From my point of view, one of the most important issues that fashion will be facing in the future is waste plastic. The fashion industry has been introducing more and more plastic into our clothes. Silk has been replaced by polyester and the cotton by nylon and there has been a huge increase in clothes made out of mix fibres, natural + synthetic. The reason for this change is petroleum based materials are cheaper than natural ones.
Some people may argue that plastic clothes can be recycled and that recycled products have a lower carbon footprint than certain natural textiles. But in most cases, clothes do not get recycled and in the case of the mixed fibres, actually, they cannot! We do not have the technology available that can separate out mixed fibres from one another. So all this plastic ends up in the landfill sites, where it can take up to 1,000 years to degrade. The benefit of using natural fibres, such as silk, cotton, wool or linen over plastics is that they are biodegradable, meaning that they break down safely and relatively quickly by microorganisms into raw materials that disappear into the environment. I am also a believer that having plastic/toxic products in contact with your skin may create negative health consequences long term, science is yet to validate these ideas but remember that your skin absorbs a percentage of what you put on it.
Today my outfit is all about natural materials with a vintage silk shirt, cotton jeans (I am trying to avoid jeans that mix cotton with elastane), leather shoes and handbag.
Pictures: Beatriz Lozano
Shirt – Seattle Vintage Store | Jeans – Levi’s | Shoes – Camper + Veronique Branquinho | Handbag – Muestrarios
