CELEBRITY BRANDS THAT ARE DRIVEN BY SOCIAL CHANGE
By: Hillary LeBlanc
When you think of sustainable brands, do you often picture your favourite celebrities at the helm of the environmentally friendly movement? As sustainability becomes more and more important to saving mother earth and becomes an increasingly lucrative market, a number of celebrities have created Eco-conscious brands to compete in those markets. Certain celebrities whose morals align with a greener way of shopping have become household names with their brands and we are going to unpack a few of the companies we particularly adore.
FABLETICS - KATE HUDSON
Actress Kate Hudson, daughter of Goldie Hawn and famous for films such as ‘Almost Famous’ and ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’, is the founder of Fabletics. Fabletics has become an athleisure wear empire committed to reducing their carbon footprint using upcycled and recycled materials. Some might even say that Fabletics was a driving force in making athleticwear part of every day wear and not just for the gym.
BAYOU WITH LOVE - NIKKI REED
Nikki Reed, an actress best known for playing Rosalie in the ‘Twilight’ films has created a sustainable jewellery company BaYou With Love. Defined as ‘socially conscious fine jewelery’, BaYou With Love is sustainable every step of the way. Metals including gold are sourced from recycled technology, which led to a partnership with Dell. The production process also only uses recycled water and ensures no trace of metals are put back into the environment. This is such a great example of how fashion can intertwine with technology in very cool ways.
BIONIC YARN - PHARELL WILLIAMS
Musician and producer Pharell Williams serves as the Creative Director for Bionic Yarn , which was founded in 2009. Bionic Yarn ‘transforms recovered plastic into durable materials’ and engineers fully traceable high-grade textiles and polymers with plastic that the company recovers. The plastic is recovered from the ocean and serves places with minimal waste management and helps provide jobs, education and other opportunities to underserved communities. The yarn created is used for products such as footwear, apparel, interiors and bags/luggage. Saving the environment through fashion, we love this!
ATELIER JOLIE - ANGELINA JOLIE
In recent news, the iconic Angelina Jolie (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) has founded Atelier Jolie, a hub allowing for sewers, tailors, pattern drafters and artists to come together in the name of sustainability. Her goal is to expand to an online roster where people will find creatives capable of garment mending and repair so less garments go into landfills. Sustainable and B-Corp certified brand Chloé has announced their partnership with Atelier Jolie which has recently found a physical home in New York City. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for Atelier Jolie.
THE HONEST COMPANY - JESSICA ALBA
Jessica Alba, known for her roles in ‘Honey’ and ‘Sin City’ co-founded The Honest Company, which is a Baby and Beauty company driven by sustainable, clean, diverse, transparent and ethical values. Products not tested on animals and the shipping process is fully carbon neutral. Their products are also shipped in in fully recyclable packaging that is often refillable. it’s no wonder that The Honest Company really started a dialogue about how products are made and what’s in them.
NAJA - GINA RODRIGUEZ
Known for her part in ‘Jane the Virgin,’ Gina Rodriguez co-founded Naja, a sustainable lingerie company. Naja primarily hires single mothers to provide a great employment opportunity paying above the market wage with benefits. Children of staff receive books, school supplies, uniforms and meals as paid by Naja. Fabric for Naja is also printed using digital and sublimation printing processes which allows for minimal water waste. We love how much her company is helping out communities!
STELLA MCCARTNEY - STELLA MCCARTNEY
Stella McCartney, daughter of Sir Paul McCartney from The Beatles, founded a clothing line in her own namesake in 2001 and has continued to push for sustainability with her brand. McCartney released a vegan fragrance and vegan Falabella bag in 2008, expanded to sustainable kids wear and eco-friendly eyewear in 201. She released the first vegan Stan Smith shoes in 2018 leading to 2021 where McCartney was invited to the G7 Summit and United Nations of Climate Change Conference’s Sustainable Market Initiative. Later that year she created the first Mylo mycelium handbag in collaboration with Adidas. In 2022, she sold the mycelium bags commercially. So far, in 2023, McCartney has launched products created with MIRUM, BioSequins and regenerative cotton. The McCartney websit features information on Vegea - Grape based leather, Bananatex - Banana Plant Based Fibre, Mylo and Mirum - two plant based leather alternatives, recycled cashmere and plant friendly viscose. Who knew food and fashion could make such beautiful accessories?!