Boo Hoo: Kourtney Kardashian-Barker's Fashion Flop
Image Courtesy: Strike Magazine Tallahassee
For the fifth day of New York Fashion Week, Mrs. Kourtney Kardashian-Barker debuted her novel clothing line with the affordable British fashion company Boohoo. While it isn’t her first foray into the fashion sphere, like when her entire wedding became seemingly sponsored by Dolce & Gabbana earlier this year, she certainly left a bitter, kale-green taste in critics' mouths in terms of sustainability.
Image Courtesy: Page Six
From a purely aesthetic standpoint, the collection appears to target the average L.A. social media influencer whose individuality complex has forced them to flock toward a more grunge/alternative aesthetic. It’s a perfect marriage between the suburban alt kids who weren’t alive during Blink-182's peak but dress in head-to-toe Shein, and the Y2K baddies who continued watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians in hopes of seeing Pete Davidson.
Image Courtesy: Dan Lecca, Courtesy of Boohoo & Fashionista
The looks, while albeit a little basic, don’t cause much-intended harm alone. But, with the increased demands for changes in sustainability and pollution, the cries for the planet have been met with fashion’s latest fad: greenwashing. While some companies are certainly making strides toward repurposing fabric scraps and using materials without microplastics and acrylic, this “sustainable” line is masquerading as one of them.
Greenwashing serves as the bridge between small environmental changes that create very little added cost and performative activism. As reported by Vogue: According to Fashion Revolution’s 2022 Fashion Transparency Index, Boohoo earned a score of 28% out of hundreds of well-known brands that fail to disclose their true environmental, social, and economic practices. Many of these companies feign any interest in minimizing the effects of one of the largest contributing industries to Climate Change and pollution and yet have no intention of altering their business practices anytime soon.
Image Courtesy: People Magazine
While Kardashian-Barker's line has 41 out of 45 pieces made with recycled materials, Boohoo still refuses to fess up as to what percent of the whole collection is reused and not simply made with cotton and synthetic-infused fabrics. The blurb on Boohoo’s website explaining the intent behind the project also suggests that the company would provide more insight into their less-than-ideal business practices, which is reinforced by their three-episode “docuseries” on YouTube. Just as vague as before, the videos feature Kardashian-Barker discussing the importance of sustainability with the company’s representatives that echo the same buzz words with no real intent behind them. By now, there is more than enough scientific evidence that fast fashion hurts our planet and in what ways people can make efforts to slow the effects, but change is a deterrent for the financially motivated.
Image Courtesy: The Guardian
The beef here isn’t necessarily with Kourtney Kardashian-Barker; and although the press has thoroughly reamed her collection, she did make somewhat of a push toward normalizing clothing made of recycled materials. The fight to stop adding to the millions of tons of fabric sitting in landfills doesn’t happen if we keep ordering clothes from well-known fast fashion giants like Shein, Boohoo, and even Amazon. The power lies in the hands of the consumers to spend their money wisely and invest not only in their clothing but their future.
Strike Out,
Writer: Isabel Wilder
Editor: Addy Crosby
Graphic Designer: Sam Lawless
Tallahassee