Product Love Staff Feature
From the beginning of time, humans have worn clothing to celebrate special occasions and fit within cultural norms. However, in the past few years, fashion has taken on a different meaning for many people. As more and more individuals become interested in how their purchases impact the planet and communities they live in, conscious fashion has become mainstream.
From purchasing sustainable fabrics to avoiding animal cruelty and exploitation, conscious consumers are demanding that designers produce garments that are not only stylish but also socially responsible. Luckily, some of the biggest names in the conscious fashion movement are working towards ensuring no one is left behind when it comes to society’s shift towards a more sustainable way of living. Find out fifteen of the most influential conscious fashion celebrities below:
Stella McCartney
Stella McCartney is a true innovator and trendsetter in the fashion industry. Her eponymous label is known for pushing boundaries and pioneering sustainability in fashion. For example, her collections do not use fur or leather as a material for her clothing designs, promoting ethical treatment of animals. Stella has also been heavily involved with the LGBT+ community. She has launched a genderless fashion capsule, set up a Pride 2022 photo shoot, and used her platform to promote different ‘faces’ of pride.
Her brand has also been heavily focused on sustainability, using eco-friendly fabrics and eco-friendly means of production to create its products. The eco-friendly materials include recycled polyester, organic cotton, and regenerated cashmere. Her products are made through renewable energy provided by Ecotricity, which powers her stores. With her brand being vegetarian and against animal cruelty, this also means that McCartney does not test her skin care products on animals, another step in the right direction for the conscious fashion market.
Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish is easily the youngest person on this list, but she is also one of the most successful artists in the music industry. She’s only 20 years old, but she’s already been signed to major labels and has featured songs in films and shows like 13 Reasons Why and No Time To Die. Eilish is also a huge advocate for mental health awareness. She has participated in the mental health campaign ‘Seize the Awkward’, where she encourages youths to take care of their mental health and listen to their loved ones who may also struggle with mental health.
Billie Eilish is a massive advocate for conscious fashion and sustainability, her 2022 Met Gala Gucci gown being made from upcycled materials. The year before, she had pushed for ethical fashion, telling Oscar de la Renta that she would only collaborate with them if they stopped selling fur pieces. She also participated in the climate event ‘Overheated’. This event pushed for sustainability, and the proceeds also went toward charities promoting sustainable eating. Eilish is an excellent example of a young advocate of conscious fashion and conscious practices whose influence on the youths of today is not to be ignored.
Victoria Beckham
Victoria Beckham has become a household name in recent years, thanks to the creation of her famous eponymous fashion label. Her designs have been worn by celebrities like Beyoncé, Cameron Diaz, and Gwyneth Paltrow, and her brands are now found in high-end stores like Nordstrom. As a designer, Beckham’s work has been heavily focused on sustainability and ensuring that all of her brand’s materials are sustainable and eco-friendly. She has said goodbye to using non-animal-friendly materials such as fur, and she recently banned exotic skins.
Beckham has also collaborated with organizations like The Outnet to help bring attention to sustainable fashion and emphasize her brand as sustainable and more affordable. She has promoted this, for example, by using plant-based products to dye her clothes in order to lower the pollution emissions caused by this action. Finally, Beckham has released a makeup line with ethical and sustainable ingredients.
Emma Watson
Emma Watson has come far since her days onscreen as Hermione Granger in the “Harry Potter” franchise. Along with taking on more film roles in recent hit movies such as Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women” and the live-action adaptation of “Beauty and the Beast” in 2017, she is a massive advocate for women’s rights, organic fashion, and fair trade. For example, she helped launch the HeForShe campaign to push gender equality.
Watson has also been highly active when it comes to conscious fashion. She promotes sustainable fashion by wearing pieces from sustainable designers such as Stella McCartney and others like Gabriel Hearst. Watson also worked as a creative advisor for the clothing line ‘People Tree’, a sustainable clothing line promoting fair trade and organic fashion.
Finally, in 2014 she participated in the ‘White Shirt Project’, a campaign that aspired to draw attention to human slavery and child labor in the production of fashion items. Emma Watson’s use of her platform as a celebrity to draw attention to critical issues such as human rights and unsustainable fashion has been prolific. She has made a name for herself as one of the most hardworking celebrities campaigning for a better, healthier world.
Timothée Chalamet
You may know Timothée Chalamet as one of the most talented actors working today, but he is also a conscious fashion icon. The 26-year-old actor is best known for roles in movies like “Call Me by Your Name” and “Bones and All.” But he has also shown a taste for fashion in his career. Chalamet’s passion for fashion is evident from his many Instagram posts, where he often references his love for fashion and his commitment to looking good.
Chalamet has undertaken many fashion stunts to emphasize the importance of sustainable fashion. For example, in his Vogue photo shoot in October, he wore a range of vintage pieces to highlight how reused pieces are just as valuable as buying from new. At last year’s Venice Film Festival, he also wore jewelry pieces from Cartier, a luxury brand that highlights its policy of creating its products through ethical means.
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie is one of the most iconic actresses in Hollywood and knows what it takes to be a successful actress. Her experience as a model and an actress has also taught the 47-year-old a thing or two about how to look beautiful and feel confident in any situation. In fact, Jolie is an advocate for conscious fashion.
She has disclosed that she rewears her favorite quality pieces instead of buying new pieces all the time. This has even been passed down to her children. Her daughter was seen at the premiere of her movie Eternals in her old Oscar dress from 2014. Jolie’s interest in conscious fashion also extends to makeup and skincare; her favorite makeup brand is Hourglass, a cruelty-free makeup brand that is also certified vegan.
Olivia Wilde
While Olivia Wilde has recently made the headlines for directing hit movies such as her 2019 comedy ‘Booksmart’ and her recent thriller ‘Don’t Worry Darling’, what is less known is her loyalty to sustainable and conscious fashion. Wilde actively contributes to sustainable fashion by buying and selling clothes off the used-clothes site ‘Thredup’ and co-founded a site called Conscious Commerce, which sells secondhand t-shirts and uses its products to spread awareness of the danger of unsustainable fashion. Wilde has also worked alongside more famous fashion brands, such as H&M, and has discussed how to move forward with sustainability with them. She was part of the H&M Conscious Advertising Campaign to promote sustainability through the Conscious clothing line.
Kate Middleton
Regarding the fashion world, few people have a reputation for being so environmentally friendly as the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton. The Duchess is one of the most high-profile personalities working to promote ethical fashion. Middleton, along with her sister Pippa, has made a career of advocating for sustainable fashion. She has shown herself to be supportive of sustainable fashion in her trendy yet environmentally-friendly outfit choices. For example, she occasionally restyles pieces from her wardrobe for different events, sometimes even wearing the same dress.
With the amount of scrutiny that the royal family undergoes, as well as the expectation upon the women in the family to display taste when it comes to style, it would be an easy option to buy a new outfit for each royal occasion. However, Middleton manages to reuse outfits while keeping them chic and creative. Kate Middleton has also been known to rent dresses, again contributing to this new era of sustainability as she avoids the pitfalls of buying an outfit to be worn for one day and never used again. She also often wears outfits by Stella McCartney; the association with this designer spells out her goal of promoting sustainability.
Kendall Jenner
Kendall Jenner is an American reality television star and model best known for her role on the reality television show Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Jenner has been making headlines for her fashion choices since the early 2010s. Her interest in conscious fashion has also been made known, the model being a massive fan of Havre, a french brand that restores and reworks men’s vintage suits so they can be worn again. Jenner has also worn outfits from sustainable brands, such as her bikini from Peony, made from fabric made from recycled ocean plastic. She has also worn pieces from the brand (di)vision, another sustainable brand that recycles materials to make clothing.
Rihanna
Rihanna is a global fashion icon and an advocate of sustainable fashion. She has launched one of the most successful cosmetics brands of all time, Fenty Beauty, which promotes skincare and beauty for women of all types. As well as promoting inclusivity, Rihanna has been vocal about creating a more sustainable fashion industry. Her cosmetics brand has set the standard for sustainability, with the singer winning the Ethical Award from PETA for her fashion brand after she brought out a collection of fake leather items, thus positioning Fenty as a cruelty-free and animal-friendly brand.
Fenty Beauty has also taken steps in designing its cosmetics products to promote sustainability, such as creating refillable containers, using recycled materials for packaging, and using reef-friendly formulas for cosmetic products. Unfortunately, Rihanna’s beauty brand is not entirely sustainable, as her clothing often relies on unsustainable materials such as plastic-based materials. While Rihanna is utilizing her platform for good in her promotion of ethical fashion, there is clearly still more she can do when it comes to leading a sustainable fashion brand.
Zendaya Coleman
Zendaya Coleman, otherwise known as ‘Zendaya’ is an American actress, singer, and model. She is best known for her work in the HBO series “Euphoria” and for her role as ‘MJ’ in the 2017 film “Spider-Man: Homecoming” alongside Tom Holland. Zendaya has frequently worn vintage pieces, such as her vintage Versace gown, which she wore to the Green Carpet Fashion Awards. She also won the GCFA Visionary Award in 2020 for promoting lesser-known designers and sustainability in fashion.
Bella Hadid
Bella Hadid is an American model who made her debut in the Fall of 2014, and since then, she has become a massive hit with fashionistas and the media. In 2022, she launched her first clothing collection with the European retailer ABOUT YOU. She is also the co-founder of the Earth Day-based BELLAteer Movement. Hadid champions many sustainable fashion brands like Bode, By Far, and Re/Done. Re/Done is an excellent example of a sustainable fashion brand, with a section on its site devoted to reselling upcycled denim pieces.
Bella Hadid has also drawn attention for wearing her ‘spray-on’ Coperni dress during Paris Fashion Week this year. The spray-on fabric this dress is made from is a big step forward for the fashion industry, as you could use it to mend outfits and add details to existing outfits to give them new life. This could be a completely new and valuable innovation in the name of sustainability.
Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba is an American actress and businesswoman, her fame growing ever since her starring role in the sci-fi series Dark Angel. Alba is a supporter of many environmental causes and organizations. She has given her voice to the discussion about sustainability and has advocated for more eco-friendly products in her everyday life. In 2011, she founded the Honest Company, a company created to sell eco-friendly products with sustainability as a priority. To promote sustainability, Alba has shared tips online on living sustainably so that others can follow in her footsteps.
Pharrell Williams
Few people in modern-day pop culture have as much of an impact on the fashion industry as Pharrell Williams. The “Happy” singer has made an image for himself with his frequently-worn ‘Buffalo Hat’, but he has also used his position to create a range of high-quality, eco-friendly, and sustainable products. He has worked with the company Bionic Yarn to use materials made from plastics sourced from the ocean to produce fashion items.
The singer clearly understands the various benefits of using raw materials from the ocean to create fashion items. While this practice helps clear the ocean of materials that don’t belong there - such as plastic bottles, it also puts the materials toward something productive and valuable instead of throwing them out again. Pharrell is also the owner of the company G-Star Raw, which launched the fashion line Raw for the Oceans, emphasizing sustainability in fashion.
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow, the actress known for acting in hit movies such as Sliding Doors, the Iron Man series, and Shakespeare in love, is also the founder of the lifestyle brand Goop, which focuses on the intersection of health and beauty. Paltrow has been a force in the media industry for over two decades, and she’s still going strong at age 50. As a health and beauty pioneer, Paltrow has also promoted ethical fashion, partnering with the sustainable Spanish fashion brand Ecoalf, which makes clothing from high-quality recycled materials. This has been an excellent step for the conscious fashion market, as using these materials has also led to less energy and water consumption in the production of the clothing at Ecoalf.
Paltrow has been particularly active in promoting sustainability, as her own brand, Goop, sells various sustainable products. This brand has also released capsule wardrobes in the past, promoting sustainability as the items can work together without needing to buy hoards of clothes in the future.
Conclusion
Environmentalism has become a popular movement with people around the world. Millions of people are now trying to protect our planet from pollution and ensure that our cities and towns are kept clean and tidy. It’s not just individuals trying to protect our environment; businesses are now noticing how the fashion industry can make a difference.
Most actors, musicians, and models have also worked hard to ensure their sustainability practices are as eco-friendly as possible. By using recycled materials, avoiding wasteful production processes, and designing their products without harming the environment, these celebrities have shown that you can impact the world positively while still looking beautiful and stylish. From young stars who have just recently achieved stardom like Billie Eilish, Zendaya, and Timothée Chalamet to more experienced fashion influencers such as Angelina Jolie and Stella McCartney, the variety of celebrities willing to make a difference is clear to see. Hopefully, with their influence, the future of sustainable fashion will be bright.
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