Are You Ready To Get Rid Of Your Leather Pants?

One Commentby Sarah Hawilo on January 13, 2012

Today I woke up with an important decision to make: Shall I throw away my leather pants?

We as individuals are facing dark times, if not the toughest yet. Certainly it’s not directly due to my leather pants, or so I presume! With a financial crisis strapped around our belts, pollution on the rise, scarce resources, and earth’s retaliation against mankind’s behavior over the past centuries, we have to ask ourselves: Are we efficiently utilizing our earth’s resources? For the basis of continuity we are forced to take a hard look at our lifestyle and act. By changing it, of course!

Source: destroyphotography on flickr.com

You must be wondering where does fashion fall in all of this mumbo jumbo, right? Ok, let’s rewind. Well see, fashion is a multi-billion dollar business, employing millions of workers, breading new artistic designers, and mostly intersecting diverse industries that is ultimately shaping the realm of our lifestyle and more. Venture capitalists are investing in fashion businesses, private equity firms continue to take ownership of fashion labels, and any artist nowadays, is launching their own fashion line. Great! Everyone is investing, the fashion business seems lucrative and continually booming and people are being recognized for their talents. So, what’s the issue with my leather pants?

More and more people have become socially aware for the need to preserve and restore the environment. Companies are moving towards conserving energy and resources in an efficient manner. Luxury brands are tailoring their strategy to incorporate a greener approach meanwhile staying focused on a profit-driven scheme. What’s the thought process and benefits behind integrating an eco-friendly tactic? To create value. Puma, which belongs to the French multinational group PPR that specializes in retail shops and luxury brands, will be the first to finalize an environmental profit-and-loss statement specifying the environmental impacts—both positive and negative—of the company’s carbon-reducing programs.

Stella McCartney has revived the advocacy of recycling by becoming a carbon neutral company and using ecotricity or ‘green electricity’ in her offices, as a method to invest into renewable energy. Many of Stella’s collections originate from ethical principles to promote designers and encourage customers to seriously invest in eco-fashion. Stella uses organic materials and recycled fabric product and low impact dyes, staying away from any material that is harmful for animals such as leather, fur, or even any glue that might have animal derivatives in it.

Stella stays away from fur and leather. I would too, except when I look at Vogue’s December issue, I see Gisele’s fantastic spanking new leather leggings! I think to myself hmmm…what’s the damage really?

And then I watched this clip of Stella McCartney speaking about leather on behalf of Peta.

Processing leather requires abundant amounts of energy and toxic chemicals which pollutes the environment and harms waterways. In some ways, we have to think of others, be it our animals, our air, and our environment.

It’s not to say that everyone defines eco-fashion in the same manner, but the essence should be present. Frida Giannini, Gucci creative director quoted:

“Quality items that stand the test of time – it is this concept of sustainability, symbolized by a timeless handbag that you wear again and again, and can pass on, that I am always thinking of when I design”.

Take action!

Here, rises the challenge to become more responsibly aware as a consumer and as a trend setter.

Young & up-coming designers need to act upon this green vision and follow in the footsteps of eco-friendly designers by facing the problem and conveying the challenges that lie ahead. To adhere to the green protocol, means ruling out synthetic fabrics that are extremely harmful to the environment, and replace them with other natural fibers such as bamboo, which in turn are sustainable and environmentally friendlier.

Collectively, we can make a difference to influence others and embrace sustainable business models to foresee a viable fashion industry. Why not start small? Give it a thought or two before purchasing environmentally harmful products. I know my last pair of leather pants still hangs in my closet, only as a reminder of the next tempting magazine issue I will stumble on to.