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Getting thrifty with it
The Academy of Natural Sciences presents The Ecology of Fashion
As I grow older, I am increasingly drawn to sustainable, eco-friendly fashion that provides its artisans with living wages. From November 16 to August 31, 2025, The Ecology of Fashion will feature items from the Robert and Penny Fox Historic Costume collection. Using designers such as Oscar de la Renta, Givenchy, as well as Levi Strauss & Co., it will explore how mass production impacts us environmentally. Through the exhibit, we will learn how to use thrifting, traditional agricultural practices, and ethical work environments to produce creative clothes that avoid harming our ecosystem.
Slowdown fast fashion
Because I am nostalgic and incredibly cheap, I love reviewing secondhand fashions sold on Etsy, Poshmark, and eBay. If I can’t find it in my mother’s closet, then I’ll find it in someone else’s. I am increasingly suspicious of new clothing at low cost. Although fast fashion appears economical in the short term, in the long term, it potentially ruins the environment and takes advantage of global workers. 93% of 311 brands surveyed by the Clean Clothes Campaign don’t pay their workers a living wage. Plus, fashion is the third highest producer of greenhouse gases. Clothing manufacturing greatly contributes to climate change, even more than “international aviation and shipping combined,” while 85% of clothing purchased winds up in a landfill.
The collaboration between Drexel’s Westphal College of Media Arts and Design and Drexel’s Academy of Natural Sciences is incredibly well-timed. By inspecting how fungi and fossil fuels are endemic to the clothing industry, it will also investigate how our contemporary processes impact the surrounding world. However, I am particularly excited for the exhibit because it includes a sneak peek at garments inside the Robert and Penny Fox Historic Costume Collection, which contains 14,000 fashion-related items from designers such as Dior and Chanel. I love this combination of science and fashion, which will inform yet entertain.
This is perfect for teenage and adult fashion mavens. Did you know single style trends like a coat worn by Jackie Kennedy can have detrimental effects? Right now, natural slouchy handbags are the rage from luxury sellers down to Target. We need to learn how to be careful so this trend cycle does not conclude in a landfill. If you miss the Friday, November 15, opening, you can still catch other informative workshops throughout the exhibit’s run.
At top: Evening gown by Oscar de la Renta. (Photo courtesy of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University.)
What, When, Where
The Ecology of Fashion. $10-$29. November 16, 2024-August 31, 2025, at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103. (215) 299-1000 or ansp.org.
Accessibility
The museum is wheelchair accessible. See the Academy of Natural Sciences website for additional information.
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