Second only to oil, fashion is the most polluting industry in the world. Each stage of the design process, from sourcing the textiles to shipping to consumers, puts a strain on the environment and threatens our limited resources. In recent years the fashion industry has been fighting back—slowly but surely. Everyone from H&M to Stella McCartney is now opting for more eco-conscious, earth-friendly options when it comes to manufacturing, producing and supplying their collections. While it’s on-trend to be a part of the green movement, there are a number of designers who have been eco-warriors from the beginning, designing their collections around sustainable and ethical practices. These are the environmentally responsible designers that are trying to save the world.
Vivienne Westwood
Dame Vivienne Westwood is not your typical fashion designer. The 75-year-old redhead is known for more than her avant-garde designs, especially within the activist community. She’s championed for water conservation, PETA, climate change (she shaved her head to bring attention to the issue) and excess consumption in fashion. “There are signs in my shops that say ‘buy less, choose well, make it last.’ I agree, fashion is a terrible thing, it’s all about tempting to buy. But [consumers] should buy less. [On the other hand,] fashion gives me a voice, it gives me prestige. It’s another reason why I don’t retire, don’t close the company and give up,” she told the Independent. She’s so passionate about fighting for environmental rights she’s even petitioned for the End Ecocide in Europe initiative which would hold big companies responsible for their ecological impact and make environmental destruction a crime.
Melissa Joy Manning
As the Co-Chair of the CFDA Sustainability Committee, Melissa Joy Manning knows a thing or two about environmental responsibility within fashion. The jewelry designer has been creating sustainable designs since launching her namesake accessory brand in 1977, catching the attention of other eco-fighters like Anne Hathaway, Jessica Alba and Angelina Jolie. Green Certified by the state of California since 2005, her pieces are handmade using 100 percent recycled metals and responsibly-sourced stones, and even her studios have strict policies on energy use, water consumption and sourcing office supplies though philanthropic retailers. In 2012 she took home top honors at the CFDA/Lexus Eco-Fashion Challenge before being given the position of CFDA Sustainability Committee Co-Chair a year later. Within the CFDA she works with designers to push toward more responsible initiatives and innovate new ways to change the industry from within.
Eileen Fisher
Very few know that this seemingly understated designer has been working in eco-friendly design for over 30 years. Eileen Fisher was using organic cottons since she first conceived her line in NYC and has been working to better not only her brand, but the industry at large. In 2009 she started the Green Eileen initiative to recycle used Eileen Fisher clothing, and just this year started the Vision 2020 campaign. Her goal is to make her company more environmentally sound within the next four years by using 100 percent organic materials, eco-responsible, non-toxic dyes and sustainable fabrics. By reducing their carbon emissions, she hopes to make the label not only carbon neutral but “carbon positive.” She’s currently reaching out and partnering with other designers to make these types of changes a priority for the industry.
Suzanne Rae Pelaez
An up-and-coming designer from New York, Suzanne Raw Pelaez sees fashion as a way to work on environmental, social and gender issues. With a minimalist line that focuses more on silhouette and cut rather than color and trends, she uses her self-titled brand to bring up ethical awareness. All of her pieces are produced in NYC's garment district so she can be sure of a proper wages, hours and working environment as well as reduce the carbon footprint of imports and exports. While her fabrics come almost exclusively from Italy (the rest are recycled polyesters and nylons) she works with several modern mills that are themselves committed to using sustainable resources. Supporting the Slow Fashion movement, she encourages women to invest in fewer, higher quality pieces to reduce waste and textiles that end in the landfill. To support her local community she has partnered with Girls Inc., a organization that educates and mentors young women; WIN, a homeless shelter for women and their children; and the Endangered Species Coalition, an initiative that works to save the world's endangered wildlife and their disappearing environments.
Stella McCartney
Stella McCartney has become of the most popular tickets during London Fashion Week season after season, all while maintaining her own personal code of ethics. The designer is one of the biggest fighters for animal-friendly and environmentally-sustainable collections: she has used synthetic suede and leather for years, created a line of “Fur Free Fur” coats, and even created a line of shoes with biodegradable soles. Her brand uses sustainable fabrics, her stores are powered by renewable energy sources and even her employees are required (by corporate policy) to travel by hybrid car service for work. Personally, she’s partnered with Clean by Design for water conservation within the fashion industry and Canopy, a Canadian-based conservation group that is addressing the issue of deforestation that happens due to textile manufacturing.
John Patrick
In the ‘90s sustainable fashion was far from the norm. John Patrick wanted to create a line that would show consumers that eco-friendly fashion could be done within the luxury market. He launched his signature label Organic by John Patrick in 2003 and five years later was a finalist in the 2008 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Awards. His line prioritizes organic materials, fair labor practices and ecological awareness by exclusively using sustainable materials, botanical dyes and recycled fabrics from vetted manufacturers in Japan and Peru. “I made the world's first organic oxford cotton shirt. It took me two years to get the fabric made; I had to beg a mill to make the fabric. I'm glad that I did that, because that in turn raised the consciousness of this mill,” he told The Fashion Spot. He was one of the first to raise the issue of ethics in the fashion industry and today still fights for sustainability and environmentally responsible design.
