The next edition of ECONYL®’s Instagram live series will take place on @econylbrand on Wednesday 26th May, with participants Orsola de Castro, expert in the field of sustainable fashion and Founder and Global Creative Director of Fashion Revolution, and Jazmine Rogers, a Black and Mexican creator who uses her platform (@ThatCurlyTop) to focus on sustainable fashion and intersectionality within the sustainability industry, aiming to create informative and understandable content about highly complex issues.
Orsola and Jazmine will dive deep into the topic of whether the fashion industry can make the change to a slower pace, rather than the fast fashion model that much of the industry currently uses.
The fashion industry is at a turning point, where sustainability is prevalent in many conversations, but the question is now – how can the industry truly slow down its pace?
There are many avenues brands and consumers can go down to lessen their impact on the planet by making both systemic and individual changes.
“We know that slowing down mass production is a vital step towards protecting people and nature, and I believe brands have an obligation to redress the balance between consumption and disposal by producing better made products that are made by fairly paid individuals in a safe working environment.” Says Orsola, an opinion leader in sustainable fashion.
“But we also need a radical re-look at visibility, and which brands do we really want to populate our communities: the usual, unsustainable mainstream ones that have invaded us for decades, or the real alternatives, the smaller brands designed to be ethical and sustainable from the very start?”
“Instead of exponential, unstoppable growth, which is depleting both people and planet, let’s look at a future where we cherish abundance and prosperity for all instead.
At Fashion Revolution we believe in a fashion industry that conserves and restores the environment and values people over profits and growth: I stand by this wholeheartedly.”
Talking about consumer habits, Jazmine says “As a generation we’ve been conditioned with the current fast fashion industry that the only way to have style is to treat our pieces as disposable and constantly have to purchase new pieces to always be in style. Not only is the way of thinking harmful to the planet, but to everyone involved, including the consumer.”
But there is still time if we continue to innovate, explore and be creative! Jazmine continues “As unfortunate and detrimental this has been, I don’t believe it’s too late to slow down the industry. The fast fashion industry that we know is only about 70 years old. There are a plethora of practices we can learn from to have a better relationship with fashion and plenty of opportunities to keep it creative and fun.”
Orsola and Jazmine will give insight both on the state of the current fashion industry, and what we can do at a consumer level to make a difference; by mending, rewearing and giving a new life to garments already in our wardrobes. There will also share their own learning and tips on how we can make smarter shopping decisions in our future purchases.
Tune in on Instagram @econylbrand on Wednesday 26th May at 1.30 PM EDT/6.30 PM BST/7.30 PM CEST to hear the full conversation!