Sustainability and diversity: true development or trendy buzz-words?

Disclaimer: This article was originally written for my interview at Central Saint Martins, which is why I go into the 'role of the fashion journalist'. I decided to share it to my blog after the fact.

If the January 2020 Vogue Italia covers are anything to go by, the changing of the decade marks a new era for the fashion industry. Rather than photoshoots, the Italian magazine featured fashion illustrations on the covers. Editor of Vogue Italia, Emanuele Farneti, painted a picture of just how wasteful getting the perfect cover photo can be: “One hundred and fifty people involved. About 20 flights and a dozen or so train journeys. Forty cars on standby. Sixty international deliveries. Lights switched on for at least ten hours nonstop, partly powered by gasoline-fuelled generators. Food waste from the catering services. Plastic to wrap the garments. Electricity to recharge phones, cameras…” By working directly with the illustrators, Vogue Italia was able to save on resources and money. This was then donated to the reparations of flood damage in Venice. 

“In a way,  fashion is all about statements.”

However, some remain unconvinced, claiming that the covers were just a political statement meant to feign innovation. It’s not as if Vogue has henceforth sworn off photoshoots. Will there be any real action to follow this well-meaning but – to some – empty gesture? In a way, fashion is all about statements. But turning a statement into tangible change requires momentum, and fashion journalists are the perfect people to sustain this ongoing dialogue. This is why I believe fashion journalism is so vital to the development of the industry. It’s all well and good to preach sustainability and diversity in a time when social awareness is popular, and – dare I say it – trendy. It is clear from the Vogue Values – an international commitment signed by the editors-in-chief of every edition of Vogue at the end of last year – that sustainability and diversity are priorities for the industry. And though there are true pioneers who are eager for reform, I have no doubt that there are still many in the industry who are motivated not by conscience but by profit, who would persist with their wasteful or exclusionary habits if they are not held accountable. They hide under a blanket of public ignorance, and it is the job of the fashion journalist to snatch that security away from them, so that their actions can be critiqued in the open. 

A coat from the sustainable, independent label, Dauphinette.

Though the fashion press is working on reforming its own unsustainable practices, changes in the fast fashion industry should be encouraged by the buying habits of consumers. This can be done through supporting brands which have a circular model of textile production, either by buying second-hand or from brands which re-purpose vintage garments, such as Dauphinette. It is important to preach sustainability, but we should be careful not to alienate lower-income customers who may not have access to sustainable brands or wearable second-hand clothing. It is a responsibility of the fashion journalist to provide readers with pragmatic options without self-important condescension: everything helps, even if it’s just cutting down your consumption from the fast fashion giants that dominate the high street. Wearing a skirt 50 times, rather than 5. Buying seasonally, rather than at the whim of every trend.

Gigi Hadid (left), Bella Hadid (centre), Kaia Gerber (right)

“[Fashion’s penchant for celebrity offspring] sends a sour message about meritocracy in fashion.”

Vogue’s focus on diversity is a welcome message from an industry which has been criticised as discriminatory and elitist. It would be unfair to say fashion hasn’t made any developments in diversity, with the British Fashion Council naming Adut Akech as the 2019 Model of the Year. Akech, a South Sudanese refugee, has had a wildly different background to the Hadids and Jenners of the world. But I wonder how the modelling industry’s continued love for nepotism fares in promoting inclusivity. The marketing strategy is understandable: recognisable faces are a safer bet for an editorial or runway since this almost guarantees a barrage of reposts on Instagram or countless headlines gushing over the nostalgia of “like mother like daughter”. Fashion’s penchant for celebrity offspring, though glamorous, is closely intertwined with its preference for thin, white bodies. What’s more, it sends a sour message about meritocracy in fashion. 

Donatella Versace with the models at her fall 2012 show.

As a lover of 80s and 90s runways, I came upon the unsettling observation that the catwalk climate of the late 20^th century was in many cases far more ethnically diverse than that of the 00s and early 2010s. This was likely the result of a swing in beauty standards, with the popularity of Kate Moss’ waif-like beauty ushering in the coveted “heroin chic” look which defined pop culture in the late 90s and noughties: blonde, white, skinny. I sincerely hope that the industry’s current embrace of curvier bodies and varied ethnicities is not one of these trends, since women’s bodies should not be subject to the same ever-changing tide of clothing fads. 

Then there’s the issue that trailblazers in diversity, like Rihanna, are quickly imitated by other brands once they realise the profitability of extending their shade or size range. Take Victoria’s Secret, whose recent campaigns have featured more attainable body types despite their chief marketing officer’s infamous statements in 2018 that there was no place for transgender or plus-size models on their runway. Now, having cancelled their fashion show and shuttering stores across the world, inclusivity seems like a chance for some much-needed good publicity. 

It is a hopeful time for fashion: changes have happened and continue to happen. It is clear that our purchases exercise a certain voting power over businesses. But to ensure that this mood of social consciousness is more than just a tokenistic PR exercise, we need a passionate public stoked by the fire of honest, critical, accessible journalism. 

Words by Anastasia Vartanian