A New Way to Dress.. All Year Long

The predominant words in sustainable fashion generally include 'organic' and 'carbon footprint', focusing on how the garment is made without much regard for how it is used in the end. But when creating a sustainable design, it must be applied to every step of the product's life - from production to the consumer to post-consumer. So using sustainable material is really a gigantic waste if the garment is only worn once and then discarded. Clothing has so much more potential than many people give it credit for.

One girl, Sheena Matheiken, took sustainable fashion to the next level (if not further). In May 2009 she pledged to wear only one dress for an entire year. In order to do this she collaborated with friends and other designers and came up with a dress that was versatile enough for each season, and could be worn in both directions or as an open tunic. Every day she would somehow make the dress a completely new outfit using simple accessories and layers of different colors and patterns. It's amazing to see what a simple cardigan, scarf, or belt can do for an outfit. Maybe when it comes to sustainable fashion, versatile creativity should be the name of the game.

Images courtesy of The Uniform Project