Environmentally sustainable practices in fashion have many facets beyond sourcing sustainable materials. As a designer, it is an arduous task to acquire truly eco-friendly materials. Green washing- the notion that brands advocate for sustainability with their primary motive being to ride a current trend and make money- has swept the nation as people want to feel empowered about their purchases without making actual sacrifices- and marketers know this. Certain companies have adopted “sustainable” marketing tactics to entice the buyer; their only goal being to make a quick dollar. From the perspective of creation and production, I believe that sustainability is more than just “recycled water bottle pants” and “bags made by disabled children in Ghana out of burlap”. Sustainability can be as simple as resourcefulness. A while back, I was asked by Ohio State University’s student government to participate in an annual sustainable fashion show run by their environmental cohort. The premise for one of my looks was based upon the idea of using every last scrap. For the cropped shirt, I implemented unique seaming to incorporate excess pieces of fabric and minimize waste. Similarly, the skirt was patterned in a way to maximize the use of my fabric. Beyond utilizing the majority of a length of fabric, my scraps extend to hardware and ribbon. The skirt has 12 metal grommets that were reused from an old project and the ties on the sides are scraps from a previous project as well.
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