With climate crisis activist Greta Thunberg as the face of Gen Z and large-scale protests such as Extinction Rebellion shaking major cities like London, people are finally beginning to really pay attention to our changing planet.
Whether small or large, most decisions we make have a huge impact on our environment. And this extends to our social media usage. The way in which we consume images not only brings these issues to our attention, but it can also fuel our attention with further intention and action.
This is the initiative taken by Instagram account Future Dust. As stated on their bio, Future Dust is “a space for sustainable, recycled & circular fashion”. Rather than merely commodifying our environment as a profitable vintage store, the Instagram account calls out ‘sustainable brands’ in a bid to draw attention to fashion’s key involvement in our climate crisis.
After oil, fashion is the world’s biggest polluter. Corrective gestures have not been marginally enough – designers quipping sustainable sub-lines, PR-friendly click-bait buzzwords and staging useless sustainability conferences. And major material issues have been covered up – organic cotton is grown without pesticides and is biodegradable, but it is even more water-intensive to grow and has the potential to still have been dyed with the same chemicals as non-organic cotton. No fashion brand has spoken up about this, nor have any alternatives been suggested.
Future Dust is not about shaming brands, but about suggesting viable and environmentally-friendly alternatives by proving that there’s more to sustainability in fashion than making hemp tote bags. This mainly involves sharing responsibly made products from brands that are both cool and ethical; to be used as a guide or tool for buyers, designers and editors.
From businesses like Patagonia who have built their whole brands around sustainability to emerging brands such as Ahluwalia Studio who work with unwanted garments rather than virgin materials, at MILLE we believe that it is important to support these brands and reevaluate your shopping experience.
