By: Oura Miyazaki
People often perceive sustainable fashion as incompatible with luxury, high-end fashion looks, especially for those that celebrities present at red carpets. Star actress Emma Watson, however, disagrees. She skillfully incorporates environmentally-friendly materials and diligently considers ethical production processes when creating her red carpet looks. Watch her prove that fashion can be both beautiful and sustainable as we take a look at her splendid red carpet looks!
1. Converting Plastic Bottles into a Dress
In 2016, Emma Watson attended the esteemed Met Gala with a dress made from plastic bottles. She banded Eco Age and Calvin Clein together to create a dress that celebrates the theme, Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology. Watson showcased the power of technology by converting plastic bottles, materials that would otherwise be harmful to the environment, into yarns that created her stylish dress. She also paid careful attention to detail, making sure that the zips were recycled and that her inner bustier was made from organic cotton.
2. Upcycling 10 Wedding Dresses
Emma Watson took upcycling to an unprecedented level by gathering ten wedding dresses donated to Oxfam, a charity organization, and having designer Harris Reed convert them into a red (or green) carpet look. The curated dresses fall elegantly on a diagonal line while her handsome black trousers peek through the open space. The traditional trousers and black shoes suggest the groom’s look on a wedding day. Watson and Reed’s creativity, quite literally, creates a marriage of the bride and groom by reviving old wedding memories into a new look.
3. Not Wasting Fabric
For her movie premiere, Watson worked with Eco Age once again and utilized end-of-line fabrics to construct a beautiful baby blue gown. She collaborated with the Newzealand designer Emilia Wickstead to channel her inner Belle with a sustainable touch. The off-the-shoulder silouette perfectly suits the thick fabric.
4. Choosing Vintage
Turns out, Emma Watson was fashionably sustainable as early as 2009! Here, she wears a vintage Ossie Clarkson whose sheer fabric illuminates her whole look on a rainy premiere day. She proves that sustainable fashion can start from an action as simple as choosing a vintage attire for a big event.
5. Recreating a Runway Look with Sustainable Materials
In 2017, she asked Louis Vuitton to recreate a dress from their collection with eco-friendly materials. The graceful yet bold atmosphere of the dress is created from Oeko-Tex certified materials, which promises that materials contain no substances harmful to the environment. Watson pairs the dress with a sleeveless white graphic t-shirt and simple black heels. She satisfyingly embodies a high-end dress made from eco-friendly materials.
Emma Watson’s red carpet looks are so sustainable that they make the carpet green. I hope her ethical yet unquestionably fashionable looks have inspired you to consider upcycling, thrifting, and understanding the carbon footprint of the clothes you buy. If Emma Watson can do it for the red carpet, so can you for your everyday looks!