From left: Kelly G, Lisa Hutchinson, April Perrin and Rupa Singh (Photo courtesy the Ethical Style Collective)
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that clothing and textiles accounted for 6.1 percent of all waste and recycling in 2015. That doesn’t include clothing that found its way into the reusable and consignment market.
It’s statistics like these that prompted the Ethical Style Collective and its active co-founders, Lisa Hutchinson, Kelly G, April Perrin and Rupa Singh, last year to educate Richmond residents about intentional, ethical shopping and how to stop clothing waste.
Sustainable fashion can mean shopping from local vendors or shopping for renewable and secondhand materials.Perrin says The Ethical Style Collective does not sell clothes, but it connects locals to shops and hosts panels, film screenings, clothing swaps and discussions.
Singh says it is hard for people in Richmond to find places that sell ethical clothing beyond consignment shops, which is why so few people know how to do it. “Also, I think a challenge is cost,” Perrin says. “Typically, when you’re talking about sustainable fashion, it is going to be more expensive than fast fashion. That’s not in everyone’s budget, and we are very much aware of that, which is why we talk a lot about shopping secondhand.”
The Ethical Style Collective also works with consignment stores to prevent waste.
“We started talking to Goodwill and a lot of the secondhand shops, asking them what they do with their excess clothing,” Singh says. “We are trying to come up with solutions. If there were business dresses, maybe a nonprofit would be good to take that. If there is a homeless shelter, we can get them the type of clothing they needed for that season.”
Singh hopes Richmond will become more fashionably conscious in the future.
“Having that disposable mindset for clothing needs to be abolished before you can consider yourself on the path of being an ethical shopper,” Singh says. “I would love to see sustainable fashion in 10 years be how Richmond feels about its food scene right now: really appreciating the craft and appreciating how everything is locally sourced.”
The Ethical Style Collective’s go-to stores for sustainable shopping
1. Verdalina
3. Clementine
4. Goodwill of Central and Coastal Virginia
5. ABLE
