15 Sustainable Fashionistas
And How They're Shaking Up The Fashion Industry
Social and Environmental Justice Through a Sustainable Wardrobe
The deeper I fell into the rabbit hole of sustainable fashion influencers, the more I was humbled by what seems like an infinite amount of growth I have yet to experience in my sustainability journey.
Some of the influencers featured are more casual in their approach to the subject matter, while others are confronting. I believe that it takes a well measured cocktail to encapsulate both the liberating potential of style, as well as the brutal realities of the fashion industry, past and present, and we're to sip it slowly if we're to appreciate its nuances.
Follow along and discover how these 15 ethical and sustainable fashion influencers are using their unique styles and voices to champion the fashion revolution!
Let's Get Into It
1. Val and Co.
Slow and ethical fashion at the intersection of disability.
@val_and.co
Val is a white indigenous, chronically ill, fat, and neurodivergent fashion influencer using her platform to promote slow and ethical fashion brands.
"Fat", the wildly divisive word it has become, is one that Val is very intentional in her use of. It is a word meant to describe an attribute normally tiptoed around with euphemisms like, "plus sized" or "plump" which she points out are only there to indicate, "that the most basic term to describe my body is an insult." As a teacher of self love and acceptance, such an approach to ones physical form is not only one which she refuses to humor, but adamantly advocates against.
Equipped with the hashtag #seatedstyle, Val campaigns to bring inclusivity to non adaptive clothing. She advocates that by showing your outfits, makes and products on a seated person, you will have enabled those with chronic illnesses, disabilities or those who are fat to see how clothing will look on their bodies, not to mention open up your customer base to a whole new clientele.
In the end, it is challenging to sum up all of Val's advocacy in a few short paragraphs. She is a powerhouse of compassion and conviction with a body of work so intersectional and intricate, that you really just need to check her out for yourself. Val truly does use her keyboard to advocate for humanity as a whole... and she looks phenomenal while doing it!
2. Dominique Drakeford
Cultural Sustability Vanguard: Fashion, Wellbeing, and Community Care
@Dominiquedrakeford
Dominique Drakeford, the effortlessly cool founder of Melanin and Sustainable Style, and cofounder of Sustainable Brooklyn, is a non-traditional environmental educator and social sustainability influencer who is turning the spotlight on communities of color, and their myriad of accomplishments in paving the way for modern sustainable fashion and beauty.
Armed with a BA in Business Environmental Management as well as a Master’s Degree from NYU in Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Fashion, this wildly accomplished sustainable lifestyle and ethical fashion blogger is turning the whitewashed sustainable fashion narrative on its head!
Drakeford teaches the inherent sustainability of BIPOC communities, and the history of regenerative and sustainable principles and practices of the black community. As a guest writer on fashion blog Ethical Style Journal, Drakeford concisely highlights the two primary functions of currency within cultural sustainability, "1) Ancestry before colonial discovery and takeover and 2) resourcefulness as a form of creative political expression and resistance to colonial systems and anti-Black and racist agendas."
Drakeford is a wealth of knowledge poetically and passionately delivered. She is an absolute must follow on social media for those of us looking to further our anti-racist education and/or allyship.
3. Chloe Miles
Sustainable style and slow living.
@Chloemiles
Chloe Miles is a sustainable style influencer who is championing the minimizing of environmental impact through second hand clothes. While this popular influencer is known to partner with and promote reputable slow fashion brands, she has vowed that this year will be completely new fashion free.
No new clothes 2023 amplifies Miles's reputation as a loud and proud outfit repeater, a concept that might seem simple enough, but has developed a taboo reputation within the fashion industry. Especially with the rise of social media, where new content is demanded daily, to build a style influencer brand around the concept of rewearing is revolutionary.
Miles's aesthetic is a clean and sophisticated casual, opting mainly for a color palette of blacks, whites, and neutral solids, with prints few and far between. It is chic and understated.
4. Style In The Stix
Slow fashion mom duo.
@Styleinthestix
Having met after moving from fashion forward London to rural Rutland, Penny and Nicky of the ethical fashion blog, Style in The Stix, first bonded over a shared motherhood to boys, a love of fashion, and a need of escapism from their day to day.
Penny and Nicky display for us a stunning curation of eclectic vintage fashion juxtaposed against their rural surroundings. A slow lifestyle, turned editorial. Their style of dressing is often in a more neutral color pallet, but not to exclude just the right mix of eye catching color and bold print.
While the Style in The Stix aesthetic is primarily made up of preloved garments, these ethical style icons aid their audience in conscious consumerism through their fashion blog. It is there where they regularly review and promote slow fashion brands that align with their eco conscious lifestyle.
On the other hand, if one so covets a closer replication of the Stix founders style, they can shop their own secondhand store, Stix Styled!
5. Izzy Manuel
Ethical dopamine dressing
@Izzymanuel
Izzy Manuel a sustainable fashion and lifestyle influencer packing a major punch!
Her electrifying aesthetic showcased via wild poses is the sort of content pick-me-up sure to spark joy in your day, and is the ever-necessary reminder that dressing sustainably is far from boring.
While primarily a second hand scavenger (because as she pointed out in a recent post, there are enough clothes on the planet to dress the NEXT 6 GENERATIONS of the human race), Manuel is also a supporter of sustainable and ethical slow fashion brands.
Manuel's content is exceptionally educational, her posts packed full of tips and statistics to get you fired up about the ill effects of fast fashion. She is also transparent in her personal pitfalls throughout her sustainable fashion journey, the first to admit when she's strayed from her fashion sustainability values, and in how she plans to course correct.
Manuel encourages us all to step forward into a sustainable lifestyle, however imperfectly.
6. Style With a Smile
Vegan fashion and total ethics blogger.
@Style.withasmile
Noa, award winning vegan fashion and total ethics blogger at Style With a Smile, is a passionate advocate for rights within the fashion industry, for animals both human and non.
Her approach to sustainability is one of the most well rounded of the influencers mentioned on this list. It is as multifaceted as sustainable fashion is nuanced, and Noa leaves no stone unturned in her efforts to eliminate common misconceptions, and to provide a clear roadmap to living and styling more consciously.
Thoroughly researched and sources well cited, Style With a Smile is a reliable source for those ready to face the brutal truths of the fashion industry, and who are prepared to take . steps to make a difference.