By Claudia Schergna and Rhanie Al–Alas
Photos by Rhanie Al-Alas
Awareness of sustainability in fashion is growing amongst the younger generations. Research and technology are working to find more and more alternatives to real leather, fur and other animal products.
The motive is not only about safeguarding animals, but about respecting the climate and the environment.
The fashion industry causes 20 percent of the world’s water pollution, which is perhaps one reason why sustainability and veganism in the fashion industry are often confused.
Vegan fashion is not automatically sustainable. Some elements contained in vegan leather or fur are even more polluting than real leather or fur. Vegan leather often contains PVC, which is vegan but comes from petroleum and is toxic.
Wolf and Badger is a platform founded in 2010 by brothers Henry and George Graham. It is home to more than 1,000 of the world’s best independent designers, with a boutique in London and one in New York.
Wolf and Badger also has a magazine in which they publish styling edits along with news on innovations in ethical and sustainable fashion.
Robert Ingemarsson, 28, the store’s London manager said: “We look at the vegan aspect of the brand. We are selling some brands which are more sustainable than others.
“It can come down to the general packaging. They might not use vegan leather, but they manufacture in the UK, so there are loads of aspects to a business on how they are sustainable.”
Their purpose is to promote young designers and artisans who produce their lines through a sustainable process. This does not mean that all the products must be vegan: they don’t sell any fur, exotic skin or anything made in sweatshops.
Alex Jones, 26, sales advisor, said: “To be vegan doesn’t mean you’re sustainable. You can be a vegan but not be sustainable.” They only sell animal products which come from a fair and transparent supply chain: “All our brands are ethical and use sustainable materials.
“If you’re a customer here, we are happy to take you through each brand.”
However, according to Wolf and Badger manager, truly sustainable fashion is not affordable for everyone. “It more expensive because you have to use different research methods.”
A significant problem in fast fashion is the stock production which often ends up being burnt or goes in landfills at the end of the season — Wolf and Badger answer to this problem by selling clothes on behalf of designers.
“We return everything back to the designers. A lot of our designer take a percentage of the sales and give towards charities a lot of beauty brands and some of the clothing brands, they all have a way of giving back,” said Ingemarsson.
This is a fashion dream I have been doing the same for the past 6 years in the UK at one of the shilajit stores. I bought some products a year ago, which was an amazing experience.