Cara Delevingne: Model, Actress, Hypocrite?
Earlier this week, model Cara Delevingne announced a collaboration with Nasty Gal, an online retailer owned by Boohoo Group, Inc. While the collaboration has been lauded for its affordable prices and inclusive sizing, the public has remained relatively silent on how Cara Delevingne’s activism as a self-proclaimed “Earth Protector” directly contrasts her clothing line with a fast fashion company.
With an Instagram following of nearly 44 million fans as well as being named the fifth highest paid model in 20181, Delevingne clearly has the resources as well as the support to launch a clothing line that is sustainable and ethical. While Nasty Gal has had a history of collaborating with influencers and models such as Emily Ratajkowski and Chloe Lloyd2, neither of these celebrities has had proclaimed to be an advocate for saving the planet like Delevingne. In March of this year, Delevingne posted a picture of herself with a signed certificate from www.stopecocide.earth. This organization serves to make ecocide, which is defined on their website to be “the mass damage or destruction of natural living systems,” a crime3. Delevingne has also made other Instagram posts backing the efforts of the environmental activist organization, Extinction Rebellion.
583.5k Likes, 2,453 Comments - Cara Delevingne (@caradelevingne) on Instagram: "We need to make #ecocide a crime! Make destruction of our environment ILLEGAL by making ECOCIDE..."
However, despite voicing her support for saving the planet through various Instagram posts, Delevingne has failed to put her money where her mouth is. In collaborating with the fast fashion brand Nasty Gal, she is directly contributing to an industry that produces nearly 1 billion garments annually and that is directly responsible for producing 20% of the global wastewater4. Instead of stopping ecocide, like she proclaimed to be a proponent of, Delevingne is further contributing to the destruction of natural living systems.
An example of the wastewater that is generated from fast fashion. Source via.
In an age of greenwashing and sustainability becoming a buzzword in fashion, it is hard to discern what brands or individuals are making a genuine effort to commit to their words. With the recent collaboration between Nasty Gal and Delevingne, this process becomes even more complicated given the abundance of resources and support at Delevingne’s disposal. Considering all of this, I only have one bit of advice for influencers proclaiming to be advocates for sustainability: do better, please.
Feature image and images of Nasty Gal x Cara Delevingne’s collaboration via.
