This May Have Been NYFW's Only True Sustainable Fashion Show This Year (Exclusive)

The glitz and glamor of New York Fashion Week has always disguised an ugly truth: the fashion industry isn't as sustainable or ethical as it should be. Many consumers have been vocal about fast fashion's environmental and human impact, but the climate justice nonprofit Remake was founded to address fashion's impact and find solutions.

For Not so Fast Fashion Week, Green Matters spoke exclusively with stylists and a community organizer involved in Remake's "Walk Your Values" Fashion Show. The 2024 show was the third annual and second during New York Fashion Week, highlighting pre-loved and upcycled designs by sustainable designers.

On the evening of the "Walk Your Values" runway show, which took place on Sept. 10, 2024, Green Matters spoke exclusively with New York Community Organizer Colleen Cochran (@collcochran) about why Remake chose to do a show at New York Fashion Week.

"Our Remake slogan is 'Wear Your Values,' where we really encourage our community ... to use fashion as a form of self-expression, but also as a form of activism," she explains.

"The idea of our show is to feature who ... makes up the fashion industry. That's garment workers, that's climate activists. Those are people that we have featured and are walking in the show. So our show is powered by our community," Cochran continues.

She notes that the show is primarily volunteer-run, that all pieces are either upcycled, vintage, or otherwise pre-loved, and that "they're sourced by members of our community who have been involved in this work and kind of a chance to showcase their work."

She adds: "We're using this night to celebrate and share a different message."

I attended the show on Sept. 10 at the Delancey, a nightclub on the Lower East Side. Surrounded by dozens of sustainability enthusiasts wearing increasingly creative upcycled clothing, I watched models strut from the downstairs of the nightclub to the rooftop, which was lush with leafy decor.

One of my favorite looks of the evening was a stunning bodysuit from Created by Chloe Grant, a silky white ensemble crafted from secondhand wedding dresses and adorned with ethically sourced pearls. I also loved an oversized, tan vintage blazer and black lace dress by Føle Studios.

Before the "Walk Your Values" show, Green Matters spoke exclusively via email with stylists Cameron Williams (@theconsciouscam) and Emily McKay (@emeroomckay) about how they assembled the upcycled and pre-loved designs seen on the runway — plus, sustainable designers that inspire them.

The duo, who were also the creative directors for the show, chose the theme "Return to Nature" for the fashion story of the evening.

"For Act 1 of the show, we leaned into the glitzy, maximalism of early 2000s red carpet styling and found a lot of inspiration from JLo era Versace and Roberto Cavalli pieces," they tell Green Matters.

"Act 2 allows us to examine the cost of this type of excess in the industry, so we chose to include pieces and imagery from places in the Global South that are most affected by waste colonization. Act 3 shifts into a vision of an ideal industry, one that is not destructive to people and the planet, so the styling for this feels leans into more earth tones and floral elements."

When asked about favorite sustainable designers, Williams and McKay jointly tell us: "Lately, we’ve found a lot of inspiration from folks like Mara Hoffman, Eileen Fisher, and Tracy Reese who have been doing the work in this space for years now, yet still remain underheralded to most outside of the sustainable fashion world. We would love to give them their flowers alongside brands like Ganni and Patagonia who have made sustainability part of their core values."

Finally, Williams and McKay say they hope that fashion shows like "Walk Your Values" can inspire people to change their preconceived notions about sustainable fashion.

They tell us: "Our hope is that shows like this can influence people who might traditionally shop at fast fashion brands to shop ethically or secondhand for their next incredible outfit."