The sustainable fashion movement is often seen as a push forwards. And so it should be. If fashion stays where it is we’re heading for disaster (and in many ways we’ve already arrived). But like conventional fashion, and the world at large, sustainable fashion is still shaped by a homogenous, dominant force: rich white men deciding which solutions they feel like investing in. That’s how we’ve ended up with eight million organic t-shirt brands. But look at any truly radical conversation happening about the future of fashion, and you’ll find women leading the way. It’s from these pioneering women that new or improved fashion models are emerging – three of which we explore below.

FATIMAH WALEE IS MAKING TRANSPARENCY IN RETAIL A REALITY

“I've personally made a commitment to address the climate crisis through the intersectional lens of being Black, being a Muslim, and being a woman, so I asked myself, ‘What's my contribution?’ and I just sat with that question for a while,” says Fatimah Walee, CEO and co-founder of Neuterra, an ethical online marketplace which offers traceability “from the first kilometre to the last mile”. 

The concept brings together Walee’s advocacy for women and girls developed throughout her career in corporate America with her acknowledgement that the climate crisis simply can’t be ignored, and unusually, it stems from trying to choose between two tins of tomato paste. Walee was unable to find any information about how the workers who made the paste were treated or how the farmers were paid, and after doing some research she discovered that she simply couldn’t find any of the information she wanted about any of the products she was buying. She wanted to change that, starting with fashion.

While ethical marketplaces exist, shoppers mainly have to trust that the people who run them have done the due diligence. Neuterra, however, will communicate every single piece of information a shopper could ever hope to know, with an ethos of “people and planet, in that order”. “We like to provide answers to tough questions. So, was forced labour used to make this product? Was child labour used? Do workers along supply chains face gender discrimination? Are chemicals polluting community water systems?” says Walee. 

“I've personally made a commitment to address the climate crisis through the intersectional lens of being Black, being a Muslim, and being a woman, so I asked myself, ‘What's my contribution?’ and I just sat with that question for a while” – Fatima Walee

Some of this information will come from what Walee calls “bold brands” being totally upfront with their supply chain information. But Neuterra will support and expand that transparency with its own tools too. In-person audits, surveys, certifications, blockchain, and partnerships with supply chain tracking technology companies are all part of the plan to leave no stone unturned. 

“I think for us our hope is that for Black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian, Latin, and any racialised person working along supply chains, we can bring accountability and transparency to their everyday lives, and hopefully with that make a tangible difference”, says Walee, who is developing the platform with lead sustainability scientist Dr. Mindy Nicewonger. 

Currently fundraising, the platform is set to launch later in 2023, and it has already built up a significant supporter base, no doubt in part because it promises to offer a marketplace that is actually representative of the people it will be selling to. “I think a large part of sustainability has been so white dominated, and I think a lot of folks have felt excluded from that movement, even though they have been doing these things for decades,” says Walee. “We want to centre the voices of Black and Indigenous, nature-based solutions.”

The platform will launch with a focus on fashion, which Walee describes as ‘meaty’ due to the complexities of the supply chain, but the hope is that in time it will expand to other products to put transparency and, more to the point, people at the centre of every buying decision.

ELENA DUNN-BARCELONA IS MAKING VINTAGE SIZE-INCLUSIVE

Elena Dunn-Barcelona launched her vintage business, Mighty Thrift, in 2017. “I remember deciding to do this Depop thing and see where it goes. But it took off very quickly. I did not realise it was going to be that big of a hit,” Dunn-Barcelona says. “Then I did my first Depop in real life event in Brooklyn and I realised that people just looked disappointed like, “Oh, okay, nothing's gonna fit me right”. And I was like, I need to do better.” At 4”3, she knew what it was like to shop and find nothing that fits, so expanded her size range to span XXS – 5XL. 

If you’ve shopped vintage or gone thrifting, you’ll know that finding anything above a size 14 can feel like gold dust, and Dunn-Barcelona admits that finding genuinely stylish, true vintage options can be challenging. “The point is that there just has to be more effort. You just have to work harder, and it requires more time,” she says. It also requires sacrificing great standard size finds on occasion to make sure the product mix, and price point, is right. 

“Sometimes larger jeans in particular, or a larger dress or coat will just cost more money. And because of that I have to make the decision to put some standard size pieces back so that I can buy the one plus size piece because there just needs to be more representation and more options,” she says.

“Sometimes larger jeans in particular, or a larger dress or coat will just cost more money. And because of that I have to make the decision to put some standard size pieces back so that I can buy the one plus size piece because there just needs to be more representation and more options” – Elena Dunn-Barcelona

Selling on her website and platforms like Depop and Galaxy, Dunn-Barcelona describes her store aesthetic as if “Clueless met The Nanny met Moesha, with a splash of early 2000s Degrassi in there.” The brand, and look, is an extension of Dunn-Barcelona’s move into vintage fashion in high school which allowed her to expand her wardrobe exponentially. 

Now a pro, she sources from warehouse-sized thrift stores, but it can be overwhelming. “I've had to learn through therapy that as much as I love it, I can probably do maybe three or four in a day before I’m actually burned out just from having so many average-sized people close to me. People tend to forget that I am a person and will physically move me out the way sometimes; people touch me all the time without consent,” she says. 

Despite the difficulties associated with sourcing, she will not be giving it up. “It means the world to me, honestly, and I think that's why it's not about the money for me. People feel seen. I want people to feel good about themselves. That's it,” she says.

DANIELLA LOFTUS IS MAKING DIGITAL FASHION WORK FOR EVERYONE

Daniella Loftus heard about digital fashion while working in blockchain finance and took it upon herself to become an expert. “Wikipedia had nothing for digital fashion. And so I did some research and Tribute Brand and Fabricant, and DressX materialised. The majority of them literally were a month or two old,” she says. Sensing an opportunity, Loftus launched her Instagram account and newsletter This Outfit Does Not Exist. She showcased the best of digital fashion, wrote about what was happening in the space, and started investing in it too. Then a friend mentioned that maybe she was the one people should be investing in. “I was like, I don't think I can fundraise. I'm not technical. I'm a woman and only 2.4 per cent of female founders get venture funding, it’s not possible,” says Loftus.

But with a little further encouragement, Draup (pronounced drop) was born, and the assignment was to simplify and unify the digital fashion experience. Right now, if you buy a digital garment, it’s likely you’ll send a photo of yourself off to the creators, you’ll receive one back where you’re ‘dressed’, and you can share it online. But if you want to wear that garment in Decentraland, you can’t. Maybe you bought something on Roblox, and you want to wear it as a Snapchat Lens. Well, sorry you can’t do that either. But with Draup, your digital clothes will be yours to wear wherever you want. 

“60 per cent of Gen Z believe how you present online is more important than how you present in person. So, it's not even that we're at parity, we're at a tipping point” – Daniella Loftus

Users will have a digital wardrobe which can be curated, displayed, and ‘worn’ in multiple virtual environments. “I see it as a digitally-native Dover Street Market,” Loftus says, and part of that is supporting creators, both with a new platform and the benefit of NFTs. “An NFT essentially allows something to be fully owned, fully traceable, and also allows you to integrate royalties. So, in the music industry if your song gets used by a film, you get a cut of it. Now you can have that in digital fashion where every time it gets resold you get to profit,” explains Loftus. Rental and resale will be a reality on the platform too, which is set to launch in the first half of 2023. 

As Dazed has explored before, digital fashion isn’t a silver bullet but Loftus believes it can cut through overproduction and overconsumption, especially within younger generations. “60 per cent of Gen Z believe how you present online is more important than how you present in person. So, it's not even that we're at parity, we're at a tipping point,” she says. Dressing influencers digitally instead of shipping stuff around the world for a single wear is an obvious solution, but Loftus also believes that brands could move towards digital-first product launches to test the waters and measure demand for physical products, avoiding overproduction. Given that Loftus’s foresight has bagged her $1.5 million of funding and a newly hired team, it would be no surprise if it becomes a reality – with Draup leading the charge.