That same year, I became Karl Lagerfeld’s sustainability ambassador, designing our first collection of Karl’s renowned K/Kushion bag in vegan cactus leather. We are about to launch our fourth this year. As exciting as it is to create beautiful and meaningful fashion, the important work that I have done in collaboration with KL – championed by its CEO, Pier Paolo Righi – has been to support the team’s overall efforts to make real changes within its supply chain and regarding its carbon footprint.
In 2022, at the United Nations in New York, I lobbied government leaders to protect our oceans from the harm caused by human exploitation and the climate crisis. While at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit, I discussed the need for investment in sustainable fabrics onstage – purchasing carbon offsets every time I caught a flight. I was arrested multiple times alongside Jane Fonda during her Fire Drill Friday protests outside the US Congress demanding the end of fossil fuels and the transition to renewable energy.
If I had written this article 12 months ago, I might have quoted you statistics about CO2 emissions and deforestation rates, but you know that the numbers are bad. We all do. And we’re all overwhelmed by it. Paralysed by the scale of the issue. To move forwards, I’ve had to lean into the tenets that have guided me in my sobriety, and remind myself to take each day as it comes. It’s about working together to change our outlook. As counterintuitive – and difficult – as it may seem, we’ve got to shift our mindset about the environment from one of fear to joy and love, of sacrifice to enjoyment. It’s a relief to consume less, to no longer be burdened by possessions you never needed in the first place. Being still and present is a luxury. Every sustainable choice you make, however small, isn’t just good for the planet, but an act of self-care, repaid in whatever your equivalent of Oklahoma skies are. The fact that everyone and everything on this planet is interconnected isn’t a curse, it’s a blessing – and a source of infinite hope. Finding time to be quiet in this overly stimulated and noisy culture is a way to summon more peace within oneself and the planet.
And if you’re unsure of where to begin?
Go play outside, and use your imagination.
The January 2024 issue of British Vogue is on newsstands from Tuesday 19 December
Hair: Shingo Shibata. Make-up: Kanako Takase. Nails: Trish Lomax. Movement director: Eric Christison. Set design: Max Bellhouse. Production: Farago Projects. Digital artwork: Meredith Motley.
