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5 Ways to Inject a Sense of Hope Into Your Wardrobe

Kenneth Ize, Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2020/2021, Vogue Hope

Models walk the runway at Kenneth Ize’s Fall/Winter 2020/2021 show during Paris Fashion Week. Photo: Getty Images

Eager to refresh your wardrobe with labels that share your moral outlook? Us too. From the next-generation female designers taking center stage to joining resale’s sustainable revolution, there are now more reasons than ever to feel hopeful about what we wear. Here are five ways to inject hope into your wardrobe this summer.

Set a style intention

If there’s one lesson to take from the past few months in fashion, it’s that the choices we make about the labels we wear really do count. When it comes to exercising our purchasing power, asking the right questions matters, as does putting in a little extra time for research. Is your favorite brand championing true diversity both in front of and behind the lens? If it’s a large fashion business, what are the ethics of its big financial backers? Where are the clothes produced, and what are the working conditions at the point of manufacture? As we enter a new era where the transparency of indie labels like Dôen and Story mfg. are set to become the norm, and the global economy takes a tough hit, where we put our money and moral allegiances now will define the fashion system of the future. Start small: setting just one fashion goal a month can drive collective change.

Story mfg.

Photo courtesy of Story mfg.

Embrace the independence of resale

When it comes to the ways Gen Z shop (and nurture sideline incomes), the past few months have proved transformative. The current resale boom — which has seen a dramatic rise in both pre-loved luxury items and label-free thrift re-entering the marketplace — is offering the shopper/seller a revolutionary level of autonomy, demonstrating how new-era entrepreneurship can drive a homegrown sustainable fashion movement. Is this the tipping point for fast fashion’s foothold on youth fashion culture? We hope so.

Also Read: These Millennial Arab Designers are at the Forefront of Sustainability

Share in the design journey

Whether it’s LVMH prize winner Peter Do sewing the final stitches into the label’s spring/summer 2021 collection, Kenneth Ize documenting the power of Nigerian craft up close or Maryam Nassir Zadeh’s experimentations with plaster and clay — 2020 has granted us all the opportunity to share in fashion’s once-elusive creative practices. If you ever wondered where and how your clothes are made, the brightest minds in fashion are currently inviting you into their studios, fittings and craft workshops, and sparking joy in the process.

Peter Do

Photo courtesy of Peter Do.

Sustain the hype

From London-based designer Mowalola Ogunlesi’s design directorship of Yeezy Gap, to the explosion of blink-and-you-miss-the-drop DIY brands Rua Carlota and Fancy Club, when it comes to female leads taking center stage, there’s plenty to be excited about right now. Let the next-generation power moves begin.

Relax

Our last note on wearable hope (for now) is not just about reaping the rewards of doing the right thing when it comes to the clothes we buy — we all know that shopping upcycled is 2020’s wardrobe power move — but also taking note of fashion’s new, relaxed tempo. Pieces you can walk, cycle and Zoom in are today’s mainstay, regardless of gender or status. With our focus switched to the practicalities of dressing our way through one of the toughest times in recent world history, there’s been a quiet revolution in our wardrobes, which are becoming more egalitarian than ever before. Genderless sweatshorts, recyclable sneakers, and cargo pants lifted straight out of the 2000s (yep, it’s all about the pockets for a stash of hand sanitizer) are the uniform of the generation that rolled up their sleeves and persevered when hope felt out of reach.

Read Next: All 26 Vogues Unite For The First Time Ever On The Hope Issue

Originally published on Vogue.co.uk

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