Exploring the world of sustainable fashion

When it comes to the environment, sustainability plays a major part. Over the next month, we will be dissecting what it means to be sustainable with the help of SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. To kick off this series, we’re taking a look at sustainable fashion.

“Sustainability is really, in the simplest term, being able to meet the needs of the present without impacting the future generations,” said Kathryn Walker, executive director for The Center for Sustainable Materials Management at SUNY ESF.

Walker says sustainable fashion is creating materials that will not have a harmful impact on the future.

“Sustainable fashion is about designing an item that you can wear that isn’t going to harm the planet, harm you, and is affordable,” Walker said.

Walker says shopping at thrift stores is a great way to be sustainable because they provide reuse of an item.

“It’s part of a circular system and that is being reused instead of going to landfill or incineration. That item being reused is the best thing that we can do for it is to keep that in wearable condition and continue to use it,” she said.

“You have polyester, which is an interesting conversation too because I say wear it until it falls a part because, of course, it doesn’t necessarily break down,” Cjala Surratt, owner and curator of Black Citizens Brigade.

The Black Citizens Brigade focuses on fashion from the 1950’s to the 1980’s.

“My grandmother and my great grandmother were seamstresses and also milliners. So I have a deep appreciation for the cut of things, for textile,” Surratt said.

Surratt says sustainability has been sewn into African American Culture.

“For a lot of Black and brown communities that have lived with a history of divestment, that upcycling and reusing and things like that have always been part of our community. I know that when I was growing up that my mother would often say, you know, when I got home from school, take off those clothes or the good clothes, you’re going to pass them on to your cousin,” Surratt said.

Being that her space is curated for a specific era, Surratt says she is very intentional about the items she chooses for her store.

“Which is what I think sustainability is about as well, right? What do we intentionally bring into our homes, right? That we don’t go into our big block retailers and just call and pull and not think about what is the ultimate impact,” Surratt explained.

Surratt says every item tells a story.

“We have like these razzle dazzle kind of pieces as well and it also makes me think that we went out more,” Surratt said.

So the next time you’re looking for an outfit, put a thrift shop on your list. You may just end up with a sustainable find.