Sustainable fashion doesn’t have to be boring. We can still have fun — we just need to be conscious about it.
It’s no secret that the fashion industry is facing some serious environmental and social issues. As we continue to learn more, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and to want to remove yourself from fashion altogether.
However, We don’t need to feel ashamed to love fashion. We just need to change our habits around it. Fashion is something that has been in our DNA as humans since the beginning of humanity. Every civilization in history has adorned their bodies in one way or another.
We often identify people with what they wore. When we think of Cleopatra, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? It’s most likely her gold jewelry and long Kalasiris style gown.
Clothing is a vital part of our need to express our identities, to feel belonging, and to reflect the current cultural zeitgeist. We don’t have to say goodbye to having fun with fashion to be more sustainable about our shopping habits.
We can still have experiences that wow us, while being responsible. Shifting our perspective can help us approach fashion in a new way. Moving away from mass-produced fast-fashion and throw-away culture, to conscious consumption.
There are many ways to be a conscious consumer. It’s not a one-size-fits-all scenario, rather it’s about bringing awareness to your fashion habits.
We like to do it by championing smaller independent designers and upcycling or vintage fashion.
Why Shopping with Independent Small Scale Brands is Better:
When we boil it down, smaller-scale businesses have more control over their processes and produce less overall.
To put this in perspective, Zara produces around 450 million garments a year. That’s roughly 500 new styles released each week. For a small independent brand putting out 500 new styles in an entire year would be a stretch.
When a brand is working with a slower, small-scale production, they can focus on quality. The outcome is garments that are made to last.
Why Upcycling/Vintage Clothes is Important:
Only 1% of the 100 billion garments created each year are recycled. This is a huge problem because it means that the majority of clothing is ending up in landfills. By shopping second-hand or upcycled garments, we can keep garments in circulation longer and keep them out of landfills.
In The Book, Fashionopolis The Price of Fast Fashion and The Future of Clothes, it was pointed out that If we lengthen the life of just 1 out of every 5 garments we could cut 3 million tons of CO2, save 150 million liters of water and divert 6.4 million tons of clothing from landfills.
This means that just by purchasing second-hand and upcycled garments, we are able to make a large-scale positive impact.
Having Fun With Conscious Style
Since the conscious style movement is still relatively young, shopping responsibly has become more of a chore than the fun shopping once was.
Let’s be honest, it’s time-consuming to search for and vet brands to make sure that they are sustainable. Digging through the racks at the local vintage store to find a diamond in the rough can be fun, but it can also be exhausting.
We’ve lost the element of serendipity that came with stopping by a store to get inspired. We’re constantly hit with trends pushed to us on social media and traditional advertising. Giving us tunnel vision about how we should look. However, that’s where Menabòh comes in — bringing a layer of excitement and surprise to style.
A Menabòh box is a refreshingly fun experience for conscious fashionistas. The blind box gives a taste of surprise to fashion again.
Rather than walking into a store and finding something unique on the shelf, your box is delivered to your home. Filled with garments that are one of a kind vintage or upcycled, or a contemporary piece from independent brands. You can spend less time researching brands, and more time wearing your new look.
This article was written by Gabrielle Mastronardo, Founder of Maia Conscious Living