Top Celebrities Promoting Sustainable Fashion

More and more celebrities are promoting sustainable fashion. Here are some of our faves!

By Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi

Being a public figure comes with responsibilities, because – for better or worse – people still do look up to celebrities. Not just for how they look, or how they carry out their profession, but for what lifestyle they embrace. 

Luckily, in a world that needs ever-more awareness about environmental issues, there are various superstars who lead by example. For example, in the field of fashion, some A-listers, such as Rosario Dawson, have founded ethical clothing businesses. Others, such as Leo DiCaprio, have partnered with organisations that aim to save endangered species through the sale of capsule fashion collections. And still others, such as Emma Watson, insist on wearing ‘green’ outfits to show others how stylish these options can be.

Whether it’s by regularly wearing clothes made out of organic materials, launching an eco-fashion label or by shopping secondhand, celebrities promoting sustainable fashion really inspire us! Here are a few of our favourites, below.

Top Celebrities Promoting Sustainable Fashion

rooney mara clothing line

1. Rooney Mara

The Welsh word hiraeth is truly beautiful. It means a spiritual longing for a home that perhaps never was; a nostalgia for ancient places to which we cannot return.

Along these lines, Rooney Mara’s vegan brand Hiraeth Collective — which she created with Sara Schloat and Chrys Wong — is reflection of the lost places in our soul, and our grief for them. This connects to the way we are treating our planet. It can refer to a ‘lost Eden’, if you will.

The actress, who is also heiress to the Max Mara dynasty, knows fashion. She’s trying to transform the industry into a planet-and-animal-friendly one by creating ethical vegan fashion and accessories boasting top-notch craftsmanship and functionality. 

Photo Credit: Instagram @hiraeth.collective

rooney mara

2. Leonardo DiCaprio

The actor counts a variety of initiatives under his belt to save the planet, and some of these include fashion. For example, in 2018 he invested in sustainable footwear brand Allbirds. That same year, he joined forces with none other than Dr Jane Goodall to launch a vegan clothing line. The aim? To save primates! The partnership, called Don’t Let Them Disappear, featured a limited-edition vegan apparel line to support ape conservation around the world.

The collection included organic T-shirts, a hoodie, and an eco-fleece crewneck sweatshirt. All featured a unique design inscribed with the words: “Don’t Let Them Disappear.” Every item honoured five species of apes, whose natural habitats have been lost due to human industrial malpractices. Specifically, these are: gibbons, chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans. Of course, the entire range sold out in weeks.

And as for Allbirds – it’s still one of our fave vegan shoe brands of all time!

Photo Credit: Facebook Dr. Jane Goodall

jane goodall and leo dicaprio

3. Olivia Wilde

Olivia Wilde is probably one of the best known celebrities promoting sustainable fashion. She’s done so much! For example, she was the face of H&M’s Ethical Collection. She has also launched her own clothing line with ThredUP, a platform that sells used clothing. Her capsule collection, Choose Used, celebrates second-hand styles as a solution to the harmful effects of textile waste.

Wilde is also a co-founder of Conscious Commerce, a creative incubator aimed at supporting sustainably created and ethically sourced products, brands, and ideas. “For me conscious just means ‘with awareness,’” she once told Mashable. “It’s having some knowledge of whatever it is you’re dealing with. Now we are eating more consciously because we’re wondering where things are coming from. In terms of fashion, it’s wondering how something was made, what was used to make it, who made it and what can I do to be less wasteful when I get rid of it.”

Photo Credit: Instagram @thredup

Celebrities Promoting Sustainable Fashion

 4. Xenia Adonts

The powerhouse Instagram influencer was a member of Forbes 30 under 30 list in 2021 and rose to stardom after launching her own sustainable fashion company, Attire The Studio, in 2019. The Russian-born model is using her platform to promote sustainability and has recently partnered with TENCEL™’s #MakeItFeelRight campaign.

The campaign seeks to garner pledges on Instagram and TikTok, and will plant a tree for every consumer pledge. Using her platform, Xenia is encouraging people to take part and show their fashion by debunking the myth that sustainable fashion isn’t beautiful.

 Photo credit: Instagram @xeniaadonts

5. Emma Watson

The Harry Potter actress is yet another of the best known celebrities promoting sustainable fashion. She’s done a lot to promote green fashion via various collabs.

For example, in 2011 she worked with Alberta Ferretti on an ethical fashion collection called Pure Threads. Shortly after, she partnered with People Tree on a series of more casual sustainable clothing.

In 2016 at the Met Gala, she wore a custom-made sustainable dress designed by Calvin Klein and Eco Age. And with the latter, Emma created a separate Instagram specifically for her Beauty and The Beast press tour where she promoted looks from her ethical wardrobe.

Besides partnering with labels, Watson also has come up with campaigns like the #30wears challenge. With this, she encouraged fans to extend the life of their garments to reduce waste.

Photo Credit: Instagram @the_press_tour

Celebrities Promoting Sustainable Fashion

6. Rosario Dawson

Way back in 2013, Rosario Dawson teamed up with her longtime friend Abrima Erwiah (former Bottega Veneta communications executive) to launch a fashion social enterprise based in Ghana and the United States. Their mission? To promote African-inspired fashion. And that’s how Studio One Eighty Nine was born!

The artisanal skills used to make their collections honour African heritage, nature, and workers. Dawson’s enterprise also champions sustainable plant-based dyeing techniques, community-led initiatives, and the empowerment of female artisans in Africa.

Photo Credit: Instagram @studiooneeightynine 

Celebrities Promoting Sustainable Fashion

7. Robin Wright

The House of Cards star is another of our top celebrities promoting sustainable fashion. She’s using her clothing line not only to fight for the planet, but for women’s rights, too.

Pour Les Femmes is the ethical fashion brand that Robin Wright created with her friend Karen Fowler. They launched it after taking a trip to Congo, where they were touched after witnessing the struggles of local women. The duo decided to create a sustainable fashion line that would give back to women in regions of conflict around the world.

This label focuses on a category of clothing that is often neglected, but that we all need: sleepwear! The soft organic cotton and bamboo used for the collections is gentle on the skin, and has been produced in Fair Trade conditions. Oh, and nothing goes to waste at Pour Les Femmes. In fact, the brand transforms leftover material into cute lingerie bags and eye masks.

Photo Credit: Instagram @pourlesfemmesofficial

Celebrities Promoting Sustainable Fashion

8. Michael Fassbender

Michael Fassbender is one of the more surprising celebrities promoting sustainable fashion. He does this mainly by example. To illustrate, back in 2012, he wore an eco-friendly Giorgio Armani suit to the BAFTA awards. And in 2016 he appeared on the red carpet of the Golden Globes to promote the Green Carpet Challenge. On that occasion, he wore a Tom Ford tuxedo made out of Oeko-Tex, a low environmental impact–certified European spun wool.

Fassbender is also a great supporter of hemp-based fabrics. He was greatly enthused when Jacqueline Durran, the costume designer for the film Macbeth (where he played the titular character), decided to use hemp and nettle fibres for the casts’ wardrobes.

Photo Credit: Instagram @tomford

9. Kate Hudson

In 2013, Kate Hudson, along with co-founders Adam Goldenberg and Don Ressler, launched a fashion-forward activewear brand called Fabletics. Throughout the years, the label has evolved with the needs of our era. Consequently, in 2019 Hudson launched an eco-friendly, ready-to-wear line whose name says it all: Happy x Nature.

The style of this line reflects the actress’ free-spirited West Coast style. But most importantly, it reflects a shift towards sustainability by the brand. They’ve started to use recycled PET bottles and organic cotton in their designs, for example. But it doesn’t end there! Fabletics has swapped plastic for biodegradable packaging, and all their physical stores are now climate neutral.

Photo Credit: Instagram @katehudson

fabletics

10. Nicky Hilton 

The American socialite is another of our top celebrities promoting sustainable fashion. Besides designing collections for other labels and developing her own clothing line, Nicky Hilton — as she has revealed in our exclusive interview — has recently ventured into the field of vegan footwear.

The Nicky Hilton x French Sole collection is the forth time the designing duo have worked together. But for this occasion, the shoes are 100% cruelty free. The line is available through Amanda Hearst’s ethical luxury fashion platform, Maison-De-Mode.com. It’s mainly characterised by espadrilles and flats made using recycled cotton, recycled polyester, recycled linen, vegan microfibre and organic canvas.

To make her shoe line even more ethical, Nicky donated 10% of her April sales to Well Beings Charity, an environmental and animal welfare organisation.

Photo Credit: Instagram @french_sole

nicky hilton shoes

Do you know of any other celebrities promoting sustainable fashion? Let us know in the comments, below!

Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi
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