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What’s new with vegan fashion?
Words by Olivia Penn I’ve been in the vegan scene since 2015. Things have changed a lot since then. With veganism growing substantially it is becoming easier than ever to live a vegan lifestyle. I’ve also changed a lot since then. Particularly regarding fashion. I’ve become more conscious about how I choose to dress and I have tried to minimise my effect on the environment. But back in 2015 when I first went vegan I remember really having no trouble at all trying to find vegan footwear. My go-to shops were the likes of New Look, Topshop and River Island, all of which had plenty of vegan footwear on offer;…
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Pressing Pause on Fashion
This year I’ve been travelling around and living abroad. As a result of having to live out of a suitcase, I’ve had to keep clothing purchases to a minimum. In fact, I actually went 6 months without making a new clothing purchase. In the fast fashion era we’re living in, going 6 months without a new purchase is quite unusual. I know many people can barely make it through a week without hitting the shops or the apps. It was definitely the longest I’d gone without buying new clothes. I was forced to live with the same limited amount of garments – about a quarter of my wardrobe. In there…
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Fashion’s Climate Emergency
Twitter: @theeasyethical / Blog: The Easy Ethical It’s no secret that fast fashion is unsustainable, despite government attempts to keep this fact hidden. They talk about making our homes energy efficient, using public transport and eating locally, but fast fashion always seems to forgo a mention. But it needs urgent attention. Not only are we consuming fashion made of material harmful to the environment, we’re consuming it at an alarming rate. A lot of us love fashion, and a lot of us are simply unaware that our purchasing habits are causing so much environmental destruction. How many people name fashion when they talk about what they perceive to be the…
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Should conscious fashion brands be slowing down their social media activity?
Instagram is every fashion brand’s favourite marketing tool. It gives them the ability to create a perfectly curated profile that shows off their brand’s aesthetic. They can update their story with their latest releases and newest on-sale items. We, as consumers, are drawn in by the beautiful images on our feed. It’s a winning formula for fashion. Fast fashion brand Fashion Nova posts on their Instagram account every 30-60 minutes. If you follow them, you are bombarded with pictures of beautiful women wearing their latest releases. Much like the process of creating the fashion itself, their Instagram is in overdrive. Make it fast and sell it fast. This strategy is…
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Fashion Victims
When we consider the euphoric highs and ever-increasing lows associated with addiction, is intoxicating ourselves with fashion really as harmless as we think? Shopping for clothes is more a form of entertainment than it is a necessity these days. It’s a form of escapism, relaxation and pleasure. That’s why the term ‘retail therapy’ has become everyday language. Let’s be honest, most of us have enough clothes in our wardrobe. In fact, most of us probably have more clothes than we need. So, when we go shopping, it’s largely for fun. From High To Low It feels so good to come out of the shopping centre with bags full of our…
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Who made my feminist meme T-shirt?
Most garments are cut and sewn by female factory workers in the developing world, where working conditions are poor and labour rates are low. Can you be a fashion lover and a feminist at the same time?
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Sustainable Fashion: The Millennial Dilemma
According to sustainable clothing certifiers, Oeko-Tex, while 60% of millennials are interested in ethical clothing, only 37% say they have actually purchased them. What is stopping us putting our money where our mouths are?
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The Fast Fashion Trap
Fast Fashion is making us want more, spend more and waste more. Accessibility through low costs and an abundance of styles has boosted our need for newness and we’re topping up our wardrobes at an expedient rate. It taps into our need for conformity and our desire for self-expression, but at what cost to our mental health?
