Earth Mother Stella McCartney Covers Vogue US January 2019 Creative Forces Tribute

Since her 1995 Central Saint Martins graduation show, Stella McCartney’s brand has embodied an urgent desire to end animal cruelty in the fashion industry. Fake furs were mainstream when Stella began her fashion climb, but the only glues available were animal-based. “I imagine Vikings sitting around a pot, boiling down the last bones of the elk that they skinned for the fur,” says McCartney. “And I think, Wow—we’re still there.” Of course, we now also know the toll fake fur takes on the environment.

Her coldly-realistic assessment of fashion’s conscience — or lack of it — inspired Stella McCartney to walk her fashion talk with as few comprises as possible. That decision has positioned her at the pinnacle of intelligent design forces sweeping through the fashion industry, before it is too late to save ourselves, our planet and our children’s futures.

Today McCartney uses renewable energy where it’s available for both her stores and offices. Her commitment to cruelty-free fashion and sustainability is fast becoming the industry norm, influencing product development and sourcing decisions at Armani, Chanel, Gucci, Michael Kors, Prada and more on the topic of fur. “I’m hugely relieved,” says McCartney, “but I’m actually astounded that it’s taken so long.”

Stella sold a non-majority stake in her company to LVMH earlier in 2019, a relationship that puts her in a key advisory role to Chairman Bernard Arnault for the entire LVMH stable of luxury brands.

The designer covers the January 2020 issue of Vogue, lensed by Annie Leibovitz. Stella holds her four children (clockwise in cover from top left), Bailey, Miller, Beckett, and Reileyis. The entire family wears Stella McCartney, styled by Tonne Goodman. Hamish Bowles conducts the interview. Read on at Vogue

Adut Akech Wins 'Model of the Year 2019' at British Fashion Awards in London

Adut Akech winning Model of the Year, getting a big hug from Naomi Campbell at Monday night’s British Fashion Awards 2019. © Darren Gerrish via British Vogue

In the words of British Vogue, “Adut Akech brought down the house”, winning Model Of The Year at Monday night’s British Fashion Awards celebration in London. Adut wore a voluminous Valentino gown that featured a ruffled midriff and a thigh-high split. Of course Adut used her speech to highlight the need for the fashion industry to continue its high-gear march towards far greater diversity.

The South Sudanese model is at the vanguard among the huge wave of creatives of color across the fashion industry, a trend that impacts photographers, stylists and countless other categories of vibrant talent virtually ignored by fashion industry leaders.

Adut Akech also brought her voice and status as a refugee born in then Sudan, now South Sudan, whose family migrated to Adelaide, Australia in an effort to remake their lives.

“It is important for all of us to remember that someone like me winning this award is a rarity,” she pointed out after expressing her gratitude for the statuette. “This is for the young women and men who found representation and validation in my work. I want them to never be afraid of dreaming big like I once did. To them, I say this: Whatever it is you want to do, whether it’s modelling or acting or medicine, you should never doubt yourself. Don’t let the world convince you that it is not possible.”

Akech appeared on the prestigious September 2019 covers of British Vogue, Vogue Germany and Vogue Japan. The British Vogue issue was guest edited by Her Royal Highness Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle and featured women who are ‘Voices of Change’.

At a time when ‘refugee models’ are making their marks across the fashion and luxury market industry, Adut stands high on the list of beautiful young women enjoying their own mercurial success in an industry that has long shunned them.

The Aussie beauty’s activism and seizure of every limelight moment to discuss issues that matter to her is unrelenting, and in her own words: “I Will Always Be a Refugee”. As the model reminded us in her article ‘Refugees Are Just Like Everybody Else’ for British Vogue’s September 2019 issue:

“You don’t wake up thinking, I’m going to be a refugee. The only difference between a refugee and someone who grew up in the Western world is that we were forced out of our own country, out of our homes, because of fear – not out of choice.”

TIME Magazine honored Adut Akech on their 2019 TIME 100 Next list. Follow Adut Akech’s archives @ AOC.

Adut Akech’s September 2019 Vogue Covers

H&M Opens Mitte Garten Neighborhood Store for Local Talents in Berlin

H&M’s first hyper-local flagship Mitte Garten opened its doors on October 25th in Berlins creative Mitte district. With it’s approximately 300 square meters, it’s one of H&M's smallest stores offering curated womenswear, selected external brands, vintage pieces and a showroom for customers.

"It’s a test for us as a global retailer to elaborate around how we can be more personal and locally relevant."

                                                                            Anna Bergare Business Developer at the Laboratory H&M Group 

H&M Mitte Garten will regularly offer events such as lectures, fashion talks and yoga for its customers. In the public showroom upcoming trends and looks are presented. Here consumers can try on and lend pieces to make sure that their future purchases are consciously made.

"This is a unique location and it has served as a meeting place for Berliners for over a hundred years, a tradition we want to honour. We aim to offer a neighbourhood store serving as a platform for local and global talents within retail, culture and art."

                                                                                          Thorsten Mindermann country manager H&M Germany

Art Partner Contest for Young Creatives + Climate Crisis | Submit by Nov. 8, 2019

Photo by Venus Evans on Unsplash

One of the greatest challenge for young creatives is getting their work scene and reviewed. If climate activism is your passion, Art Partner has created a significant opportunity to put a creative project in front of an all-star panel of sustainability-focused professionals.

Think you’re good? Then seek feedback from Eco-Age Founder Livia Firth, fashion designer Gabriela Hearst, photographer Harley Weir, designer and entrepreneur Francisco Costa,, artist and writer Wilson Oryema, agent Giovanni Testino, Vogue Italia Creative Director Ferdinando Verderi.

#CreateCOP25 is a contest for young creatives and climate activists to submit artistic responses to the environment and climate emergency. The six most impactful works will be publicized during the United Nation’s COP25 climate conference this December in Chile. These will serve as messages from the creative community that the time is now for governments to end their contribution to climate change.

One (1) winner will receive $10,000 and five (5) runner-ups will receive $2,000 each to fund future projects that respond to climate change. The winner will also have the opportunity to collaborate on an editorial project with Art Partner. All six (6) finalists will receive ongoing mentorship and exposure from Art Partner.

Submissions can be any medium including, but not limited to, photography projects, docu-style and experimental film, performance art, spoken word, musical compositions, fashion design, new media and social media projects. We encourage entrants to submit existing work.

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

Submission Process

All entrants must be between 14 and 30 years old at the time of submission. The contest is open to participants globally.

Please read the contest rules and procedures before filling in the application form.

#CreateCOP25 application pack

Closing date for applications Friday 8 November 2019, 6pm GMT. 

Questions? Please email earthpartner@artpartner.com

Stella McCartney Partners with DuPont + Ecopel on KOBA® Bio-Based Faux Fur

Natalia Vodianova wearing Koba faux fur by Stella McCartney.

Planet Green team leader Stella McCartney is launching KOBA® faux fur, a joint project with the designer, DuPont Biomaterials and global faux fur textile manufacturer Ecopel. The exciting new material, made from Sorona® bio-based fibers “claims both a lower carbon footprint and more luxurious feel than existing faux fur alternatives”, writes Vogue Business.

McCartney unveiled the exciting new faux fur at her spring 2020 ready-to-wear show.

“Polyester isn’t the same quality that we want, and the modacrylic doesn’t give us the sustainability that we want,” says Claire Bergkamp, Stella McCartney’s worldwide director of sustainability and innovation. “This is kind of bridging that gap,” Bergkamp explains in listing the merits of the new faux fur, compared to other market options.

Reflecting a new mood of shared innovation among leading fashion industry brands and manufacturers, Bergkamp hopes that Koba becomes an industry standard adopted by other fashion players. Saying she is keep to advise other labels about the latest developments around Koba, Bergkamp stresses reality. “This has to be a collaborative effort. It is a moment of climate crisis — and it is a genuine crisis. We want to show what’s possible, and show that these sustainable improvements can be beautiful [and] luxurious.”

SustainableBrands.com writes: “The new Koba® Fur-Free Fur by Ecopel is made with recycled polyester and up to 100 percent DuPont™ Sorona® plant-based fibers, creating the first commercially available faux furs using bio-based ingredients Koba — the collection of which ranges from classic mink styles to plush, teddy-style fur — can be recycled at the end of its long life, helping to keep ensure it never ends up as waste and closes the fashion loop; something that McCartney is passionate about, as she pushes toward circularity. It’s 37 percent plant-based Sorona material means that it consumes up to 30 percent less energy and produces up to 63 percent less greenhouse gas than conventional synthetics.

“We’ve been working with Stella McCartney for several years and we have clearly been positively influenced by her values,” Ecopel CEO Christopher Sarfati said in a statement. “Not only are we proud to offer animal-friendly alternatives to fur, but are even more proud to take the road less traveled in designing new ways to create faux fur. From recycled to bio-based, we are supporting a transition toward more sustainable materials.”

Kardashian-Jenner Women Launch Kardashian Kloset Resale on Friday, October 4

Kardashian-Jenners launch Kardashian Kloset resale platform.

Friday morning, 9am PST, doors will open to Kardashian Kloset, a new luxury resale venture initially populated with items belonging to Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian West and Kylie Jenner, writes Vogue Business. Handbags, shoes, sunglasses, costume jewelery and pre-loved clothing from Khloe Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian and Kendall Jenner will follow in weekly drops.

In the US, resale is booming. The country’s total secondhand market, which includes resale, thrift and donations, is forecast to increase from $24 billion in 2018 to $51 billion in 2023. According to the 2019 Fashion Resale Report by Thredup, the US resale market has grown 21 times faster than traditional retail apparel in the last three years.

Vogue Business writes that while resale is a growing segment of sustainable consumption, in America it more often allows access to luxury items unaffordable at the original price. This dynamic is poised to change, however, as more women embrace resale as a core option of responsible consumption.

According to Marc Beckman, founding partner and CEO of advertising and representation agency DMA United, the resale market will also benefit from celebrity endorsements. “Influential celebrities can instantly eliminate the stigma attached to the secondary market,” he writes via email. “The Kardashian’s participation, if executed properly, will certainly accelerate acceptance and sales of previously owned and used merchandise.”

Ghana’s Copyright Law for Folklore Hampers Cultural Growth

Ghana’s Copyright Law for Folklore Hampers Cultural Growth

Ghana has a rich folkloric tradition that includes Adinkra symbols, Kente cloth, traditional festivals, music and storytelling. Perhaps one of Ghana’s best known folk characters is Ananse, the spider god and trickster, after whom the Ghanaian storytelling tradition Anansesem is named.

Ghana also has some of the world’s most restrictive laws on the use of its folklore. The country’s 2005 Copyright Act defines folklore as “the literary, artistic and scientific expressions belonging to the cultural heritage of Ghana which are created, preserved and developed by ethnic communities of Ghana or by an unidentified Ghanaian author”.

This suggests that the legislation, which is an update of a 1985 law, applies equally to traditional works where the author is unknown and new works derived from folklore where the author is known.

The rights in these works are “vested in the President on behalf of and in trust for the people of the republic”. These rights are also deemed to exist in perpetuity. This means that works which qualify as folkloric will never fall into the public domain – and will never be free to use.

The 1985 Act only restricted use of Ghana’s folklore by foreigners. The 2005 Act extended this to Ghanaian nationals. In principle, this means that a Ghanaian artist wishing to use Ananse stories, or a musician who wants to rework old folk songs or musical rhythms must first seek approval from the National Folklore Board and pay an undisclosed fee.

This is deeply problematic.

Over 100 Top Models + Time's Up Join Model Alliance In Open Letter to Victoria's Secret

On Tuesday morning, over 100 models, including Christy Turlington Burns, Edie Campbell, Karen Elson, Milla Jovovich, Doutzen Kroes, and Gemma Ward, signed an open letter addressed directly to Victoria’s Secret. The letter petitioned the lingerie brand to take concrete actions in protecting models against sexual misconduct.

The letter was properly addressed to Victoria’s Secret’s CEO John Mehas and it pulled no punches:

We are writing today to express our concern for the safety and wellbeing of the models and young women who aspire to model for Victoria’s Secret. In the past few weeks, we have heard numerous allegations of sexual assault, alleged rape, and sex trafficking of models and aspiring models. While these allegations may not have been aimed at Victoria's Secret directly, it is clear that your company has a crucial role to play in remedying the situation. From the headlines about L Brands CEO Leslie Wexner’s close friend and associate, Jeffrey Epstein, to the allegations of sexual misconduct by photographers Timur Emek, David Bellemere, and Greg Kadel, it is deeply disturbing that these men appear to have leveraged their working relationships with Victoria’s Secret to lure and abuse vulnerable girls.

L Brands CEO Les Wexner (l) and former CMO Ed Razek (r) in happier times.

The letter then proceeds to invite Victoria’s Secret to join the RESPECT Program —a program of the Model Alliance—is the only existing anti-sexual harassment program designed by and for models.

Signatory companies make a binding commitment to require their employees, agents, vendors, photographers and other contractors to follow a code of conduct that protects everyone’s safety on the job, and reduces models’ vulnerability to mistreatment. Models have access to an independent, confidential complaint mechanism, with swift and fair resolution of complaints and appropriate consequences for abusers. Further, RESPECT includes a robust training program aimed toward prevention, to ensure that everyone understands their rights and responsibilities.

“Corporations tend to treat the discovery of abuses as public-relations crises to be managed rather than human-rights violations to be remedied,” says Sara Ziff, the founder and executive director of the Model Alliance. “The RESPECT Program provides Victoria’s Secret an opportunity not only to right the wrongs of the past but also to work towards prevention.”

Ziff recently penned an essay for the Cut detailing her own encounter with Epstein as a young model. She highlighted just how long an imbalance of power and lack of protections have “plagued” the industry. She wrote: “Now, we need the support of agencies, publishing companies, and fashion brands who want to do better by the talent who they purport to protect.”

In November, the Model Alliance issued a statement following disgraced L Brands Chief Marketing Officer Ed Razek’s infamous Vogue interview in advance of Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Razek retired from Victoria’s Secret on Monday.

Diet Prada Takes Victoria's Secret To Task For Ripping Off Fleur du Mal Lingerie

In May 2019, Fast Company profiled the highly-influential Diet Prada’s work calling out copycat fashion designers and championing new ones. Diet Prada cofounders Tony Liu and Lindsey Schuyler are among Fast Company’s Most Creative People of 2019.

Victoria’s Secret can’t seem to stay out of the news. Not only has VS landed on Diet Prada’s front page Instagram for knocking off their former design director, but the post gave Diet Prada the opportunity to slice a bit of VS flesh over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

First, the VS knockoff of Fleur du Mal’s “appliquéd Lily bras and panties, dupes of which unsurprisingly showed up for sale on VS’ website and Instagram two days ago (at half the price),” writes Diet Prada. The Columbus, Ohio-based lingerie company placed a $12,656 web order from Fleur du Mal online. As a former design and fashion director head at VS,

I agree that brand knocked off Fleur du Mal. In fact, with a knock off that literal, who needs a design staff?

I agree that brand knocked off Fleur du Mal. In fact, with a knock off that literal, who needs a design staff?

Having been the VS Design Director from 2008-2011. Jennifer Zuccarini, Fleur du Mal’s founder, who previously co-founded the lingerie brand Kiki de Montparnasse in 2005, perhaps wondered what was happening with an order that size. I’m assuming that multiples were ordered — perhaps even enough for a test in a store or two.

Not only does Victoria’s Secret not need more bad publicity of any kind right now, but Diet Prada took the opportunity to discuss the Victoria’s Secret - Jeffrey Epstein connection.

But their troubles don’t stop there (The Fleur du Mal accusation). The recently exposed ties between L Brands’ CEO Les Wexner and Jeffrey Epstein Epstein, sent stock shares of VS’ parent company tumbling to the lowest they’ve been in nearly a decade. Epstein, a close friend and former financial advisor to Wexner, has of course been making headlines after being indicted on child sex trafficking charges. The day of his arrest last weekend, a trove of naked photos of underage girls was uncovered in his Upper East Side mansion, a home that was formerly owned by Wexner and reportedly transferred over to Epstein for $1. Hella shady and creepy, if we’ve ever seen it. Supermodels, it might be time to really rethink your contracts with Victoria’s Secret. Here’s to L Brands’ shares and VS’ profits tumbling even deeper lol.

I covered the latest Victoria’s Secret Epstein problems on July 12 as well. It’s difficult to process all the negative publicity VS has gotten in the last year. My in-depth comments were attached to the newest VS ad campaign. I just checked one VS Angel’s Instagram and she still hasn’t posted her campaign shots. She’s been out of the country but I say it’s no accident. On the 12th, two of the five models didn’t post the new campaign.

LVMH Takes Minority Position In Stella McCartney | Makes Stella Sustainability Adviser To Arnault

Stella McCartney is making front page news with the announcement that the designer, who abandoned her relationship with Kerring in 2018, has now joined forces with LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s largest luxury group.

McCartney will remain in her role as her brand’s creative director and also as majority stockholder in the Stella McCartney business. Her additional responsibilities include becoming a special adviser to Bernard Arnault, LVMH’s chairman, and also to the LVMH board, on the topic of sustainability.

The fashion industry has an enormously negative and earth-harming footprint on the environment, and no one in fashion world is better prepared to fill this role of LVMH adviser on sustainability than Stella McCartney.

The addition of Stella McCartney’s voice and brand to the LVMH creative and leadership stable underscores the company’s commitment to gender equity. Since 2017, LVMH has named Maria Grazia Chiuri to head Dior and Claire Waight Keller to lead Givenchy. Arnaut has taken a minority position in the also sustainability-focused Gabriela Hearst, while creating a blockbuster disruption of the entire luxury industry with the creation of a new fashion house Fenty, created with Rihanna.

In talking about her new partnership, Stella McCartney said that since ending her partnership with LVMH rival Kerring, she had been pursued by many potential partners and investors wanting to help expand her business.

In the end, McCartney made a seemingly wise decision, one that gives her an opportunity to have heavy influence on issues that matter to her a great deal, while tapping into funding and a professional contacts base that will give her enormous flexibility. The importance of Stella’s access to Arnault and the LVMH board of directors can’t be understated.

“The chance to realize and accelerate the full potential of the brand alongside Mr. Arnault and as part of the LVMH family, while still holding the majority ownership in the business, was an opportunity that hugely excited me,” she said.

Elsa Hosk Unveils New J Brand Collab Promoting Latest Denim Innovations In Sustainability Drive

Elsa Hosk Unveils New J Brand Collab Promoting Latest Denim Innovations In Sustainability Drive

Victoria’s Secret Angel Elsa Hosk shares a new Fall 2019 denim collaboration with J Brand. Photographer Zoey Grossman flashes Elsa in key pieces that are original designs and revived classics from the Swedish beauty’s closet. /Makeup by Stacey Tan; hair by Kali Kennedy

J Brands is part of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd, a Japanese company that also owns UNIQLO and is the world’s third-largest casual clothing retailer with annual sales of $19bn. Other brands include Comptoir des Cotonniers, GU, Helmut Lang, Princesse tam.tam, and Theory.

In 2016 Fast Retailing Co. unveiled plans for its Fast Retailing Jeans Innovation Center in Gardena, Calif. next door to the Japanese-owned Caitac Garment Processing location. Caitac has been washing jeans for local denim makers for years — and most of us know that iconic denim is one of the most unfriendly to the environment products in the fashion industry.

Wrangler Launches Indigood™ Denim Revolution In Denim Dyeing, Production Process

Wrangler Launches Indigood™ Denim Revolution In Denim Dyeing, Production Process

Denim manufacturing is known for producing iconic, must-have products grounded in an ‘everyman’ , unpretentious sensibility. In reality, denim manufacturing has a deadly reputation when the focus is sustainability and being good stewards of the environment.

US jeans brand Wrangler is determined to change the anti-environmental reality of denim manufacturing and especially creating excessive levels of water waste.

Wrangler’s corporate parents Kontoor Brands have partnered with Texas Tech University (TTU) and the Valencia-based fabric mill Tejidos Royo to create a foam-dyed, water-free process, eliminating the waste generated from the traditional dyeing processes.

Rihanna Talks Being First Black Woman In Charge Of Major Luxury Fashion House For T Magazine June 2019

Rihanna Talks Being First Black Woman In Charge Of Major Luxury Fashion House For T Magazine June 2019

The New York Times T Magazine June 2019 previewed Rihanna’s now open FENTY Collection, produced with her business partner LVMH. Key FENTY looks are styled here by Suzanne Koller for images by Kristin-Lee Moolman. / Hair by Yusef Williams; makeup by Lauren Parsons

In this next act of Rihanna’s journey, the pop star becomes the first black woman in charge of a major luxury fashion house in Paris.

Rihanna is interviewed by Jeremy O. Harris, an American actor and playwright, known for his plays ‘Daddy’ and ‘Slave Play’. This is no ordinary, glossy interview. Harris writes:

“For three years, I have been a diligent student of Rihanna’s 2016 song “Work.” The first lesson it taught me was in the fine art of ubiquity: The omnipresent earworm hovered over casual intimacies, significant encounters, mundane journeys and made sense of itself wherever, in whatever crevices it chose. Then “Work” found its way into my own work. In my script for “Slave Play,” which debuted at New York Theater Workshop in 2018, the protagonist Kaneisha suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder and Rihanna’s “Work” plays in her head on repeat, taking on a frighteningly oppressive quality and revealing the historic bedrock I was attempting to excavate: namely, that black people, specifically women, must live with the knowledge that their emotional and physical labor is the backbone of every relationship that they endeavor to have with their partners, with America. The song, which weaves through the dialogue, brought more attention to the play than any other device could have. “

Palesa Mokubung's Mantsho Label Honored In H&M's First African Designer Collab

Palesa Mokubung's Mantsho Label Honored In H&M's First African Designer Collab

Palesa Mokubung launched her South African Mantsho brand in 2004, with a focus of turning African-inspired prints and cultures into modern, edgy designs. Oscar-winner ‘Black Panther’ costume designer Ruth E. Carter gave Mantsho a global nod last year, and today Palesa Mokubung is making big news with her upcoming August 2019 H&M collab.

adidas Launches What Could Be Most Disruptive Product In The World: Futurecraft Loop Trainer

adidas Launches What Could Be Most Disruptive Product In The World: Futurecraft Loop Trainer

adidas shares the good news that Spring 2021 will be the launch date of its first fully recyclable trainer that comes with a never-ending lifespan. Let’s hope that America has a new president then, who has already announced that the US is rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement.

The adidas Futurecraft Loop trainer is a collab with Parley for the Oceans — an organisation working to raise awareness of the threat to the world’s oceans – to create the shoe, which will be made from reclaimed marine plastic waste.

“Taking plastic waste out of the system is the first step, but we can’t stop there,” said a statement from Eric Liedtke, executive board member at Adidas. “What happens to your shoes after you’ve worn them out? You throw them away – except there is no away. There are only landfills and incinerators and ultimately an atmosphere choked with excess carbon, or oceans filled with plastic waste. The next step is to end the concept of ‘waste’ entirely. Our dream is that you can keep wearing the same shoes over and over again.”

Models Of Color Are Thriving In Today's Fashion Industry. Do Hair Stylists Need To Go Back To School

Models Anabel Krasnotsvetova + Olivia Anakwe by Nicolas Kantor for Bobbie Brown Extra Lip Campaign

Models Of Color Are Thriving In Today's Fashion Industry. Do Hair Stylists Need To Go Back To School

Olivia Anakwe: “Fashion brands are getting praise for being inclusive and casting black models, but they are still not hiring creatives who are skilled enough to style textured hair. "No matter how small your team is, make sure you have one person that is competent at doing afro texture hair care OR just hire a black hairstylist," Anakwe wrote.

Jessica Andrews: For Bustle's "Good Hair" series, writer Faith Cummings reached out to hairstylists to address the disparity in cosmetology schools. She spoke with Topher Gross, a stylist at New York City’s Seagull Salon, who said "it's likely a result of many beauty schools centering their training on fine, straight hair, inherently excluding natural hair and kinkier textures.” He told her, “You [have to] go back to school or [pay to] get extra training for textured, natural, and ethnic hair. That’s a huge problem. Every stylist should know and be trained to cut, style, and/or color all textures [from the start]."

The Dark Side of Our Fashion Industry: Drug Abuse

The Dark Side of Our Fashion Industry: Drug Abuse

By Thanush Poulsen

The fashion industry is notorious for the atmosphere of glamour, rush, and partying that surrounds it. Designers, models, and stylists appear to have the lives that a lot of people dream about: fulfilling, vibrant, and gleaming. All the shine, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. Beneath it are thousands of work hours, overwhelming stress, and pressure that only increase as we go deeper into the field.

It’s not surprising that many people try coping with such enormous load through means that are no less extreme. Drug abuse, in particular, is incredibly common in the fashion industry. The use of illicit drugs and the misuse of prescription medicines are often regarded with no judgment whatsoever. At the same time, it’s easy to get blinded by the sparkling facade and miss the massive normalization of drug abuse in the industry. Many people prefer focusing on the sterile beauty that fashion represents, rather than on the ugly truth. Such lack of concern promotes denial of the condition and makes a person less likely to seek treatment.

Those who do realize they have a problem and want to get help don’t have it easy either. Living in the spotlight, constantly followed by fans and cameras that record your every move, is stressing, even for those who don’t abuse drugs. The news about addiction goes viral extremely quickly and can inflict an avalanche of public humiliation on a celebrity. It makes finding the right facility to get treatment twice as hard due to concerns for confidentiality. For this reason, it’s hard to overestimate the impact a single private rehab center (navigate here) can have on a person’s life.

'Paris Good Fashion' Launches 5-Year Plan Making Paris Center Of Sustainable Fashion Industry

MERCI STORE PARIS. PHOTO BY ROBIN BENZRIHEM ON UNSPLASH

'Paris Good Fashion' Launches 5-Year Plan Making Paris Center Of Sustainable Fashion Industry

The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of the world’s carbon footprint and is considered to be the second biggest polluter of fresh water globally, producting 20% of the world’s industrial wastewater. Forbes adds that the global fashion industry uses 24% of insecticides and 11% of pesticides required to produce crops used in garments.

Until now, London has led the international pace in the fashion sustainability movement. This week, Paris weighed in with a new five-year plan designed to establish French credentials in this critical arena of public policy and environmental action.

Called ‘Paris Good Fashion,’ the project outlines a five-year plan to build an open, collaborative community of fashion professionals, entrepreneurs, designers and experts working together to make Paris a sustainable fashion capital.

Frédéric Hocquard, deputy to Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, and Antoinette Guhl, deputy in charge of social economy and solidarity, as well as former fashion journalist Isabelle Lefort, promised a more comprehensive project outline at a June 2019 event that will also feature campaigns promoting fashion recycling and conferences surrounding sustainable discussions