nce bitter foes, sustainability and fashion are finally
coming together as big brands realise that making a
difference is also good for business. For decades, Stella
McCartney was a lone voice in advocating fashion that
helped preserve more than just your figure, but she
now has illustrious company as sustainability becomes
the year’s biggest trend.
In fact, there is barely a brand that hasn’t
announced its commitment to the environment.
Versace, Michael Kors, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger,
Armani, and Gucci have all recently renounced fur,
while Gucci is pushing it even further by banning
PVC and introducing organic cotton, recycled polyester, and nylon made from
recycled fishing nets. And that’s before we look at smaller fashion stars such
as Reformation, the ultra-trendy Los Angeles brand that is built entirely on
sustainable principles and only uses recycled fabrics.
Increasingly, these brands are announcing partnerships with businesses that
have worked out how to make leather without cows, silk without worms, fur
without animals, and fabrics from recycled waste. Salvatore Ferragamo has
been selling scarves made of orange fibre and has just launched the Rainbow
Future, the first shoe inspired by the principles of sustainability.
Stella McCartney, meanwhile, has gone one step further by producing two
outfits made with spider-inspired silk. After studying spiders’ DNA and their
webs, Bolt Threads, the company her brand has partnered with, developed
similar proteins that are injected into yeast and sugar and then fermented. The
resulting liquid silk is turned into a fibre through a wet-spinning process that
creates strands that can be knitted into fabric.
Fashion is an industry built on creativity, which means it is very well placed
to innovate—after all, luxury design is about reinvention and embracing new
approaches. However, although high-end brands and environmental lobbies
could be natural bedfellows, the former have until very recently been reluctant
to proclaim their green credentials.ECO EFFORTS
(U PTHNL MYVT
H :[LSSH
4J*HY[UL` HK
JHTWHPNU ^OPJO
^HZ ZOV[ H[ H
SHUKÄSS [V YHPZL
H^HYLULZZ VM
Z\JO PZZ\LZ
HZ ZPUNSL
\ZL MHZOPVU"
VWWVZP[L
*OHULS»Z
ZWYPUN
OH\[L JV\[\YL
JVSSLJ[PVU
MLH[\YLK
YLJ`JSLK WHWLY
HUK VYNHUPJ
^V]LU `HYU;9,5+: | STYLE
philippine tatler. august 2018 97