Before the depop turned pre-love fashionable, secondhand shopping wasn’t deemed desirable by the masses. In fact, there were even connotations of it being dirty or only for lower income people. These days, celebrities like Bella Hadid buy their tankinis vintage and pop music’s latest phenomenon Olivia Rodrigo has their own Depop shop (as a tribute to her latest release “Sour”). 

It’s impossible to discuss why sustainable fashion may have made a u-turn into celebrity culture without discussing the rise of the celebrity activist. During an Instagram “Creators” chat, Rodrigo told journalist and activist Sophia Li that her passion for sustainable fashion rose from witnessing the despairing realities of global garment workers expressed in the documentary “True Cost.” 

It’s no longer in fashion to be considered a Hollywood diva but instead a famous person with a heart of gold. Willow Smith joins climate strikes, as part of the global Friday’s For Future movement, and Gigi and Bella Hadid have been using their platform to educate their followers on the ongoing conflict in the Israeli-Palestine region. Jaden Smith has also recently teamed with material sciences company Pangaia for a capsule collection that included adult T-shirts made from seaweed fiber and cotton hoodies, track pants and shorts.

Some “Cool” Examples to Care About the Planet

In a climate where it’s officially cool to care about the world’s most pressing issues, the pathway has been carved for a sustainable celebrity boom. Olivia Rodrigo, a Gen Z artist, is a prime example of what’s to come. Rodrigo has recently sported more up-and-coming sustainable designers like Marine Serre and Shrimps. She also has been donating the proceeds for charity from items used in her music videos, sold on her Depop shop. 

It’s important to note that, as with the rise in celebrity “activism”, any major celebrity who markets themselves as “sustainable” should be approached with caution. Kim Kardashian West’s former assistant Stephanie Shepherd is why. As a plastic-free columnist at Poosh and half of Future Earth, a platform aimed to guide people into living “clean, active and informed” lives, Stephanie posts sustainable advice and sponsored influencer content. 

As Instagram continues to thrive off consumer culture and is now more shoppable than ever, this ultimately continues to push an agenda of overconsumption—at the detriment to environmentalism. Despite this, there have been some positive shifts in the influencer space, with activists like Leah Thomas becoming not only elevated thought leaders but fashion and beauty tastemakers. 

The sustainable fashion movement amongst celebrities is less of a moment of influential celebrity culture and more of a reflection of what’s being refined as “cool” by the masses, particularly young people. In the last three years alone, secondhand retail grew 21 times faster than the traditional retail apparel market, according to ThredUp's 2019 report. This reflects Gen Z’s shift toward more eco-conscious companies and practices that share those values.

Is Secondhand a Real Solution or Another Overconsumption?

Despite this, the generation that has been deemed the leaders of our sustainable future, while shopping more vintage than ever, has an overconsumption problem like never seen before. Popular “fashion hauls” from fast-fashion outlets like Shein are mixed and matched with other thrifted pieces as TikTok accelerated the trend cycle even further. On the app, some argue that Amazon is becoming the new Depop.

This trend-focus rings true for the celebrity approach to secondhand fashion or sustainable fashion. While Emma Watson may have made a public announcement stating that she would only wear sustainable fashion on the red carpet, most celebrities treat vintage pieces as a way to secure something unique. This can raise issues when sustainable fashion is applied to an Instagram market, where posting an outfit more than once is social taboo. 

The love affair between celebrities and vintage is well underway, secured with Olivia Rodrigo’s new album. This, however, does not mean our favorite celebrities are ready to stop promoting a trend-based approach to mass consumption. As Gen Z redefines what it means to be relevant in 2021, sustainable hauls on Depop (shared on TikTok) won’t cut it. Instead, there needs to be a growing consciousness that true sustainability can not be achieved in a linear fashion model. Perhaps then we’d see Bella Hadid sporting the same outfit on Instagram to two events in a row.