Gisele Bundchen in Ipanema ad
Let me start off by saying that I really like the concept of eco fashion, the use of organic materials, natural dyes, buying less but better durable quality and not using animal products. At my final year of University I wrote a thesis on eco-sustainable fashion and a research about the Stella McCartney brand. Also during my six-month internship at Vogue.it I edited the Eco Talents section of the website. This argument seemed to be one of the hottest topics in the fashion world but with time it has cooled off. Now only once in a while we hear in the mainstream media some comment from Peta about what some celebrity wore – recently Lady Gaga and her newly found love of fur, and Rihanna who recently sported a pair of piton boots. Peta's statement about this was quite well worded so I will share it with you here:
“Rihanna may not have a clue that snakes killed for boots are often nailed to a tree and skinned alive. Of course, they can’t go on Oprah to cry about it. “Wearing reptile skin is creepy and callous, and it makes her look even more out of touch. She and Lady Gaga seem so desperate to be freaks instead of recognized for their talents that you have to wonder if they realize that they are being laughed at.”
I believe that the eco fashion is not a matter of trends but rather of a state of mind, intelligence and ability to understand reality. And today's opinion leaders in fashion like Lady Gaga and Rihanna, who have probably never read a real book or did any research in their life (well besides Gaga, we all now she did a thorough research on Madonna's career) can't really use fashion for anything else than provocation and media attention at any cost. The same goes for most of the fashion bloggers too. To me they all seem to be rich girls who just want to get photographed in clothes they got for free, travel and show off their glamorous lifestyle. Try asking any of the top fashion it girls something about eco fashion and I'm sure they will have nothing to say about it.
So until some new opinion leaders rise and gain following, I guess fast fashion and unethical high fashion companies will continue to reign, people won't care about the origin of what they wear and everyone will live in a happy delusional conformity.
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