Why I Find Myself Not Really Messing With “Sustainable” Fashion Brands
Buying “sustainable” clothes first-hand is still generating demand for a product whose manufacturing stresses an already stressed-to-the-max supply chain and environment.
Since conversations surrounding sustainability and ethics in the fashion industry have begun to permeate the collective consciousness, companies for whom sustainability marks the cornerstone of their brand have popped up like wraparound sunglasses at a Trump rally (sorry for that unnecessarily specific reference). While I applaud their intentions, it is challenging to market your product without contradicting your own self-proclaimed commitment to sustainability—after all, the goal of marketing is to convince people to buy more of your product, and more product in circulation is the problem we’re trying to solve with sustainable fashion. Make it make sense.
I already brought up politics, so I’ll liken my attitude towards sustainable fashion brands to a progressive’s attitude towards the Democratic party. The Democrats are problematic and fail to deliver on many, if not most, progressive values. But not only does their rhetoric come in a much more palatable and less offensive package than the Republicans’ rhetoric, it’s actually approaching moral correctness. It’s not quite there, but it’s in the neighborhood. Similarly, sustainable fashion brands such as Reformation and Stella McCartney are infinitely preferable to fast fashion monoliths like H&M and Shein, because even though they miss the mark on addressing the crux of the problems in the fashion industry (which is overproduction for the sake of overconsumption for the sake of greed), at least they’re trying to do the right thing, even if they’re still motivated by self-preservation.
There’s absolutely no question that we need a viable alternative to fast fashion. But I don’t think that manufacturing more and more products out of recycled denim or Tencel or pineapple leather WHILE fast fashion brands are still churning out zillions of hideous polyester bodycon dresses is the answer. The net result is still overproduction of things that ultimately need to go someplace. The sustainable brands may be producing things that are biodegradable and can be recycled, and that’s definitely a step in the right direction, but I don’t believe it’s enough.
Brittany Sierra, the badass founder of The Sustainable Fashion Forum, did a Q&A with Good On You in which she brilliantly articulated the energy of an ethical maximalist while pointing out some of the many deficiencies of “sustainable” fashion brands:
“My whole life is sustainable fashion. I love it, but I don’t prefer the stereotypical look of sustainable fashion. Many people are creating all these companies that look the same, and the main message is that you should buy from them because they’re sustainable. Well, what’s the logic there?
Even though we want people to buy more sustainably, brands need to understand that there are many reasons why people buy what they buy. It’s style. It’s fit. It’s price. It’s what makes you feel good. For a lot of people, things like sustainable sourcing and using less water are appealing, but they aren’t the number one reasons they shop. There’s a lot of work sustainable brands need to do here to understand consumer psychology.”
I’ve written elsewhere about the psychology that drives my shopping endeavors, and it’s complicated. Basically, I shop to feel alive, and we all know that’s not great. But I certainly don’t feel the urge to buy a $600 boxy linen dress from a sustainable fashion brand, even if it’s “ethically” produced. Many of the brands that describe themselves as sustainable don’t even have transparent descriptions of their labor conditions or treatment of the garment workers, so why am I going with their definition of “ethically” produced when it may or may not align with my definition?
So until sustainable brands listen to Queen Brittany and do some market research to figure out what consumers—including the extra fabulous among us—actually want from conscious fashion, I will continue to shop second-hand from thredUP, TheRealReal, Tradesy, Vestiaire Collective, and others to create the looks that I want without being wasteful. Note that I do have a list of sustainable brands who sell some products that match my personal aesthetic, but that’s just because a girl needs options. I don’t shop those brands on the regular. It’s just good to know that the option is there—kind of like how I wanted Bernie to be president, but Uncle Joe was the option that I was given, so I went with him instead of the disgusting, vaguely human embodiment of a polyester Boohoo dress that is Donald Trump. Ya feel me?
