Less About the Brands! More About the Clothes!!
Thoughts on the Circular Relationship Between Luxury Brands, Content Creators, and the Environmental Impact
There is a feeling of irritation that haunts me when I consume fashion content on social media. Fashion seems to no longer have a symbiotic relationship with personal style, birthing unoriginal aesthetics and narratives that lack depth. I thought I was escaping this irritation when I traded my TikTok obsession for Substack, but heartbreakingly, it has found my feed again. Even when I lean into my pretentious ego and choose print magazines to soothe my desire for fashion, I tend to find the same rhetoric as my fyp page – only a few months after I originally saw it online. The relationship between the way fashion is presented online, its effects on the environment and the overall creative process of fashion design feels like an endless loop.
It’s bothersome that fashion is no longer viewed from a holistic lens. What once made brands prestigious and a must-have in one’s wardrobe was the consistent presence of artistic design, craftsmanship, innovation, and functionality. Now, most brands rely on the history and heritage their founders laid, forgoing those original pillars just to make a buck and be the most talked-about brand online. This shift from the art of clothing to its numerical value has taken an obvious toll on creative directors, their teams, and the clothing sent down the runway each season..
Fashion houses were once defined by clear house codes of specific silhouettes, cuts, and embellishments. Today, you can see the same design slightly tweaked across several brands in one season, leaving the viewer to question if there is a mole amongst the groups. But given that many of these houses are owned by a few large conglomerates, it’s easy to deduce that corporate overlords are betting on consumers’ loyalty to the brand name rather than the actual product. That’s even more evident in the quality and lack of craftsmanship, which certainly do not match the price tag. The shift has caused a trickle down effect, affecting the consumer’s relationship with fashion. The plot has been completely lost. If brands continue down this path, heritage names risk becoming irrelevant, especially as Gen Z's purchasing power grows. Power that is heavily influenced by the generation’s strong values toward humanity and its impact on the planet. But even Gen-Z’s values aren’t immune to the desire for inclusion and validation.
Fashion has always been a medium that is incredibly visual and emotional. With the rise of social media, visuals are more important than ever, and “cool” has become the dominant emotion, validated by likes, comments, and reposts. Consequently, there has been an alarming decrease in fashion literacy. One would think the vast access to fashion would provide more options, leading to a beautiful variety of styles and expressions. Yet, due to social media algorithms, mainstream styles that are easily duplicated dominate the channels. Consumers’ reliance on being told what’s cool—validated by vanity metrics—ostracizes styles that aren’t algorithm-friendly. Authorities in fashion are no longer people who have studied the art and communication of fashion, but individuals who lean closer to being a fashion model than a commentator. This shift has left a gap in consumers' understanding of fashion and their purchasing standards.
Polyester has become the largest manufactured fabric in the last year, far surpassing natural fibers that can decompose if they end up in landfills. Natural fibers’ decomposition can even help capture excess carbon from the atmosphere. Yet, it’s unseasonably warm in November, yet consumers are not making the connection between their shopping hauls of synthetic fabrics, and the fact that we should be in sweaters, not shorts, by now.
In addition to the environmental impact of over-production of synthetic fabrics, the effects of these garments also play a role in the rise of autoimmune diseases over the last two decades. Even more, the number of people diagnosed with chemical sensitivity increased 300% from 2006 - 2016. Because synthetic garments are made from plastics, a specific type of dye and process has to be utilized for the plastic fibers to be colored, called disperse dyes. Azobenzene-disperse dyes is a special type of azo dye used on synthetic clothing, where the dye particles are dispersed in a water-based solution to evenly color the synthetic fabric fibers. Many of these dyes are PFAS and BFAS that have direct access to our skin.
These dyes release a chemical building block called amines when they come in contact with our skin’s natural bacteria. This reaction is even more common when the clothes are tight or the wearer sweats, such as with polyester workout clothes. Because our skin is our largest and most permeable organ, these amines are able to penetrate our systems, enter into the bloodstream and integrate with our body’s natural biome, becoming endocrine disruptors. Many amines are suspected to be carcinogenic, mutagenic and genotoxic, meaning they could cause genetic changes in human cells, along with cancer.
In her book To Dye For: How Toxic Fashion Is Making Us Sick—and How We Can Fight Back, Alden Wicker writes:
These chemicals can be acutely toxic or hazardous, causing skin burns or asthma. But more often they do their dirty work over years of chronic yet infinitesimally small exposure. They can be carcinogenic (causing cancer), mutagenic (damaging your DNA and causing birth defects), or reprotoxic (causing reproductive issues). Sometimes your body can metabolize and[urinate] out these chemicals, and once in the water or soil they eventually break down and go away. But others accumulate in your body and in the environment, lasting for decades, or in the case of perfluorinated chemicals like the kind in stain-resistant finishes, forever. Some Of them mimic hormones, causing a little understood cascade of health effects ranging from unwanted weight fluctuations and fatigue to infertility and chronic disease.
With rising health concerns linked to synthetic garment exposure, legislation like California’s Prop 65 mandates warning labels for products containing toxic chemicals like formaldehyde, lead, cadmium, certain phthalates, and BPA. Outside of California’s legislation, many fast-fashion brands are opting to include warning labels that wearing the garments can cause cancer to escape liability. However, the consumer is not made aware of how exactly they are being exposed, so the warning label is often overlooked.
Though fast-fashion brands are labeling their clothing with the warning based on the sheer volume of synthetic garments they sell, the same risk exists with pricier garments from luxury brands. If the garment is made with synthetic fabrics, it has to be dyed with disperse dyes, exposing the wearer to the same PFAS and BFAS of the azo-disperse dyes used in fast fashion clothing.
In pursuit of aesthetics, consumers overlook the true cost of today’s fashion industry. This cycle has led to the loss of individuality and craftsmanship, while wreaking havoc on both the environment and our health. Though the solution isn’t simple—especially with corporations profiting from the status quo—there are steps consumers can take to be more intentional with their wardrobes and environmental impact. Our shopping habits drive corporate decisions, and we have more power than we may realize.
When shopping, choose to prioritize natural garments and only opt for synthetic fabrics if they are second-hand. This ensures that companies receive the message that consumers prefer fabrics that are naturally breathable, work in tangent with our natural functions like sweat, and have the possibility to be composted in the worst case scenario that items find themselves in landfills.
Begin incorporating circular fashion practices by opting to swap, sell and mend your clothes. Most clothes donated to shops like Salvation Army and Goodwill that are unsold , are often packed in bales by the ton, and shipped to countries such as Ethiopia and Ghana. There, they end up in landfills by the ocean where the clothes either float out to sea or are burned, causing pollution of our waterways and the increased number of microplastics in the ocean, as well as the increase of carbon in the atmosphere from the burning of the clothes.
Be intentional with your shopping list and habits by researching each desired piece thoroughly. Look beyond the initial cost of a garment to discover its true value. While a piece may have a high upfront cost, understanding its composition and craftsmanship can yield greater longevity in your wardrobe in comparison to a cheaply made option.
Navigate fleeting fashion trends by defining your authentic style and exploring your style signatures. Style signatures are the unique elements of your lifestyle that reflect in your fashion choices. This ranges from your go-to lipstick color, your favorite cocktail, to the particular pattern you tend to gravitate to when shopping. Each element plays a key part in how you express yourself in fashion and your everyday lifestyle. Having a clear understanding of yourself and your style signatures help you create a wardrobe you can build upon and evolves with you over time.
Facilitate conversations about the state of fashion, especially online. Since social media plays the largest role in our spending habits, it’s imperative that creators and consumers are intentional and open with how we talk about fashion. We can still focus on the visual aspect of fashion while holding ourselves, our communities, and companies accountable to having standards that satisfy our varied aesthetics as well as the health of our pockets, health, and environment.
Fashion has always been a deeply personal and powerful tool for self-expression. By making intentional, educated choices and prioritizing quality over brand hype, we can help shift the industry toward a more sustainable, human-centered future. We can return to a fashion world where our clothes tell our stories and respect our bodies and our planet. Fashion’s true beauty lies in its potential to reflect individuality, celebrate artistry, and contribute to a healthier world—one thoughtful choice at a time.
If you’ve made it this far, I appreciate you for sticking around! While environmental and health effects are the not-so sexy part of the fashion industry, they still matter. I tried to be as concise as possible but there’s so much more to cover on the topic. What more would you want to know? Comment below and let me know your thoughts and questions on the circular relationship between luxury brands, content creators, and the environmental impact.
Until next time.
xoxo,
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