The fashion industry is filled with jaw-dropping designs that inspire many others. Designs created to evoke thought or express a message are sent down the runway for others to critique or applaud. While the clothing is fantastic, some of the clothes are adding to the ongoing issue of climate change. The fashion industry is one of the top five producers of carbon emissions every year. The United States throws away around 11.3 million tons of textile waste annually. With that in mind, designers of the 2022 New York Fashion Week (NYFW) have decided to try and offset that significant number. During this year’s runway show, many designers created beautiful designs using recycled and deadstock fabrics.
Gabriela Hearst used the 2022 September New York Fashion Week as her stage to focus on those who are overlooked. Her designs were carefully dyed with botanical dyes and animal-friendly faux fur. She used eco-friendly and traceable materials. Her traceability was made easy with partner EON, which offered a QR code coupling the audience with information about the visibility and lifecycle of the textiles or materials used. She created a Carbon neutral runway show with designs printed and drawn on recycled paper from a recycling facility in Brooklyn, deadstock material, existing pieces of cashmere, and remnants of Turkish rugs. Half of Hearst’s runway show was made out of deadstock material. Her 2020 Spring and Summer show was the first carbon-neutral show in NYFW history. Outfits and careful casting were inspired by the Greek poet Sappho, whom she learned about after her daughter dressed as her for Halloween. The designer questioned if she would’ve known about the poet had Sappho been born a man. Thus this gender-freeing collection was born, casting environmental activists to the former president of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards. Hearst calls her castles “Goddesses and warriors,” with some notable models, Xiye Bastida and Lauren Wasser. Gabriela Hearst partnered with artist Ana Martínez Orizondo whose painting reflected the relationship between people and trees. She has also dressed some famous women political figures with Jill Biden on the night of the inauguration and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
NYFW 2022 had many other notable debuts of eco-friendly and unique brands. A popular, eco-friendly and famous one is Selkie! Their poofy dream-like dresses are considered a sustainable brand at NYFW 2022. Selkie was founded by British American designer Kimberly Gordon, who was inspired by the fairytales of her childhood. What makes this brand more sustainable than most is its small inventory. They pre-sale and do not mass produce their items. This makes for a less wasteful product; however, they could improve by not using polyester. Another funky and eco-friendly brand is Collina Strada by Hillary Taymour. They make ready-to-wear clothing out of rose bushes and stems. The ones you get for Valentine’s Day, the fabric is called Rose Sylk. This fabric has the feel of silk or bamboo fabric and is biodegradable. This fiber is extracted from stems and rose bush waste, and handspun. They also use deadstock fabric and repurposed cotton. They also use their platform to bring awareness to climate change and try to pave the way for eco-friendly brands. Another brand that similarly uses repurposed fabrics and materials is Dauphinette. They use repurposed and vintage leathers or furs to create more girly pieces.
It is essential to maintain the Earth, so we can continue to have many more centuries of fashion to appreciate. While the main focus of New York Fashion Week is clothing, we can applaud the designers who can create art without destroying the environment concurrently. These designers were able to send beautiful and fashion-forward outfits while taking the Earth’s health into account.
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