LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – April 22: In this image released on April 22, 2021, Zendaya speaks onstage during ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Randy Shropshire/Getty Images for ESSENCE)
On Thursday night, ESSENCE held its 14th annual Black Women In Hollywood Awards. The theme of the 2021 awards show, “Mastering Our Stories,” highlighted the resilience of Black women in Hollywood. Honoree Zendaya, with the help of her longtime stylist Law Roach, wore a vintage Haute Couture look by Yves Saint Laurent previously owned by the late Eunice Johnson, the founder of Ebony Fashion Fair and Ebony Magazine.
According to the stylist, the blue ensemble, which features power shoulders, a bow-embellished waist, and a black, slit-leg bottom half, was designed in 1982 and has lived in his personal archives, waiting for the perfect opportunity to be shown off. “We pay homage,” Roach wrote on his Instagram, showcasing photos of the Euphoria actress, as well as one of Johnson wearing the look on the cover of Ebony.
Johnson, who passed away in 2010, founded EbonyMagazine with her husband John H. Johnson in 1945. For more than 50 years, from 1958 to 2009, the accompanying Ebony Fashion Fair toured cities across the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean, showcasing Haute Couture and ready-to-wear collections from designers like YSL, Christian Dior, and Valentino to primarily Black audiences. Black designers like Patrick Kelly and Willi Smith were also promoted at the annual shows and in EbonyMagazine.
Zendaya looked every bit as elegant and poised as Johnson did wearing the ’80s-era ensemble. Like Johnson, Zendaya paired the two-piece set with diamond chandelier earrings and rings, though Johnson’s take also featured a statement necklace, while Zendaya’s neck was bare at Thursday night’s awards show. To complement the ensemble, the actress wore Roger Vivier black pumps and Bulgari jewelry.
Zendaya wearing a look previously owned by Johnson at an event meant to honor the stories of Black women throughout history is a beautiful tribute. The fact that it was vintage and worn on Earth Day is just icing on the cake.
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When it comes to greenwashing, consumers are much savvier than they once were. Whereas even five years ago, brands could get away with doing the bare minimum in the sustainable fashion department, releasing a one-off “green collection” on Earth Day and garnering praise via sold Instagram ads, the bar is higher now. As the environmental crisis continues to worsen — according to NASA, 2020 was one of the warmest years on record — every fashion brand has had to confront their own dedication to sustainability and how far they have yet to go before claiming a victory. For brands who are seriously committed to eco-conscious practices, it’s a far more honest thing to claim that they are “not sustainable.”
In February 2018, Noah, a brand founded by Brendon Babenzien in 2015, published a blog post on its website with the headline, “We Are Not A Sustainable Company.” Printed in capital letters, the words were superimposed over a photo of a landfill blurred with a thick layer of smog. Below, the brand spotlighted some of its press mentions — describing Noah as using “the most sustainable practices” and “killing it” on the sustainable front. (The brand sells any damaged or incorrectly produced garments at a discounted price, rather than discarding them, and partners with ocean preservation organizations like Sea Shepherd, among other practices.) “Although we’re very flattered that the press and our supporters frequently compliment our engagement on environmental issues, the way we operate isn’t even close to sustainable. There’s really no such thing as a sustainable clothing company,” it read.
The statement is not wrong: From the natural resources it takes to create fabrics to the toxic chemicals used during production and the carbon dioxide required to transport the final product, almost every step of fashion’s current production model negatively affects the environment. Noah’s post went on to say that it will now focus its efforts on transparency — “We are trying our best to be responsible — followed by a detailed list of the eco-conscious and ethical initiatives the brand employs. “To say we’re sustainable would be a lie,” the post concluded. “To say we’re doing a little more with each season would be the truth.”
Every happy customer comes at an environmental cost.”
Mark De Lange, Founder of Ace & Tate
Shortly after it was published, Mark de Lange, the founder of Dutch eyewear brand Ace & Tate, took to Medium to communicate a similar message. “The harsh reality finally hit me,” he wrote in the blog post. “For every pair of glasses we make, Ace & Tate does harm to the planet. Every frame we produce, every lens we cut, and every package we ship: everything is connected to natural resources. Every happy customer comes at an environmental cost.” Speaking with Refinery29, he said that sustainability is an ongoing process, one that could never be fully complete. Why try then? Well, just because something seems impossible, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t attempt it.
Céline Semaan, the founder of Slow Factory, an organization focused on climate and systemic change-based education, agrees with de Lange. “Sustainability is a spectrum,” she tells Refinery29. Nicolaj Reffstrup, the co-founder of Danish fashion brand Ganni, feels the same way. “There is no straight line to being sustainable in fashion,” he says. According to Reffstrup, despite its many sustainability initiatives, Ganni doesn’t identify as sustainable because it recognizes the “inherent contradiction between the current fashion industry that thrives off of newness and consumption, and the concept of sustainability.”
For Reffstrup, the point of bringing attention to the fact that Ganni is not sustainable is to have something to answer to. It puts pressure on the brand to be better and in turn, communicate wins and losses to their customers. (The brand now publishes the projects they haven’t yet figured out on the @GANNI.lab Instagram account, as well as in an annual responsibility report.) “It’s about holding ourselves accountable,” Reffstrup says.
With Ace & Tate, de Lange wants to provide his customers with everything they need to make educated purchases. “I think the consumer is sick and tired of being marketed to and lied to,” he says. “And also for myself, I genuinely do not know how to turn Ace & Tate into a fully sustainable company. It’s probably not going to happen because it’s probably impossible. However, I’d like to share our thoughts on what our journey is.”
According to Daniel Silverstein, the founder of Brooklyn-based brand Zero Waste Daniel — which Silverstein describes as “zero-waste,” which means that all products included in production are reused and nothing is sent to a landfill — a 100% sustainable fashion brand is possible. The proof, he says, is in the past. “We made completely sustainable clothing for a really long time as a species,” Silverstein tells Refinery29. “Once we reconnect with and fall in love with the slow processes that our ancestors practiced for years, we can start making clothing with no electricity, with no chemicals that are harsh or synthetics,” he says. “It just comes down one question: When are we going to be ready to accept the way that changes our relationship with consumption?”
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बॉलीवुड एक्ट्रेस जाह्नवी कपूर (Janhvi Kapoor) बीते कई दिनों से अपनी फिटनेस ट्रेनर नम्रता पुरोहित संग मालदीव में छुट्टियों का लुत्फ उठा रही थीं, जहां से वह अपनी लगातार खूबसूरत तस्वीरें फैंस के साथ शेयर कर रही थीं। हालांकि, एक्ट्रेस अब वापिस लौट आई हैं, जहां उन्हें देर रात मुंबई एयरपोर्ट पर स्पॉट किया गया।
For a lot of shoppers, convenience is of the utmost importance — sometimes at the expense of the environment. That is likely why fast fashion is such a successful model, despite its environmental impact. But, online secondhand shopping, more so now than ever before, provides the best of both worlds: sustainability and convenience. Online, you don't have to worry about stressful, overstuffed (and therefore germ-infested at the moment) vintage shops, thrift stores, and flea markets. Instead, they can simply scroll, click, and purchase.
This Earth Day, we're making the process even easier, by scouring the secondhand market to scrounge up some of the best pre-loved and vintage items on the World Wide Web right now. From Y2K halters and ’90s Helmut Lang tops to Loewe loafers with tiny heart decals and Jean Paul Gaultier baby tees — if you haven’t yet given secondhand fashion a try, this is the perfect place to help get you started.
Click on for 13 secondhand fashion items that are not only Earth-friendly but will also fill your wardrobe with pieces that can’t be found anywhere else.
At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.
Vintage 50s College Champion Jacket, $, available at Moth Food Shop
