CONSCIOUS FASHION

Weaving sustainability into our wardrobes

BY ALEXANDRA EWART

Welcome to the new world, where shopping for clothes has become a more mindful experience. Today, when we step out of the dressing room in a pair of jeans to see what the salesperson thinks, it’s not unusual to hear more than “you look fabulous” and “we also have them in red.” Thanks to the emergence of many initiatives by fashion activists to help make our planet a better and healthier place, we can often learn about the fabric the jeans are made of, where they are made, and the principles that the brand was founded on.

There are several offshoots to the sustainable fashion movement, including ethical fashion, minimalist fashion, zero-waste fashion, and slow fashion. Many of these efforts overlap and are often oversimplified, because they involve complex concepts that are new to the average consumer and not everyone entirely agrees on what they mean. In this article, we use “conscious fashion” as an overarching term for all efforts to empower consumers to make informed, thoughtful choices that align with their values.

In many ways, conscious fashion is pushback against fast fashion of the previous few decades. Fast fashion manufacturers rely on consumers to endlessly buy new garments and they produce them at an accelerated rate to meet demand, often using inexpensive synthetic materials that are quick to produce. Unfortunately, these fabrics take decades or more to biodegrade. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that Americans throw away 17 million tons of textile waste each year. Conscious fashion encourages us as consumers to slow down and think about what we’re buying and whether it supports our own personal values. Is it eco-friendly? Was it made ethically? Is it made to last?

I was curious about how San Diego–area business owners feel about conscious fashion and visited a handful of fine clothing boutiques to ask. I was impressed that the owner of every single shop I visited was enthusiastic and had a lot to say about the subject.

At Cedros Soles in Solana Beach,
owner Stephanie Stock spends a good deal of time researching brands to find garments with sustainable properties. She discovered that brands like AG’s Jeans of Tomorrow (100 percent biodegradable denim fabrics made from a blend of organic cotton, Tencel, and cottonized hemp) and Ilse Jacobsen slip-on shoes (made with recycled water bottles) appeal to her customers when they learn how the products are made. Stephanie is always finding new recycled materials (such as pineapple pulp and fungi for leather-like substances) that are being used to create beautiful, environmentally friendly garments. Cedros Soles also offers customers sustainability with several outstanding brands that use the finest natural fibers for garments made to last. 

Roya Parviz, the owner of Satori Designs in Solana Beach, has carried garments and accessories by Desigual for more than seven years. With high standards for sustainability, Desigual launched a set of initiatives with its Love the World campaign and plans to manufacture 50 percent sustainable fibers by 2023, reduce its carbon footprint by 2025, and become carbon neutral by 2050. Desigual’s vegan leather handbags as well as faux fur items by several designers are popular with Satori Designs’ customers. “As much as possible, we carry brands that align with our desire to protect the earth,” Roya says. “People in our area are very conscientious about this.”

Eda Albayrak opened Interlux six months ago. Eda reports that most of her customers are seeking sustainable, eco-friendly products, and they express an interest in how her stunning garments are created. Everything she carries is made of the finest silk, cotton, or linen. One of her popular lines is dut.project, a slow fashion company that produces clothing and household products from natural and high-quality cotton fabrics. Colors are achieved with the use of a certified low impact dye that does not use toxic chemicals. Eda says that her customers prefer this type of product because they appreciate the feel of these fabrics against their skin.

At Sweetpea Children’s Shop in Del Mar’s Flower Hill Promenade, Owner Leanne Wynder has found that many expectant mothers and mothers of newborns insist on brands that are either organic, 100 percent cotton, or made from recycled materials. Leanne thinks this is because today’s moms want to do what’s best for their babies and the environment. One of the more popular brands they carry is Molo, a Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)–certified organic company (the world’s most extensive, far-reaching certification program), which evaluates all aspects of the value chain from harvest to the final product and the company’s business practices. 

Alex and William Rhett, who own Del Mar’s beloved children’s store, Sandcastle Tales, are opening Caballito Del Mar, a new boutique dedicated to conscious clothing, slow fashion for children. 

After three years of sourcing eco-friendly, sustainable brands, they have built a team that cares for the environment and the social impact of the clothing industry. Caballito Del Mar caters to conscious consumers who care about the materials and the processes used for making the clothes they wear and how these affect the environment and the people who make the clothing. Caballito Del Mar features sustainable children’s clothing lines made from resources such as organic cotton fiber and reclaimed and recycled materials. 

Conscious fashion is happening all around us, but for it to become the norm, we must all become more mindful of what we choose to wear and why. It’s not just about how we look, but how we feel about our planet and the principles we support. Simply put, it is just as important to feel amazing as it is to look amazing.