sustainable Fabrics
With water-hungry and chemically-intensive plants such as cotton being one of the most widely grown crops in the world, there’s little wonder as to why organic and sustainable fabrics like bamboo are at the forefront of the ethical fashion movement.
The ability to be grown without pesticides and without artificial irrigation has certainly contributed to bamboo’s preference in the sustainable fashion industry!
After reading through these sustainable fashion trends, we hope that you’re just as excited as us about the future of fashion. Join our mailing list for more eco-awesome blogs and stay up-to-date with current happenings in the world ethical fashion (enjoy 10% off your first Boody order as an added bonus!).
