If one of your goals for 2023 is to style yourself with more sustainability in mind, you need to follow our edit of the best sustainable fashion influencers… Across Instagram and TikTok, we’ve searched through the #fitchecks and #ootds to search out the content creators who will give you tips, inspiration, styling ideas and vital knowledge about the more damaging elements of the fashion industry - all with the intention of keeping you on the path towards more conscious consumption.
There are so many ways to incorporate sustainable fashion into your wardrobe and the good news is that you don’t have to just stop shopping (although it’s been cited that to reach our climate goals, we should buy no more than five new fashion items this year… eek…)
Instead, make your mantra “knowledge is power.” Knowing who made your clothes and what they were paid - as well as understanding exactly what impact the fibres in your garments have - are just the start. Making sure you’re actually going to wear any purchase (and trying to reach the #30WearsChallenge) is essential, as is knowing what will happen to your clothes at inevitable end of life. Will it go to landfill, be recycled, donated or upcycled? Which is the least impactful option? Want to know how to keep an eye out for greenwashing - and the most meaningful methods of calling it out? Look to these sustainable fashion influencers for their inspiring thoughts, words and deeds…
@CharityShopGirlCSG
TikTok content
Jen lives for charity shopping and has an eye for interesting finds whether they are authentically vintage or donated high street finds. Her hauls will have you raring to get down to your local branch and prove that something new to you is as good as brand new.
@ModernVintage_Rabia
TikTok content
As well as sharing vintage finds, Rabia shops her own wardrobe, works out fresh ways to rewear old favourites and is honest about how her journey to sustainable fashion helped her hone her personal style.
@nelsybopx
TikTok content
Eleanor’s super simple sewing tips are easy to follow and will give you all the inspo for transforming charity shop finds and giving new life to old garms… and homeware too (the tablecloth to bag transition is pure magic.)
@andreacheong_
TikTok content
Unpicking the details, fabrics and composition of garments from some of our favourite brands, sharing tech knowledge that will allow you to work out how it will wear (no one wants a dress that will split at the seams after one wear) and whether it’s worth the cost: Andrea’s advice on the shopping tricks to avoid when you’re browsing is priceless.
@izzy_manuel
TikTok content
Izzy’s feed is a rainbow of joy - and everything she wears is sustainable. We love to see the mix of totally on-trend lewks with conscious purchasing, whether she’s wearing made-to-order (to cut down production waste) or natural fibres (which reduces the use of synthetic-based fossil fuel fabrics.)\
@marielle.elizabeth
TikTok content
Marielle’s feed presents all the sustainable options for plus size people and sits at the intersection between ethical fashion and ingrained fat phobia. Her explanations are a powerful reminder of how to build a more inclusive and sustainable fashion industry, because you can’t have true sustainability without ethics.
Because shopping and styling yourself sustainably is only part of the plan.
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Instagram content
Before you join writer Aja’s 250k Instagram followers, you’d do well to read her book, Consumed. Thought-provoking and game-changing, Aja joins the dots between colonialism, climate change and our desire to consume and this is echoed on her feed, where she asks the hard questions - which need answers from all of us.
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@emsladedmondson
Instagram content
The pressure to live completely sustainably can make some of us fall off the wagon, before we’ve even started. Emma’s posts to the rescue! With an inspiring yet realistic feed, you’ll be coached to live your most sustainable fashion life before you know you’re doing it. We’re particular fans of Emma's tip to get to know your wardrobe with a night in. And wine.
@arentyoueshita
Instagram content
Founder of rental app By Rotation, Eshita knows all about the power of a shared wardrobe to boost your style - and sustainability - credentials. Showcasing the best finds from the peer-to-peer platform, there’s a big financial pull to borrowing rather than buying. Some individual renters have made over £40,000 from sharing their wardrobes while rentees saved over £6million by renting, instead of buying new.
@venetialamanna
Instagram content
Covering every angle of sustainability, from the plastics found in your trainers to the low wages earned by garment makers in the global South, Venetia campaigns for a fairer fashion industry. Her explanations of how fast fashion is impacting climate change - and the way consumers are being greenwashed - are slick and sharp but with a serious message.
@sustainableoutfits
Instagram content
Kate often dissects newspaper headlines on sustainability by sharing hard fashion facts, stats and data to back up sustainable arguments. Greenwashing gets short shrift, as do fast fashion brands, in this video-led, information-heavy feed.
@rosieokotcha
Instagram content
Rosie has the best fun with fashion whether she’s borrowing from her sister, thrifting or finding excellent vintage. You’ll find charity shop tours, restyling advice (to allow you to wear your wardrobe for longer) and how to score TikTok trending styles from charity shops, instead of buying brand new. We love to see it.
@thriftqueenlola
Instagram content
Rosette might have more upcycling skills than most of us (she’s a designer for slow fashion Revival London) but the inspiration she serves is golden. 100% proof why dressing sustainably is more stylish than off the rack basics.
Read more from Glamour UK Fashion Director at large Alex Fullerton here or follow her on Instagram @alexandrafullerton
