The considerable environmental impacts of the fashion industry are well-documented by now, and fairly simple to understand: We manufacture a shocking amount of clothing, wear it relatively little, and then throw it into a landfill. As calls for climate action get louder, the idea of “sustainable fashion” has gone more or less mainstream. But what constitutes a more planet-friendly wardrobe is muddled, obscured by a lot of uncertainty, bad information, and straight-up greenwashing.
To that end, we compiled this guide to more deeply explore the most reliable wisdom we can offer: buy little new, plenty used, wear it a lot, and care for it well. The pieces below are meant to serve as inspiration as opposed to a set of instructions, because why take the joy and creativity out of dressing yourself and your family?
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The most ‘sustainable’ garment is the one that shows its wear, proudly
Modern mending doesn’t attempt to hide itself — to the contrary.
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Big retailers are getting into the secondhand market. Will that change how we shop?
Whether resale benefits the planet will depend on if it actually offsets consumption, or promotes it.
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How to dress your growing kid, less wastefully
Babies aren’t exactly cut out for a minimalist capsule wardrobe.
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The great conundrum of the sustainability influencer
Can we escape the growth model that’s built into the influencer economy and fashion itself?
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What does great sustainable style look like? Here are 9 ideas.
We asked climate-conscious style icons how they source their amazing wardrobes.
