With the imperative to create sustainable fashion more pressing than ever, it’s important to know what that looks like. This fashion editorial, made in collaboration with top Toronto wardrobe stylist Skye Kelton, features Levi’s® cottonized hemp denim and recycled puffer jackets - it highlights the way these pieces come together as ensembles that intentionally reduce their impact on the planet.
VICE also teamed up with Skye to discuss sustainable fashion as a concept - how she thinks it is actually reflected in the industry, and taking a cue from the looks created with Levi’s®, explores how we go about implementing it into our everyday lives.
Dressing For The Planet:
Skye Kelton, whose business it is to keep up with the ebb and flow of trends, has to contemplate what it really means when she encounters it in the fashion world. When she hears it used to describe clothing, the first thing she asks is “How?”
The question comes naturally from the ins and outs of her job as a stylist, for which she witnesses heaps of clothing leftover from shoots, and the volume of plastic bags that come with each purchase. Her familiarity with the industry makes her consider the more systemic issues that exist around fashion as a whole, and the idea of “sustainability” as an answer to it must be nuanced - it needs to consider the journey that each piece of clothing makes, starting before the creation of its fabric to after it is discarded. This is the process that Levi’s® has considered with its collection, but for all brands using this nebulous term, Skye wants to break down the trajectory: “From the supply chain, to the materials used, to garment manufacturing, to where it ends up in landfills – when we talk about sustainability, what part are we talking about in the life cycle of fashion?”
"Sustainable” is a buzzword that the world has gotten to know – we hear it so much that it might be hard to remember what it means. On the surface, it means that something has less of a detrimental impact on our planet.
Skye Kelton, whose business it is to keep up with the ebb and flow of trends, has to contemplate what it really means when she encounters it in the fashion world. When she hears it used to describe clothing, the first thing she asks is “How?”
The question comes naturally from the ins and outs of her job as a stylist, for which she witnesses heaps of clothing leftover from shoots, and the volume of plastic bags that come with each purchase. Her familiarity with the industry makes her consider the more systemic issues that exist around fashion as a whole, and the idea of “sustainability” as an answer to it must be nuanced - it needs to consider the journey that each piece of clothing makes, starting before the creation of its fabric to after it is discarded. This is the process that Levi’s® has considered with its collection, but for all brands using this nebulous term, Skye wants to break down the trajectory: “From the supply chain, to the materials used, to garment manufacturing, to where it ends up in landfills – when we talk about sustainability, what part are we talking about in the life cycle of fashion?”
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As a stylist, Skye increasingly feels the impact of her own actions in this greater life cycle, which she does her best to keep in mind. “I do try to redirect my budgets toward people who are trying to integrate sustainability into how they work,” she says. “I try to put it into local shops who are selling sustainable brands, and into vintage and consignment stores.” Forming relationships with her vendors at a local level allows her to see in person how their clothes are produced as they are being manufactured, or how older clothes are re-purposed. It is a way she can personally ensure a portion of the clothes on her rack fit the criteria of sustainability.
This doesn’t disqualify the use of newer fashions: with the Levi’s® shoot as a template, Skye envisions a head-to-toe sustainable outfit to draw from a mixture of elements. Vintage aspects are a common component, as well as things that are heirloom, autobiographical - that have a personal quality for the wearer. Pieces that are new and on-trend fit into this vision, as long as they integrate ethical production practices in their most basic materials. She sees the transition away from synthetic fabrics as a hopeful sign for things to come: “The brands who are seeing that it’s necessary are starting now – we are seeing these recycled materials that aren’t completely new and petroleum-based, and moving away from virgin polyester and nylon.”
As for any stylist, it’s crucial for Skye’s livelihood that these materials don’t trade aesthetic and quality for ethics. Products from heritage brands that we already know to be durable – to the extent that they eventually become vintage items themselves – are especially important for this movement because they are with us longer. Skye describes the way that Levis’ use of sustainable materials in their collection perfectly bridges the gap between new and old: “In terms of look and feel they feel like classic Levi’s® – I love a non-stretchy denim. An old pair that just gets better with age, the classic, vintage ones that soften, and they’re adding another layer by using hemp fabric and less water.” To standardize this model of manufacturing clothes preserves the excitement of buying new things, but allows us to do so mindfully.
If household, long-trusted names start to rethink the way clothing is produced, it creates a larger chain reaction – the power of a few brands doing this sets a precedent and causes others to follow suit when it becomes that it is what shoppers value. “Introducing it into the consumer consciousness is important,” Skye says. “If it’s a little bit more in their face, they might carry that over into the next store they visit. If they see it once, they might go somewhere else and seek it out.”
Much in the way she would style a model in pieces of clothing that are sustainable for different reasons, Skye makes the point that real sustainability in clothing is a shared responsibility – the onus isn’t on any consumer, stylist or brand alone. She calls out that transparency at every stage of the clothing manufacturing process is a particularly crucial part of this systemic change, so we all know what we’re buying and how something is sustainable if it claims to be. To clarify this point, Skye refers to the expectations we have with the food that we eat:
"It would be nice if eventually fashion moved in the same way that we moved with food, where we know a little bit more about the ingredients".
As a stylist, Skye increasingly feels the impact of her own actions in this greater life cycle, which she does her best to keep in mind. “I do try to redirect my budgets toward people who are trying to integrate sustainability into how they work,” she says. “I try to put it into local shops who are selling sustainable brands, and into vintage and consignment stores.” Forming relationships with her vendors at a local level allows her to see in person how their clothes are produced as they are being manufactured, or how older clothes are re-purposed. It is a way she can personally ensure a portion of the clothes on her rack fit the criteria of sustainability.
This doesn’t disqualify the use of newer fashions: with the Levi’s® shoot as a template, Skye envisions a head-to-toe sustainable outfit to draw from a mixture of elements. Vintage aspects are a common component, as well as things that are heirloom, autobiographical - that have a personal quality for the wearer. Pieces that are new and on-trend fit into this vision, as long as they integrate ethical production practices in their most basic materials. She sees the transition away from synthetic fabrics as a hopeful sign for things to come: “The brands who are seeing that it’s necessary are starting now – we are seeing these recycled materials that aren’t completely new and petroleum-based, and moving away from virgin polyester and nylon.”
As for any stylist, it’s crucial for Skye’s livelihood that these materials don’t trade aesthetic and quality for ethics. Products from heritage brands that we already know to be durable – to the extent that they eventually become vintage items themselves – are especially important for this movement because they are with us longer. Skye describes the way that Levis’ use of sustainable materials in their collection perfectly bridges the gap between new and old: “In terms of look and feel they feel like classic Levi’s® – I love a non-stretchy denim. An old pair that just gets better with age, the classic, vintage ones that soften, and they’re adding another layer by using hemp fabric and less water.” To standardize this model of manufacturing clothes preserves the excitement of buying new things, but allows us to do so mindfully.
If household, long-trusted names start to rethink the way clothing is produced, it creates a larger chain reaction – the power of a few brands doing this sets a precedent and causes others to follow suit when it becomes that it is what shoppers value. “Introducing it into the consumer consciousness is important,” Skye says. “If it’s a little bit more in their face, they might carry that over into the next store they visit. If they see it once, they might go somewhere else and seek it out.”
Much in the way she would style a model in pieces of clothing that are sustainable for different reasons, Skye makes the point that real sustainability in clothing is a shared responsibility – the onus isn’t on any consumer, stylist or brand alone. She calls out that transparency at every stage of the clothing manufacturing process is a particularly crucial part of this systemic change, so we all know what we’re buying and how something is sustainable if it claims to be. To clarify this point, Skye refers to the expectations we have with the food that we eat:
"Sustainable” is buzzword a word that the world has gotten to know – we hear
it so much that it might be hard to remember what it means. On the surface, it means that something has less of
a detrimental impact on our planet."
Skye Kelton
on Sustainable Fashion
Skye Kelton on Sustainable Fashion
With the imperative to create sustainable fashion more pressing than ever, it’s important to know what that looks like. This fashion editorial, made in collaboration with top Toronto wardrobe stylist Skye Kelton, features Levi’s® cottonized hemp denim and recycled puffer jacket - it highlights the way these pieces come together as ensembles that intentionally reduce their impact on the planet.
VICE also teamed up with Skye to discuss sustainable fashion as a concept - how she thinks it is actually reflected in the industry, and taking a cue from the looks created with Levi’s®, explores how we go about implementing it into our everyday lives.
Written by Emma Fox
Photographed by Norman Wong
Styled by Skye Kelton
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