As fashion rapidly cycles through new styles and trends, conversations centering sustainability have surfaced. Students provided insight into their own takes on sustainable fashion, from opinions on the benefits of second-hand shopping to the hurdles that come with only buying from sustainable brands.
A popular way to incorporate sustainability into fashion is through the practice of thrifting. With the Andover Thrift Shop located downtown, thrifting has become both a pastime and sustainable option for students. Anastasie Sycheva ’29 explained that she turns to second-hand clothing as the most eco-friendly choice, even over sustainable brands.
“I [would not] buy [clothes] at all if it’s unnecessary. Even if you’re buying from sustainable brands, something is still being created. So thrifting is honestly the best option, especially trying to use what you have in your closet already and hand me downs from families is what’s best. I think it’s important to always be considerate of how much you buy. Always consider what you need rather than just what you want,” said Sycheva.
Zorah Williams ’26 shared Sycheva’s outlook, finding thrifting a more accessible and easy way of spending. Williams highlighted that buying second-hand is not only sustainable, but also meets her standards of comfort and quality.
“I love shopping secondhand. It’s more sustainable [and] you can extend the life span of a piece of clothing. There’s [also] so many things that you can never find online because companies are always pushing new trends down your throat. I’ve been lucky that my grandmother saved and took care of her clothes really well, and my mother’s clothes really well. I wear a ton of clothes from my grandmother’s house because they were made when the U.S. had labor unions for textile manufacturers and before textile manufacturing left the U.S. They [have] amazing quality clothing that’s lasted 50, 60 years. [It’s also] the kind of quality you [can’t] get in fast fashion either,” said Williams.
For students such as Linda Yue ’29, sustainable clothing is often less appealing due to its high price point. She noted that, while sustainable fashion aligns with ethical values, its higher cost can deter potential buyers.
“Sustainable clothing, because it requires more sustainable practices, things like [not] relying on child labor or foreign labor to [manufacture] clothing, [is] more expensive [and] unattractive to many buyers. Additionally, sustainable practices create more limited clothing options. Sometimes you’re looking for a specific style or very trendy style, it’s hard to find that within sustainable or secondhand stores,” said Yue.
Building on Yue’s sentiments, Jason Cai ’28 explained the difficulties in making fully ethical choices in today’s fashion industry. His view highlighted a challenge many students face: trying to make thoughtful choices while working with limited time, information, and options.
“With our modern model of fashion and the mass commercialization of products, it is almost entirely impossible to completely avoid fast fashion. [A lot of brands] don’t publicly expose where their materials are being produced. Even though they might not be explicitly marked as fast fashion, they might still be fast fashion. I avoid brands that are very prominently known to use fast fashion strategies to produce clothing, but I also cannot perform an in-depth research project on every single brand that I purchased from both from a logistics and timed perspective,” said Cai.
