Vegan-Streetwear -The rise of Veganism in fashion
How veganism is crossing barriers and impacting the world of mainstream and streetwear fashion.
With Veganism increasing in the UK to approx 600,000 and vegan clothes set to go mainstream this year 2019. The rise of Veganism has meant that people all over the world have become more fashion-conscious shoppers than ever. Shoppers are increasingly seeking out clothes, that are eco-friendly, sustainable as well as animal-free.
Vegan-Sustainable Fashion
Vegan & sustainable fashion is on the increase. Veganism as a whole is growing especially with the likes of Beyonce and Jay-Z championing their own lifestyle change through social media. A number of high profile celebrities like Russell Brand, David Haye, Joanna Lumley and Phil Neville have already adopted this way of life; so it’s inevitable that 2019 is set to see a global shift of more vegans than ever. Google trends have seen steady growth over the past five years for ‘vegan’ online searches. This is making ‘vegan fashion’ become as popular with the searched ‘vegan’ word. So it’s plain to see the steady growth in popularity towards a plant-based culture is clearly here to stay.
EBYAK’s founder and Creative Director Ashlea Atigolo says: “Humans will always crave to feel better by helping animals and the environment in some way. But in the world of fast-paced fashion, it can actually be very difficult for men to make environmentally better fashion choices whilst staying on-trend. It’s important that as a men’s fashion designer and clothing brand founder, we do our best to change the way we produce clothing and we hope that ‘The Collection’ helps with this.”
With the iconic change to the fashion industry having taken place in 2018, when streetwear designer, Virgil Abloh entered renowned fashion house Louis Vuitton. The fashion industry has now had to accept that ‘street-style’ inspired designers and clothing brands like EBYAK, Off-White and Supreme is no contemporary movement.
That being said. Fashion designers and streetwear brands will now also have to consider catering to more environmentally-savvy male shoppers. Men all around the world are now thinking differently about the way they consume fashion.
Different sources believe sustainable and vegan fashion is going to be a major fashion shift for 2019. Especially with ‘Veganuary’ in January, the launch of more sustainable brands and the launch of Vegan Fashion week in February 2019. Modern ‘millennial’ men are now wanting to make fashion statements that are environmentally conscious, sustainable, unique and still social media worthy.
What is vegan fashion?
Vegan fashion is clothing and accessories made from cruelty-free sources. With vegan clothing, no animal products were used in making the garments or products, and no animal was harmed.
A number of retailers and designers like Stella McCarthy, Marks & Spencers and EBYAK have recently launched their own vegan-friendly collections.
What is ethical fashion?
Ethical fashion is clothing or products that are produced using: fairly-paid and fairly-treated adult workers. The clothing or accessories typically consist of sustainable fabrics and materials like organic cotton, hemp, bamboo, and reclaimed or recycled materials; low-impact fiber-reactive dyes or vegetable dyes. In a nutshell ethical fashion should respect and promote a healthy attitude towards the environment and/or product for the farmer, the assembler, and the wearer of the clothing.
“We should all be more conscious of the negative impact that some fast-fashion clothing pieces, can have on animals and the world, because the negative effects can only be damaging for our future.” Says Atigolo
What is fast-fashion?
Fast fashion is when clothing items have been designed to fall apart so that the consumer will replace that item quickly. In a world where we are saturated with choice, we tend to buy cheap basic t-shirts and other basic clothing essentials that when they become ruined we just throw them away.
There, unfortunately, is a huge environmental impact of the ‘innocent’ and seemingly harmless throwaway action. In order to produce clothing items that have cheap price tags, some fast fashion industries adopt production policies that are deemed environmentally corruptive. The most negative impact that the production of fast-fashion clothing has is on water.
Why ethical fashion?
In a modern digital world, we are all now solely responsible for how our own lifestyles affect the environment. Simple changes can make a long-term impact that can ultimately achieve big changes.
Buying of ethical fashion can be easy with a little bit of understanding and knowledge. We can start by choosing companies that choose to use lower impact materials like organic cotton. Look for clothing brands that use ethically accredited suppliers, support bringing manufacturing back to the clothing companies own countries and find clothing brands that use modern, low waste printing technology.
Three simple steps to ethical buying
1. Become conscious of the clothing you wear and where it was made.
2. Invest in Quality, not Quantity.
3. Shop Vintage Clothing.
To learn more about how EBYAK is helping to tackle the impact of fast-fashion and supporting vegan fashion visit: ebyak.com
Thank you for reading!
