I think we can all agree, if a celebrity has done it, at least someone you know is going to try it.
A survey showed around 80% of teen girls compared themselves to celebrities, so there is a high chance someone you know will soon be wearing or using an item in a celebs wardrobe. Some famous examples include:
- Social media influencer, Molly-Mae’s favourite leather jacket
- Super model, Bella Hadid’s bold blazer
- Media personality, Kylie Jenner’s popular lip kit
These are all celebrities that have such a huge influence over society when it comes to what we wear and how we style our hair and makeup. This is great if you’re struggling for fashion ideas and outfit inspiration from these ‘role models’, but if we really think what they are promoting, is it really all that good?
The reality of fast fashion
Examples we are shown across social media and online of fashion are looks created using fast fashion, which is unethical and therefore the clothing is not sustainable.
Lots of clothes form fast fashion are make in sweat shops, and will probably end up in landfill. On top of this, clothes from fast fashion play a part in water pollution, water waste, climate change, and animal testing.
So, the clothes may look good, but they will cause anything but good. You’ll probably only where them a couple of times until Kylie, Molly-Mae and Bella move on to the next trend… So, is it really worth it?
Spotlight on Molly-Mae and Pretty Little Thing
Celebrity Molly-Mae, who rose to fame from Love Island, is a successful social media influencer and the creative director of popular fast fashion brand Pretty Little Thing (PLT). Despite efforts to become an eco-friendlier brand, there is still a long way to go. However, it seems Molly-Mae is one step ahead of the rest of the company as her collection looks promising.
She promotes to her 7.4 million Instagram followers her collaboration with PLT, ‘Renew’, which is apparently a more sustainable collection because it uses more eco-friendly materials. Which we love to see!
Molly-Mae said: “PLT has promised all their materials will be sustainably sourced by 2025”. When asked what she is doing as a Creative Director to support this, she responded “we’re so lucky at PLT to have incredible experts in each area of the brand, and we have a huge sustainability team that are working day in, day out.”
A new emerging trend
This is definitely a positive way for society to head toward to lower the impact of the fashion industry, especially if people are choosing to follow in her fashionable footsteps. Figures show that women under 35 are the main target for fast fashion retailers, and 54% of people believe that social media influencers have been partly responsible for the rise in mass-produced clothing.
So, if influencers and celebrities (the people we look up too) are promoting and styling sustainable clothing, then hopefully people get on that trend instead. Some celebrities and influencers are supporting sustainable fashion, however, others are still continuing to promote fast fashion which may be unethically sourced and bad for the environment.
Sustainable fashion vs fast fashion
I think there will always be a battle with sustainable fashion vs fast fashion. It’s hard to compete with fast fashion as there are so many more trends and collections, which are cheap, and the influence of celebrities really does impact people. However, in 2023 there has been a change in people’s attitudes and buying habits. For example,
- Fashion brands PLT, Oh Polly, and Zara pledge to change their materials and packaging by 2025
- Love island promotes 2nd hand clothes with Ebay
- There has been a rise is sustainable fashion shows
Hopefully, this isn’t a temporary trend and sustainable fashion will be in style for more than just a ‘collection’…
Related Information
The Future is in our Hands is a campaign run in collaboration with Bloedd Amgueddfa Cymru, a collective working alongside 16–25 year olds to experiment, create and innovate.
Read more from the Future is in Our Hands campaign.
Can fashion ever be sustainable?
