Vestiaire Collective is calling for a more sustainable fashion future

The fashion industry overproduces. Every second, over 4,700 tons of clothing are made, while a truckful is burned or sent to landfill. Now, Vestiaire Collective, the platform for desirable pre-loved fashion, is calling time on fashion waste. By joining forces with a new generation of fashion activists, the platform’s aptly titled Collective for Change initiative is redrawing the fashion landscape, reducing waste, opening the sustainability conversation with expert insight and prioritising second-hand luxury.

Heading up the conversation is model and presenter Georgia Moot who was rifling through vintage rails long before sustainability was a headline issue. Taking cues from her childhood, her style splices Y2K classics like diamanté logo tees, low-rise cargo pants, and cut-out corsets with pre-loved pieces from brands that pull heavily from the same era: Ottolinger, Nensi Dojaka, and Charlotte Knowles. Throw in some archive Gaultier and Galliano and Moot’s wardrobe is wrapped up; promoting an approach to style that meshes fashion history, emerging talent, and circularity.

Pulling the industry into the future is Cattytay, co-founder of the Institute of Digital Fashion and founder of DIGI-GXL, a community of womxn, trans, intersex and non-binary digital designers. A self-taught designer inspired by PS2 games and bored by the physicality of fabrics, she was at the forefront of fashion’s embrace of the digital aesthetic in 2017. Not only has her work transformed the broader fashion aesthetic but it’s cutting out the need for wasteful sampling. Digitally focused yet inspired by the physical, Catty is looking to the emotional signature of pre-loved clothing to inform digital vintage, pieces that collect memories and characteristics of wear.

At the other end of the same spectrum, designer and choreographer Saul Nash is motivated by the physical – his clothes are cut to understand how the body moves. In a sector dominated by performance synthetics, Nash is investigating and changing the fabrics from which his lightweight, functional pieces are made. He’s introducing recycled fabrics and deadstock, communicating both his successes and his areas for improvement to open up an honest approach towards environmentally-focused production.

We asked each fashion activist to select their go-to Vestiare Collective item. From Marc Jacobs to Jordans, check out their selects and fascinating histories, below.

“I have a real love of finding pieces that have a historic meaning or an aesthetic that I was really drawn to in my childhood. I just think Marc Jacobs in general has produced a lot of amazing, iconic pieces. And especially now with Heaven, it’s coming back in a very cultural way. There’s an attitude now, after the year we’ve had, which is really fun and not so serious. Where am I going? I don’t know. But I can wear these shoes and they’re just an iconic moment. They’re everything.”

– Georgia on Marc Jacobs’ iconic shoes

“I’m very much inspired by the club and going out and wearing outrageous things. My identity is very masc, I can do trainers and a binder, and I feel comfortable. But if I’m going to do femme then I really do it, and this bag is just cute, what can I say? I wear all black everything but if I’m ever going to wear colour, it’s going to be a little accent like this.”

– Catty on a pop of colour in the shape of a Balenciaga bag

“The late ​’90s, early 2000s was my reference point for menswear. I lean in on references I grew up around and I think it’s the emotional connection and my memories that drew me towards Nike. I’ve seen them go in and out and now they’re making a comeback. There are a lot of clues in the past which can help you create the future.”

– Saul Nash on his love for Nike