Facts and myths about the famous 'environmentalists' who wear the same suits
The Venice Film Festival has brought this issue back to the table thanks to the visit of Cate Blanchett wearing a second Armani Privé and Julia Roberts and Amanda Seyfried, who lent each other a Versace look.
BarcelonaIf you want to look like a famous person from the 21st century and create a brand image of an eco-responsible person who has left frivolity behind and cares about something more than just their appearance, you only have to do one thing: wear a dress again. Making this decision will open the doors to the media Olympus. If a media outlet detects—which will happen because your team will have told them beforehand...—that you are wearing an outfit you've already worn before, the fashion editors will be incredibly excited, and you might be at the top of the well-dressed list at some festival, or maybe you'll make the headlines on the red carpet.
Obviously, a famous person who sends a message of sustainability in the midst of this decadent world governed by climate change deniers—in word or deed—is a great example. de facto...– deserves all the applause. First, because it raises awareness among the people who follow it. And second, because it's a way of tacitly standing up to both the voices that argue that it's unnecessary to take measures to eradicate climate change and the fashion industry itself, the most polluting in the world—second only to the hydrocarbon industry—which always advocates for us to repeat as little as possible and continue buying new clothes.
Venice, a showcase of luxury
However, not everything is so simple. This week we enjoyed one of the best red carpets of the year, that of the Venice International Film Festival, held in the wonderful Venetian city since 1932. The parade of stars along the Lido is nonstop and, what's more, it lasts ten days. This allows us to enjoy fashion in its capital letters day after day, as visiting stars indulge in stylistic luxuries that they can't afford outside of Europe. In this bubble of opulence and fashion, the performers who debut new dresses are a vast majority, and, unfortunately, those who return are a minority.
This year, one of those who has returned is Cate Blanchett, who in her first appearance wore a black mermaid-style gown with an immense but elegant neckline by Armani Privé, which she had previously worn to the 2022 SAG Awards. As we've said before, it's true that the gesture honors her and that more demanding actors. Given the level of unsustainability in today's society and the progress we've allowed in climate change, applauding someone for wearing a suit twice is settling for a level of crumbs that should make us feel sorry for ourselves.
Many people are unaware of the ecological footprint of these dresses, which, in order to achieve excellence, are made with materials from all over the world and use everything necessary to be as beautiful as possible, since beauty is the only thing that counts. Clearly, reducing the ecological footprint is not the focus when designing them, much less when manufacturing them. If recovering the ecological impact of a tote bag Cotton takes between 7,500 and 20,000 uses, how many will it take to recover the impact of one of these pieces? They are dresses filled with rhinestones that travel with jet Private transport across the world to arrive at the celebrity's home at the same time after a team of twenty people has been working there for months. Do the math. Maybe the celebrity in question had to wear it every day of their life and still wouldn't make peace...
More (and better) fame
But if all this were not enough, we must take into account that labeling certain figures of the show business It's risky for other reasons. And I'm not saying this about Blanchett, who is possibly one of the most believable in that role and has been a pioneer in the repetition of outfits. Many stars in film, music, or social media wear dresses that aren't new because they prefer to choose from the archives of major luxury brands rather than one from the latest collection presented by the brand in question. This, which is ecological because it implies reuse, is an intellectual scam on viewers. Why wear an archive dress in the first place? vintage of some fashion firm is an honor that not all celebrities have access to, which is a upgrade of immediate fame. Secondly, if that dress is famous because it was worn by some other star during an iconic pop moment, whoever wears it a second time receives a huge dose of media exposure, which is the lifeblood of any star in the age of social media, where existing in people's minds is very difficult amidst so much information. In other words, to be honest, we can say that those who wear archive dresses from major brands again rarely do so out of environmental awareness...
In Venice, we've also seen that behaving eco-responsibly when it comes to dressing has gone a step further. If repeating the same wardrobe is fine and is already a popular choice among the public, now we've seen how to repeat looks someone else's recent work has entered the scene. Julia Roberts arrived in the city of canals with a total look by Versace, which included a blazer, jeans, and a shirt with thin vertical stripes in various colors, yellow being the most prominent. Via Instagram, where Roberts' stylist had shared images of the actress dressed in this way, Amanda Seyfried asked in a comment if she could wear the same outfit. Three days later, the magic It happened, and the actress of Mamma Mia! appeared with this one look exact in the presentation of the film Anne Lee's will.
Obviously, this has also generated a shower of media attention for the two stars and their films that has left everyone very satisfied. Also at Versace, which with this look showed the world the first proposal of Dario Vitale, the first creative director of the firm since the death of Gianni Versace and Donatella Versace took the reinsWe would have to know what Donatella thinks about this new Versace... The idea of doing all this media game has been great. It's a shame that the look in question may not be what will generate the most sales for them.
On the issue of ecological responsibility in fashion, celebrities in the entertainment industry are following in the footsteps of European queens and princesses, who, knowing that their original sin is living very differently from the people with the people's money, must always make gestures to appear like they belong to the people and not end up – I'm speaking figuratively. That's why mothers and daughters lend clothes to each other and often wear the same clothes at public events.
Perhaps doing what the royals Wearing clothes that aren't formal would also be a step that some celebrities could take. But of course, for many of these celebrities, looking down-home lowers their glamour, and that doesn't suit them, as they are then recruited to star in multi-million dollar advertising campaigns. We've hit a snag with advertising. We're lost! Having said all that, it seems that having hope that the show business seriously embrace ecological responsibility is currently a pipe dream. All we can do is wait for them to posture a lot more, for it to sink in, and for the poor citizen to end up saving the planet. As always.