So much is unsure now. No one can deny that. But one thing is becoming more and more clear: Sustainability—and an acknowledgement that our strength and our fragility are intimately interlinked—isn’t a trend or a movement, it’s survival. To celebrate Earth Day, we’re highlighting brands who take sustainable practices and development as a given. For these designers, sustainable design is a substantive and silent backbone to what they do. They’re modern in the most relevant sense, and they’re forward-looking in concept, style and process. These are the anti-greenwashers; the new faces of eco-driven innovation.
1017 ALYX 9SM
Matthew Williams’ Alyx has always had an industrial, technical edge. It’s the kind of cool you don’t necessarily first associate with eco consciousness—more with refined rave aesthetics or futuristic streetwear-infused luxury; the looks of friends like Bella Hadid and Playboi Carti. That Alyx is fundamentally circularly-minded adds a layer of integrity and forward-thinking edge to the already modern/relevant brand. A few examples of what this means: innovations with waterless dyeing, integrating recycled jersey and crafting nylon from old Scandinavian fishing line, and perhaps most substantively, introducing blockchain technology that traces development from raw material to garment.
Vivienne Westwood
Vivienne Westwood is the original punk. From her and then-partner Malcom McLaren’s earliest days outfitting their fellow dissidents in reimagined, zipper-strewn zoot suits and creepers, to their iconic shop SEX and beyond—she has always placed her values and community first. This includes sustainability. The brand is incredibly holistic, with sensitivities to animal welfare (no fur or exotic skins, following the ‘Five Freedoms’ in the supply chain), toxic chemical reduction in fabric dying, use of eco-conscious materials (96% organic cotton for jerseys, using hemp fabric which controls erosion of topsoil and uses less water, etc.), ongoing fabric innovation (coconut fiber is one recent one), elimination of single use plastic in transit packaging, and more. Westwood’s ongoing examination and ownership of every step on the supply chain, down to tracing the origins of individual feathers, and including a reduction in the number of both men’s and women’s looks, is the new radical.
Phoebe English
The East London designer has always had a dark, artfully gothic edge; think clothes for a hauntingly discreet curator, or Winona Rider and Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands. She’s also known for her uncompromising approach to sustainability. Take English’s Fall 2020 collection: the monochromatic separates and asymmetric dresses were made entirely of materials sourced within London, mainly from leftover fabrics from other local designers like Martine Rose, Katharine Hamnett and Preen by Thornton Bregazzi. She even picked up everything in one trip around the city to leave the lowest possible carbon footprint. The collection was shown in a community space that doubles as a homeless food service, so the rental fee helped support members of the
Rick Owens
Rick Owens has never been about consumption or societal aspiration through token acquisition. There’s a reason why his devotees call themselves a tribe—people who wear Rick Owens aren’t trying to conform but are searching for something more permanent. Given that uncompromising, subcultural energy and ethos, it’s not surprising that Owens is also progressively, sustainably conscious. On a production level, the brand uses solar panels to partially power their two factories in Italy; works with Ecotec, a recycled cotton made from fabric leftovers; ensures that all fabric suppliers follow the Reach agreement (to reduce toxic chemicals in the textile industry); and makes sure all the wood that their packaging paper is made from forests managed responsibly. A beautiful illustration of Owens’ ongoing exploration of sustainable processes is his Rick Owens x Veja sneakers, which launched in Fall 2019. These minimal, sculptural track shoes were developed over two years—a problem-solving endeavor based around the fact that essentially all trainers contain many different types of plastic—and are 45% bio-based (materials include banana oil, sugarcane, natural rubber and rice husk).
Eckhaus Latta
Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta have long used upcycled and deadstock in their earthy, otherworldly offerings. In fact, their early, post-art school collections were initially made almost entirely from recycled thrifted materials. As they’ve scaled up, they’ve adapted, finding ways to produce larger collections that remain in line with their values, like using the cotton scraps from their Peruvian factory in their shirts rather than creating brand new cotton. They work with local Los Angeles denim factories that value fair labor practices. And for Fall 2020, the pair sourced used designer shoes, giving Prada and Gucci mules a second life.
Marine Serre
Radical love (in response to acts of terrorism in Paris and Brussels), tennis and motorbiking, modernizing couture, the future of the machine, pyromania—these are just a few of the references and touchstones of the young French designer Marine Serre. She is political without apology, and this includes her approach to sustainable design. Think: Market-sourced secondhand silk scarves dyed naturally then re-envisioned as hybrid dresses, perhaps inspired by the treasure hunting of her grandfather, a secondhand dealer. Driftwood found by a beachcombing friend of her mom’s and oxidized aluminum cans were the unlikely foundation for new, shamanic-style necklaces. Sustainable responsibility becomes a part of the fantasy, a base of creative exploration. Serre’s business is now 50% upcycled.
Writer: Ashley Simpson