A newfound vocalism around sustainability concerns and a heightened sense of individualism is giving rise to a new generation of sustainably-minded fashion creators and consumers.

With activists like Greta Thunberg taking the stage at the UN to large-scale protests, climate change and the issues involved with it have come to the forefront of the national and global conscious. This discussion has impacted nearly every industry, and the fashion industry is no exception.

The fashion industry impacts many different aspects of the environment and the impact of garments can be felt throughout its lifetime, from its production to distribution to eventual disposal. According to the EPA, 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions are from the footwear and apparel industry.

A new generation of fashion consumers and producers

Gracie Kolb is a student at the University of Southern California. She spoke with me over Zoom from her Bay Area backyard, wearing a red-and-white striped t-shirt and wide-leg red pants. She joked about her resemblance to "Where's Waldo?" with a giggle and a grin.

Gracie Kolb in a pair of red pants she thrifted in Paris.

Kolb and her friend, Amy Kohlbrenner, wanted to sell their own clothing designs, but knew that they wanted to be sustainable when doing so. Instead of creating designs from scratch, Kolb and Kohlbrenner take thrifted clothing and embellish it through different means, be it with embroidery or paint or tie-dye, and sell it through their company, The House.

"Trends do cycle," Kolb commented. "Like, 'Woah, this existed in the 90s and now it's existing in the 2020s, I could just thrift something from the 90s.' And you're seen as cooler because it's vintage."

In the age of digital individualism, the idea of being able to show off a unique piece is particularly appealing. This sometimes comes from hunting for the more unique piece or stems from upcycling existing clothes.

Alison Trope is a clinical professor of communications at the University of Southern California and teaches a course about fashion, media and culture.

She described how fast fashion is a relatively new practice that became more common in the 80s and 90s and is now common today. But a rise in fashion production has come at a huge environmental cost.

"I've been teaching [Fashion, Media and Culture] since 2007 and when I first started teaching it, I didn't have a section on sustainable fashion or eco fashion. I would say it's been in the last ten years you've really seen it take off in different ways, and it's partly the fact that there's more calls for change around climate issues," Trope said.

Bloom Boutique is a USC based thrift boutique (that Trope actually serves as the faculty advisor of) that aims to "end fast fashion at USC" and "inspire others to commit to environmental preservation and social justice everywhere," according to their mission statement.

The organization sources donations from the USC community to resell, using Instagram as a place to both inspire donations and buyers through creative styling. All proceeds from their sales go to the Downtown Women's Center and there is a specific emphasis on affordability.

Co-presidents Catherine Yu and Adrian Guerrero bring different skill sets to the table.

Guerrero handles the more financial and logistic aspects of Bloom. Meanwhile, Yu previously served on the executive board in a creative capacity, working on curating and styling their products. "I've seen how much recognition we've gotten in the previous years and it's really nice to see that sustainable fashion can be cool and promotable," Yu said.

Yu finds the act of thrifting relaxing, often taking the time to listen to music as she pages through the racks. "It's like a scavenger hunt [be]cause you know no one is going to get the same thing twice," Yu said.

That sense of uniqueness has served Bloom Boutique well. And their branding and styling has helped inspire sales. "Usually the people in our club who model the clothes end up buying them," Yu said. "[Be]cause when you see how good you look in them in the pictures, you have some sort of attachment."

A sense of personal style may be even more important on social media.

USC's Losers Weepers runs their thrifting business mainly through Instagram. Bebe Katsenes and Sereet Singh curate vintage pieces and deliver them on campus.

Losers Weepers is a larger thrifting company based in Canada that allows students on campuses to sell what they choose to their area on their site and be a part of a larger thrifting community. They're able to choose the styling, pricing and branding and the company takes a percentage of their sales. Katsenes and Singh are the first to have a Losers Weepers store outside of Canada.

The two initially bonded over their shared fashion sensibilities during orientation at USC. Katsenes recounted how she and Singh began talking after she liked Singh's pants that she had thrifted and then drawn on.

"I guess like maybe there's something narcissistic about like wanting other people to see your style or like wanting other people to wear your style," Singh said. "But like, if a certain amount of people come up to you 'Hey, I like what you're wearing today,' you kind of think, 'Oh, maybe I should like make money off of this or something.'"

The power of social media influence

As a part of the Losers Weepers' network, Katsenes and Singh get promotion on social media from the main company account as well as other campus stores.

"So many influencers are sponsored by companies," Katsenes said. "And a lot of the influencers I follow, thankfully if they're sponsored by companies, are sustainable. It's interesting to see the kinds of brands that they support then bleed into the people who follow them."

Katsenes went on to describe the phenomenon behind the online shops of certain influencers like Devon Carlson. "When she puts items on [Depop], they're sold out within like three minutes because they're her clothes and she's known for her style. It's more like a piece of her...It's like identifying yourself with her."

Social media clout is an easy way to sell clothing.

Maibee is an online store run by two sisters, Mathilda and Libby, in the United Kingdom. The two have over a million followers combined across both their personal accounts. The two gained attention for their mainly vintage wardrobe, but they also sell their own designs through Maibee. Their vintage drops also sell out quickly.

Although not all of their products are vintage, sustainability seems to still play a role in their company and in their messaging. According to their website, they are partnered with "an ethical sister-run manufacturer in China" and are consciously packaging their limited-run product in recyclable packaging. In their handwritten note in their about me section they write, "We reject fast fashion and hope that you do too."

Many influencers and content creators also use sustainable fashion in their content on platforms like Instagram and TikTok.

Bestdressed is a YouTube channel run by Ashley (her last name is not public) with 3 million followers. She creates a variety of lifestyle content about different aspects of her life, but has a large amount of fashion videos, many featuring thrifting tips, tricks and flips. She garnered 10 million views on a video of 50 different outfits and 2.7 million views for a video of her turning 'ugly' thrifted clothing into trendier styles.

The evolving narrative surrounding thrifting culture

The narrative surrounding thrifting has recently changed, but it still resembles some of its roots.

Trope explained that thrift stores became more widespread after World War II and served as a sort of communal hub for youth culture.

But part of the reason these stores gained relevance was because of the post-war economic downturn. A vital part of the narrative surrounding thrift stores is the fact that they also serve as a necessity.

"It was still seen as something that was for a certain socio-economic class," Trope said in regard to post-war thrift culture. "So, if you could afford new clothing, you definitely wouldn't thrift. And that attitude, I feel is still with my parent's generation, and maybe people in my generation."

"For me personally, thrifting has been in my life a lot because my family could never really afford a lot of stuff," Guerrero said. "So [thrifting] has been kind of central to my life. A lot of people who go into thrift stores are not only looking for the cutest piece of clothing, they're just going there because it's a necessity."

But the rise of the trendiness of thrifting has altered the perception of the act as well as the cost.

"I think the idea of vintage and calling something vintage implies something that is of a particular brand or a sense of something nicer or a luxury, even though there is no hard and fast definition that distinguishes thrifting from vintage," Trope said. This can also be exacerbated by different retail institutions and environments.

Guerrero lives in Los Angeles and feels that part of this increase in thrifting pricing is tied to the larger issue of gentrification throughout the city. "I believe LA is becoming more and more gentrified...so that's why it's becoming less and less easy to find affordable options for things like thrifting clothing."

Katsenes attended Thrift Con, a convention for vintage clothing at the Los Angeles Convention Center and felt it was overpriced. "I know I can't pay $80 for a t-shirt," she said when recounting the experience.

Kolb spends a lot of time as a vendor at art shows and will specifically curate products to sell at a particular show. But she also features a bin of $5 products that may not necessarily match with their image at that show or only have small alterations. She tries to charge fair prices and consider the amount of work that goes into her pieces.

"We're not trying to pretend it's not used clothing," Kolb said. "But the reality is it's not really about us, it's about sustainability in the clothing...It's hard to compete with like, half a cent a t-shirt, but then at the same time I really feel it's just down to your moral [and] ethical code."

But sometimes that moral and ethical code does not line up with one's financial situation. Despite the presence of affordable sustainable clothing options, sustainable fashion may not be an option for everyone.

"I'll pay a bit more for fair labor and stuff like that," Yu said. "But I know a lot of students can't." She added later, "I would never hold it against someone if they can't afford to buy sustainable fashion."

Fast fashion provides affordable styles that allows consumers to get a quick fix for new clothing and a feeling of uniqueness.

But this comes at the cost of cheaply made, unsustainable garments meant to be discarded, made by workers with unlivable wages and in unsuitable working conditions. And although there are many influencers that are either sustainable and interested in thrifting, there are also a ton of influencers partnered with fast fashion brands like Fashion Nova, which recently came under fire for how they treat and pay their workers.

"What I've kind of figured out is that the fast fashion stuff falls apart," Kolb said. "And yeah, you could take super good care of it, but the stuff that's going to last anyway is the stuff that was higher quality."

The slowing of fast fashion

With a new market of consumers looking for responsible and higher quality clothing, many sustainable brands have emerged to satiate that desire.

Some sustainable companies have existed for a while. Patagonia has focused on incorporating sustainable practices into their business model since the beginning of their company, creating pieces from recycled garments and reporting on their environmental output. They have pushed their sustainability initiatives further, aiming to be carbon neutral by 2025 and investing in regenerative organic architecture to maintain soil health.

One of Patagonia's features is The Footprint Chronicles, which allows consumers to learn about their suppliers around the world and where the main materials and assembly of a product are made. "Some people would argue that this is proprietary, that they don't want to share their supply chain information," said Todd Copeland, an environmental responsibility manager for Patagonia, said at a panel at USC Annenberg in 2017. "I would argue that this is actually not proprietary at all. We will still be able to innovate our own materials and products...This is sustainability in our supply chain that we want to share."

Long-time companies like Levi's are making sustainability more of a part of their business model and help their customers assess the lifecycle of their jeans. Nike's Move to Zero initiative is resulting in more sustainable materials in their production and incorporating more recycled materials in their designs.

Fast fashion has even begun to admit their corporate responsibility to the environment. H&M started an initiative to be more sustainable and transparent about their production process. From working with factories that agree to their sustainability commitment to making it easier for their customers to recycle their clothing, the company has made many publicly available promises to customers.

"A lot of it we could say is about not necessarily trendiness but it's about corporate social responsibility," Trope said. "I hate to be so cynical and say corporate social responsibility is never about the good of society or the environment. But generally, when we look at corporate social responsibility, it's under the auspices of the corporation, and their first goal is to make money."

But transparency can be a start. According to Fashion Revolution's 2020 Fashion Transparency Index, H&M was the top-scoring company evaluated on their public disclosure of their business methods. The guide describes that, "If done well, transparency should enable accountability."

When asked if sustainability is a trend in the fashion industry, Yu was quick to answer yes. "I know which brands are truly sustainable because they're brands that have advocated for sustainability since the beginning."

Kolb also finds it rather apparent which companies care about sustainability and which are trying to follow a trend based on their branding. "I think it's super interesting how a lot of companies that do those capsule sustainable eco-friendly clothing lines are all in a specific neutral color. And it's almost like that's how you can point out that, 'Oh, they're just doing this for a trend.'"

While there may be changes on small and individual scales, is the sum of these actions enough to make a global impact?

"Some companies are trying to regulate themselves or do the best they can, but there's no regulation in place on a federal level, on a global level" Trope said.

The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) features a comprehensive sustainability guide online in efforts to create a sense of best practices. And organizations like Fashion Revolution campaign for increased transparency from clothing companies about what goes into their product and both the environmental and human costs involved.

What the movement may lack in wide scale reform it may make up for in meaningful individual impact. For some, sustainable fashion has led to increased sustainability and awareness in other aspects of life.

"Being in such a sustainable organization has not only increased the sustainability in my wardrobe but the sustainability of my other products and daily uses as well," Guerrero said. He has switched to many organic skincare products and tries to eat meatless when he can. "I feel like having [sustainability] in one part of your life is good at the beginning and it should kind of grow into other sectors." He also hopes to use his chemistry degree to find ways sustainable alternatives during the clothing production process.

With a move to slow fashion also comes a consolidation and minimalism of wardrobe.

Yu feels her personal clothing consumption habits have changed since working with Bloom Boutique. "It's really opened my eyes to having a few pieces that are high quality, sustainable pieces, but they might cost a little bit more," she said.

But a minimal wardrobe does not always come at the cost of individuality.

"Once you've truly figured out your own sense of style it's really easy to essentially [en]capsulate your wardrobe," Kolb said. "And that doesn't mean get rid of everything you own, it just means like, when your shirt falls apart...replace it. There's something about growing up, figuring it out and sticking to it. That is so refreshing and also so so good for the world."

"Even if you do...shop at fast fashion stores, if you just wear those clothes for longer and resist the urge to get new stuff, then it really does reduce your carbon footprint," Yu said.

"I just hope people are more aware of where everything comes from, what it means to make especially fast fashion...I kind of want to put faces to the clothing. I want people to see that when they're wearing this random shirt from Forever 21, there's a little kid who is sitting in a sweatshop somewhere who sewed that shirt," Kolb said.

Trope is interested in seeing how the COVID-19 outbreak will impact people's perception of the world around them. "It may be a naive hope, but I'm hopeful that this moment will get people to think, 'Do I need all of these things? Why am I looking at these influencers on Instagram that are pushing all these new brands and things onto me and what can I do that's cool or sustainable?'"