Winter to Spring
Recently, someone said something to me along the lines of we need winter in order for there to be spring. It goes with the idea behind the saying, “April showers bring May flowers.” The environment needs time to regenerate and refuel in order to bring the months of sunshine and flowers.
Two of the questions that I’ve been asking both luxury consumers and luxury brand representatives in my thesis research are: (1) how has the fashion industry changed in the wake of the global crises facing 2020 and now 2021, and then (2) how should the fashion industry change in the wake of these crises? The consensus? Or, I guess, the hope is that the pandemic forced the “winter” that the fashion industry needed to create and innovate for the “spring.” Now, let’s be clear, I’m certainly not saying that anyone wanted the pandemic to happen. Of course not. What I am saying is that the pandemic forced everyone to slow down. It allowed time for the industry to analyze, rethink and embrace creativity. As stated by Emily Farra (2021) for Vogue, “one of the few silver linings of the pandemic has been our heightened awareness around climate change and fashion’s ramped-up efforts to address it” (para. 1). While it is true that the industry was talking about sustainability and the need for change prior to the pandemic, “…2020 pushed those words into action” (para. 1). During the recent spring 2021 collections, we’ve seen this creativity and innovation in sustainable fashion come to life.
Here are a few examples:
Sarah Burton’s Collection for Alexander McQueen
The entire McQueen spring 2021 collection “…was created using materials from past collections or excess fabric found in the label’s stock room” (para. 11).
Rag & Bone’s Modern Ballet Slippers
These comfy, cute, classic ballet flats were made with 100% recycled satin.
Vintage Levi’s Never Go Out of Style
Levi’s now has an entire site dedicated to pre-loved vintage and secondhand jeans.
Hailey Bieber in the Levi’s Secondhand campaign.
We’re certainly not where we need to be as it pertains to embracing sustainable supply and production practices; but it is so encouraging to see that, with these spring 2021 collections, many designers seem to have made use of the forced “winter” and embraced sustainable innovation.
The only way to start on the journey is to simply start.
Bye for now,
McGee