Sustainable Fashion On the Red Carpet

The fashion industry plays a large role in our global economy. Unfortunately, the textile industry accounts for about 10% of global carbon emissions, 20% of global wastewater, and uses more energy than the aviation and shipping sectors combined. It is also the world’s second most water-consuming industry, using up to 93 billion cubic meters of global water supply annually.

The growing awareness of these environmental and social issues has led celebrities to reconsider their wardrobes and make eco-friendly adjustments whenever possible. It also gave rise to sustainable fashion, a recent trend that calls for more durable clothes manufactured in an environmentally friendly way, coupled with an increased ability to be reused or recycled in the near future.

For instance, prominent climate activist Suzy Amis Cameron (vegan), wife of famous film director James Cameron (vegan), launched the Red Carpet Green Dress (RCGD) campaign in 2009 in collaboration with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to encourage sustainable fashion practices on the red carpet.

In 2010, Livia Firth started the Green Carpet Challenge (GCC) at the Golden Globes where she donned a repurposed Christina Couture wedding dress with a black ribbon to the occasion. GCC encourages celebrities to dress sustainably at events and also works with fashion brands on innovative materials and techniques.

Her Royal Highness Princess Catherine, the Princess of Wales, has long been a champion of outfit repeat. As always, she manages to make her outfits seem as new as when she first debuted in them by the clever use of different hairstyles or accessories. Repeat-wearing has also resonated well with notable stars such as Cate Blanchett and Joaquin Phoenix (vegan), a Shining World Compassion Award laureate, to name a few.

After a decade of success in putting sustainable luxury on the red carpet, Green Carpet Challenge has proven that ethics and aesthetics can go hand in hand. This prompted Eco-Age to launch “Make Every Step Count” on its 10th birthday in 2020. In late 2022, RCGD Global also released a guide called “Greening the Red Carpet: The RCGD Global Framework & Sustainable Style Guide.” Both these guides serve to encourage more eco-conscious style choices on or off the red carpet to reduce the environmental and social impact of the fashion industry.