Eco-Friendly Fashion is Closer Than You Think: Denver Fashion Week Is Already On Its Way
Twice a year, people all around the world hold their breath to see what new creations will be unveiled at Fashion Week. The ‘Big Four’- London, Paris, Milan, and New York City- prepare each Spring and Fall to host the fashion community and hope to change the world. Our phones are flooded with a view of runways from the front row, and each year we see different fashion houses meeting the rising demand to move to a more sustainable model of fashion. During Paris Fashion Week Spring of 2023, Stella McCartney opened their show with seven white horses - making a statement against leather in apparel and pushing for more eco-friendly textiles to be used in the industry. Late designer Vivienne Westwood also strove to lead with recycled and eco-friendly fabrics in her designs. We can be assured that the brand will continue on in Westwood’s vision to make fashion an eco-conscious arena.
Even with designers like Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood pushing for change, it may be that Luxury Fashion Houses have gotten too comfortable on their thrones. High luxury brands like Alexander McQueen, Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Chanel, Burberry and Prada, rely on a cushion of forgiveness and the power that their name holds within the industry. Brand trust certainly holds its sway - the public’s obsession with exclusivity can forgive most sins. But such exclusivity has lead to brands slashing or burning unsold inventory to keep their brand name and prices high and climbing (Mac Donnell, 2023). While a large proportion of negative impact on the environment comes from mass producing, low-life-span clothing companies like Shein, the majority of luxury brands have not made practical advances to lower their global impact. Sensible and notable changes, something as simple as refillable perfume, has only been taken on by very few (Escentual Beauty Team, 2022).
While luxury fashion may not willingly embrace it - the tides are changing. With the looming threat of irreversible climate change, there has been a demand for brands that are contributing to the earth, not sacrificing it. With about 15% of global consumers highly concerned about sustainability within textiles, the number of shoppers seeking purchases that lower their impact will only grow (D'Arpizio et al., 2022).
The eco-friendly, handmade, thrifted fashion movement, comes alongside several cities across the globe hosting their own fashion shows and pushing sustainability- such as Seattle, Copenhagen, Denver, Berlin, and Mexico City. Copenhagen’s Fashion Show has even set standards that each designer must meet to even be considered to show their designs (Penny, 2023). Creating, compiling, and showcasing local designer in their own areas, Denver’s events are still making a name in fashion, but on a local level - exactly as the truly sustainable fashion movement requires. Since their beginning, Denver Fashion Week has been a leader in Fashion in the Western US.
Denver Fashion Week had it’s first weekend show in 2008 (Wolf, 2018). Ten years later, DFW waved goodbye to a weekend of fashion and hosted it’s first weeklong event. Since their first show they have collaborated with a number of big names across the city - include Dirk Bentley’s Whiskey Row, Meow Wolf, local rappers, and even professional football players like Bradley Chubb. Most recently, Denver Fashion Week’s Fall 2022 Sustainable Fashion night featured seven unique designers and local vintage stores styling their clothing on models of all body types, ethnicities, ages, and genders. The inclusivity of sustainable fashion has always been a huge draw for the Denver crowd - and seeing Scarlett Begonias and The Pants Company styled all models with vintage and thrifted items left viewers with a plethora of inspiration.
Scarlett Begonias Vintage & Thrift’s first model to walk down the runway held a sign that said “I will not go back to 1970”. The entire show played with a 70’s styling theme, while referencing signs surrounding the overturning of Roe v Wade - slamming the point home with each styled look that the only thing they would pay hommage to from decades before was fashion inspiration. Other signs included “Love Over Hate”, “Bans off Our Bodies”, and “Mind Your Own Uterus”. With big hair, colorful tights, hair threads, and all women walking the runway - the point message was well received- Scarlett Begonias will not go back into the ‘70s.
The Pants Company displayed just what their name suggests. What the audience was not expecting was for pants to be the ONLY clothing item models to wear. Models with breasts walked down the runway with hands cupping their bare chests. Various styled creations included clear pants with green underwear, bright blue latex trousers, and pink fuzzy chaps coupled with a slow, confident, and purposeful walk gave a great show. Upbeat and fun music added to the overall playfullness of the entire presentation. What was the Pants Company’s greatest asset to their show was their dedication to cheekiness. Secondhand pearls, sunglasses, fringe, body sparkles, and butterfly hair accessories added to the main takeaway from the Pants Company - look away from our genitals. The show ended with the only top of the show - sheer and fringe stripes and paired with cowprint pants.
Other Denver brands represented were Killionaire, Rags, The Lost Room, Imaginary Friends, and UniqUJean. Killionaire, Rags, The Lost Room are recurring guests at Denver Fashion Weeks, and most often showcased at the night of Sustainable Fashion. Rags consistently works to highlight models of all ages and work to incorporate makeup, music, and personality into the show to truly make it an unforgettable experience. The Lost Room had hijab representation on the runway, and created a collage of bright eye makeup, patterns, sunglasses, low slung belts, and bright colors to curate a truely unforgettable runway presentation.
For those that always dreamed of sitting on the runway at one of the Big Four’s fashion weeks, who crave inspiration with every breath - smaller shows give just as much, if not more inspiration. For the longest time it was thought that fashion had to be found in one of four large cities. Denver Fashion Week, and other small shows have opened eyes to an entire new realm of possibility. Who knew there could be such great inspiration in the very city that people live and breathe in - and one who has sustainable fashion at the forefront of the show. The topic of sustainable fashion will be everchanging landscape over the course of the coming decades, as we as a society develop and work to integrate our priorities to the textiles we wear on our backs. We can hope to see other brands like Stella McCarthy, Vivienne Westwood, Eileen Fisher, and Dai lead the way in eco-friendly values and composition techniques.
The big four will always have their place leading global fashion. But if we look closely, we’ll find our own innovative, local leaders leading the way in our own cities too - and creating wildly inclusive, creative, and sustainable models in the industry.
Mac Donnell, C. (2023). A sustainable fashion week. Too good to be true? The Guardian. https://doi.org/2023
https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2023/feb/11/a-sustainable-fashion-week-too-good-to-be-true
Escentual Beauty Team, H. (2022, December 16). 6 MUST-HAVE PERFUMES THAT ARE REFILLABLE. Escentual. https://www.escentual.com/blog/2022/12/16/6-best-refillable-perfumes/
D'Arpizio, C., Levato, F., Capellini, M., Flammini, B., Luthra, P., & Improta, G. (2022, October 21). How Brands Can Embrace the Sustainable Fashion Opportunity. Bain and Company. https://www.bain.com/insights/how-brands-can-embrace-the-sustainable-fashion-opportunity/#:~:text=About%2015%25%20of%20global%20fashion,shoppers%20gravitate%20toward%20sustainable%20practices.
Penny, D. (2023, January 31). Can Fashion Week’s Trash Problem Be Solved? New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/31/style/copenhagen-fashion-week-sustainabilty.html
Wolf, S. (2018, March 20). Yes, There’s A Denver Fashion Scene. Fashion Week Is Here To Flaunt It On The Runway. Cpr.org. https://www.cpr.org/2018/03/20/yes-theres-a-denver-fashion-scene-fashion-week-is-here-to-flaunt-it-on-the-runway/#:~:text=Denver%20Fashion%20Weekend%20started%2010,Mile%20High%20City%27s%20old%20reputation
