Words by Bethanie Ashton for O2 Monde
Below is our pick of three stylists focused on inclusiveness and sustainability that can help you align your wardrobe with your values...
Cassandra Dittmer: the sustainable stylist
(as seen on featured image. Photo credit: www.cassandradittmer.com)
This Los Angeles based stylist took notice three years ago, as her clients began asking more about the brands they were wearing, and that they wished to make decisions about brands whom their values aligned. Celebrity clients who support Dittmer’s move into sustainable wardrobe edits and ethical brand selections include Bebe Rexha and Laura Dern, while magazine editors are equally as adoptive of the shift.
Tara Swennen is responsible for the sustainable styles you’ll find on Academy Award winner, Allison Janney. We were impressed to find Tara was recruited as a style brigade member for luxury fashion rental app, Armanium, alongside celeb heavyweights George Kotsiopoulos and Cristina Ehrlich.
Founded in 2016 by Trisha Gregory and Alexandra Lind Rose and funded by Tommy Hilfiger and C Ventures Fund, Armanium closed its doors at the beginning of the pandemic due to high running costs and editorial content that was unmatched to the luxury market.
"The beauty of a rental is that this is here, it's vintage. So even though it might not be that old, I would much rather you rent it, than purchase something new".
Tara’s beliefs about a circular model are shared by others like Jamie Mizrahi, who recently collaborated with Rent the Runway on an exclusive collection for off-the-red-carpet looks as seen on Katy Perry, Nicole Richie and Riley Keough. Thanks to stylist initiative and an expanding ($1.93B by 2023) fashion rental market, luxury fashion is becoming more accessible for customers who wish to dress alike to the celebs they fan over.
Photo credit: @shibonleigh
A nomadic upbringing instilled waste-not values in this stylist, whose portfolio includes Tracee Ellis Ross, Tessa Thompson, or Rosalía. Kennedy says “There was something in my makeup that built the foundation to consider those things when I came into the space of styling.” While she doesn’t quote herself as a sustainable stylist, she says that her work is intentional and considered, “Everything that I do, not just what shows up on the lens, is carefully considered in how it impacts the world”. Shibon has been commissioned to compile ethical, recycled and Black-owned brands into various shoots by publishers such as Fader and Primary Paper, and in collaboration with renowned New York vintage purveyor, James Veloria.
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As brands like Miu Miu, Balenciaga and Armani sign Peta petitions against the use of animal fur; others like Rebecca Minkoff along with startups like the late Armanium and its successful Unicorn cousin, Rent the Runway continue to promote fashion rental to reduce environmental harm. And it is credit to fashion stylists like our favorites here that consumers like you and I are repeatedly exposed to greener, better ways to dress.
Featured is the O2 Monde Laurie sneaker made of grapes vegan leather
- available this Fall