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Between Covid variants, a disquietingly sharp rise in the cost of living, and a carousel of Downing Street parties, 2022 may seem like the year of unwanted change. But it’s also an opportunity to implement positive new habits.
Perhaps you intend to read more, learn a new language, or strive for a professional goal this year.
But besides personal growth, there are also new practices that can change our world for the better. With climate change an ever-looming threat, focus on positive change has started to throw a spotlight on the fashion industry.
Gen Z is abandoning fast fashion and turning to investment pieces, thrifting, and rental platforms. Fashion outlets are speaking up about the industry’s dark underbelly like never before, creating demand for brand transparency when it comes to production lines and cyclical business models.
Despite this shifting conversation, the landscape of sustainable fashion can often feel overwhelming, littered with red herrings and green washers. Social media still often favours fast fashion brands like Pretty Little Thing and Missguided, thanks to lucrative PR deals with big-name influencers.
Even when these uber-unethical companies are publicly chastised, middle-ground names like Zara, H&M, and even pseudo-sustainable brands like Ganni often get away with less than savoury practices. This is, in large part, down to a lack of public education on the fashion industry’s real impact in shaping our world.
So, with that in mind, here are six incredible fashion accounts to follow this year. Whether it’s to educate yourself on slow fashion, get styling inspiration, or simply break through the gloomy pessimism that dominates our Instagram feeds, these inspiring individuals know a thing or two about how to change your fashion habits for the better, and – most importantly – have fun while doing it.
Trash4gold is the sharp witted, truly nuts fashion Instagram your sustainable heart has been yearning for.
Run by Chekii (Francesca) Harling, a fashion communications graduate who has written for Selfridges, Guardian Fashion, and i-D mag, Trash4gold is the progeny of Chekii’s fashion publication TRASH MAG – a thick bound overhaul of the fashion industry that opens the lid on everything from its dubious ethical history to the skilled designers, makers, and protesters re-writing it.
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From fashion journalist, to fashion designer, Anciela is a London-based label founded by Jennifer Droguett in 2018.
The brand combines ‘Columbian Folklore with a modern twist’, building on Droguett’s childhood in South America.
Aniela’s clothing, and by extension its imagery, are a love letter to Latin art, dance, and music, celebrating the bridges of time and space that constitute our global culture.
The best thing about Anciela, though? The emphasis on the stories behind our clothes. Highlighting the times, places and people that weave our wares together, Anciela will make you see the things you wear as extensions of your identity, and a means of building truly meaningful connections with the world around you.
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Leah Thomas, known to the internet as ‘Green Girl Leah’, is a self-styled ‘intersectional environmentalist’. Leah has channelled a love of writing and creativity to unpick environmental racism. Her platform seeks to raise awareness about environmental injustice whilst promoting inclusivity within environmental education.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the world of green fashion, and sustainability more broadly, Leah’s Instagram is the perfect outlet for cutting through the elitist patronisation that often colours environmental conversations.
Her artwork, imagery and immersive storytelling might make you green with creative envy. But Leah’s matter of fact, accessible tone makes it easier to implement other green habits than ever before.
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