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The fashion industry doesn’t always go hand in hand with eco-consciousness.
As one of the largest polluting industries in the world, increasing numbers of fashion consumers are now swearing off buying new clothes in a bid to save the planet.
Yet Mother of Pearl is one of a handful of fashion brands that’s expertly combining sustainability and trend-led clothing, producing collections that are not only environmentally but also ethically sourced.
Now, its founder and Creative Director Amy Powney is turning her attention to a new platform to go above and beyond her existing fashion line. Fashion Our Future is a social media pledge-driven campaign, designed to cause a chain reaction amongst celebrities, influencers and fashion industry professionals. ‘You’ve got sustainable platforms and you’ve got your fashion platforms. I feel that brands such as Mother of Pearl are bringing the two together, and making it normal rather than abstract.’ Powney said of her new platform. ‘I’m not telling people never to shop again or shaming people. I just think we needed to have this conversation to know that fashion is one of the biggest contributors to climate change.’
The campaign is already seeing results. Celebrities such as Amber Valletta (one of Vogue’s new sustainability contributing editors), Mary McCartney and Jameela Jamil have made promises to change the way they shop, each selecting one of the nine pledges from the platform (find all nine pledges here).
‘I actually do all of them already,’ Powney said when asked which pledge she has signed up to. ‘I’ve spent my life working in this sector. Those pledges are really what Mother of Pearl does anyway, and I am Mother of Pearl.’
Instead, Powney has chosen to pledge for someone else – her 1-month-old daughter. ‘All the baby stuff that you need is so wasteful. I decided that I was going to do everything for her in the way that the pledges run. You can rent baby clothes, you can rent toys, and there’s a lot of vintage or second hand shopping to be done… now my next mission is to find the best reusable nappy.’
One of the most striking things about the pledges is how achievable most of them seem to be – and the Mother of Pearl director is keen to agree. ‘Sustainable fashion isn’t always about buying something with a green tag on, it’s just considering what you’re doing’ Powney says. ‘There are so many things that everybody can do that would make things a lot better. The number one thing is just consuming less and looking after what you buy.’
As for the future of the rest of the fashion industry, Powney recognises the challenge ahead. ‘Sometimes I wake up and think this is just an impossible area and no one is going to bother doing anything about it. Other days I wake up and think this can be done. It’s that positive attitude that encourages you to keep going.’
‘I wouldn’t want to wake up and spend my days doing anything else other than trying to save the world for the future.’
Follow Fashion Our Future here, and sign up to a pledge here.
