By Ameera Steward
For the Birmingham Times
Although Birmingham’s sustainable fashion community is made up of small businesses, they are collectively taking big strides to make a change.
Sustainable fashion is a movement centered on fostering a shift toward fashion products that prioritize ecological integrity and social justice; the term refers to clothing that is designed, manufactured, distributed, and used in ways that are environmentally friendly and socially conscious.
A big part of the sustainable fashion business model involves social media, which is the platform most of these local business owners use to educate their audience and customers about sustainable fashion, the effects of their fashion choices, and how they can make better choices.
Here’s how Lakeicia Shanta encourages sustainable fashion in the Magic City.
Shanta is focused on the future. Through her work with brands like luxury-goods group Kering, which has brands like Gucci and Balenciaga in its portfolio, and the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), the 42-year-old is teaching emerging designers and upcoming brands how they can become more sustainable.
“We’re working with those brands, putting the information out there with them, trying to find more about how they’re being sustainable, showing them how to become more sustainable and how to source from more [environmentally friendly] products or garment [producers],” she said. “For emerging brands, it’s a consulting type of situation.”
Like most of the sustainable fashion community, Shanta sees it more as a lifestyle than a way to wear clothing.
“It’s the act of being more conscious,” she said. “Sustainable fashion to me is when the actual manufacturer has traceability, is using organic products, … is lowering [their] carbon emissions, and is finding other ways to use other types of materials to produce. … We have to listen to what the scientists have to say because we only have one planet.”
For more on Shanta: visit @kinglakeiciashanta on Instagram.
Click one of the links below to read more about Birmingham’s sustainable fashion scene.
Collin Balentine and Jordan Joiner: Helping the Environment
Glenda Norman: Re-Fashioning Scrap Into Jewelry
Lana Watkins: Creating a Dream Closet
Shaquala Courtland: Restoring Clothing…and Spirit
Samra Michael: Preventing Waste
Kristyn Edwards: Raising Awareness
Lacey Woodruff: Thinking Long-Term
Clothing Designer Leslie Gomez Grew Up in Thrift Stores. Now, It’s Business.
