In our current fashion and beauty landscape, you would be hard pressed to find a brand without language around their commitment to sustainability. Terms like “zero waste”, “planet-friendly”, “ethical”, or “recyclable” are ubiquitous. Today’s shrewd consumer needs to trust that the intent behind these words is more than just a greenwashing marketing tactic. 

Marketing teams know that influencer partnerships are a critical tool to driving awareness and adoption. They are an unparalleled form of content production, creating native ads that resonate with a target demographic in a more genuine way than most traditional advertising strategies. The buzz created from that influencer’s post feeds back to the brand’s own social media engagement. 

Fashion and beauty brands in the sustainability sphere are no exception. One of the best ways that these brands can show their dedication to planet-friendly practices is through a genuine, unfiltered review from a fashion influencer with a loyal following.

The sustainable fashion influencer is a new generation of influencer – individuals who have built communities that not only admire an #OOTD but also count on tips like choosing secondhand first, forming eco-friendly habits, or discovering brands that are better for the planet.

We’ve identified ten stellar sustainability influencers who hit that sweet spot of sharing crystal clear product information with flair and authenticity:

@chloegoslowly

Chloe is an Instagram fashion influencer who brings a bright, colorful, and positive lens to sustainability in fashion. Her content particularly stands out; important resources on topics such as anti-racism and mental health are highlighted through bold fashion. Especially in such a highly connected era, it’s refreshing to see Chloe prioritizing offline self-care while also sharing how she’d put together a look from a newly discovered sustainable clothing brand.

@aditimayer

Aditi takes a powerful, beautiful stance on the sustainable fashion movement. Her Instagram bio says it all, “Decolonizing style, sustainability & social justice.” With expertise in photojournalism, filmmaking, modeling, and public speaking, she’s able to craft exceptionally high-quality content that inspires her community to make ethical fashion choices. Aditi is only just getting started as she’ll be spending 2022 working as a National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellow.  This honor includes one year documenting the social and environmental impacts of India’s fashion supply chain.

@climatediva

Summer Dean (aka Climate Diva) is a blogger, writer, and model. Her passion is spreading awareness on the climate crisis, sustainable fashion, and low-waste beauty. Summer has cultivated a community who rely on her to take highly complex environmental issues and distill them into fun and easy-to-understand content. Even when promoting new, sustainable brands she’s careful to emphasize mindful consumption. Her message is quality over quantity, and fans trust this any time Summer shares a new product.

@fashionwithouttrashin

Jade Myers is the woman behind Fashion Without Trashin’. What started as a side hustle selling clothes on Poshmark, has since turned into a full-time career. Jade has even opened her own sustainable clothing store in New York! Whether she’s giving a behind the scenes look into her entrepreneurship journey, decorating her home with rare vintage finds, or sharing the process of how she redirected over 50,000 articles of clothing from landfill last year alone, she’s a force to be reckoned within the fashion influencer industry.

What she looks for in a brand partnership: “I would say that it should be a brand that you genuinely use, and if you haven’t used it yet then they should be okay with you having time to try the product before committing to promoting it. The brand should align with your values and campaign guidelines should not ask that you mislead or exaggerate in any way.”

@clothedinabundance

Minimalism is the name of the game for Deborah Shepherd’s content on Clothed in Abundance. Across Instagram and YouTube, she shares how she overcame a shopping addiction in favor of a curated closet mindfully filled with thrifted and ethical finds. As a Black plus-sized content creator, she is a voice for a frequently underrepresented population. She has a critical eye on the fashion world, working with brands who are truly race and size inclusive. Deb takes her followers through the process of creating a capsule wardrobe, mixing secondhand staples with her favorite size-inclusive brands.

@bren_dun

Brendan is an LGBTQ influencer serving thrifted looks of the day while amplifying the queer voice in fashion. He’s garnered a large and loyal following on TikTok, where he’s known as the “gender-queer-thrift-store-queen”. Whether it’s a summer wedding, a vacation, or a rainy day, he shares colorful and stylish outfits that prove the most fashionable outfit is the one we feel like our truest selves in.

@marinatestino

Marina Testino is a globe-trotting fashion activist (or if you ask her, ARTivist) based in New York City. Related to the iconic photographer Mario Testino, she uses her voice to fight overconsumption through her sustainability-driven presence across the Internet. In her #OneDressToImpress campaign she wore the same red suit every day for two months. She’s doing it yet again this fashion week, wearing a purple suit by the produced, designed and origin-validated along with Supima, Albini 1876, Tiziano Guardini and Oritain. Through Marina’s #SustainableFridays initiative she showcases sustainable brands across the world, so that anyone and everyone can discover planet-friendly alternatives the next time they’re looking to make a purchase. From Marina directly, a sustainable fashion brand is one that tries its best to leave zero or minimal carbon and water footprints, aspires to produce in new ways, and accepts no compromises in achieving sustainable, high-quality products.

What she looks for in a brand partnership: Commitment to sustainable transformation, transparency, and traceability. While acknowledging sustainability has a varied and broad definition, she wants any potential partner to be willing to make progress, be transparent and provide proof of traceability in their supply chain.

@thediscerningbrute

Joshua Katcher shares a queer, male, and vegan voice in the world of sustainable fashion through his highly popular Instagram account. As a Board Member for the non-profit Collective Fashion Justice, he’s a fashion influencer with a purpose. Studies have shown that 83% of men are inspired to make a purchase based on an influencer recommendation, so the brands he discovers are done so with care and intention. He’s even founded his own brand of vegan leather men’s shoes.

@nihaelety

Niha’s vibrant Instagram feed goes beyond the typical fashion influencer content. She blends colorful style and eye-catching makeup with actionable resources to solve the fashion industry’s problems. For example, in a recent partnership with a BIPOC-owned slow fashion label based in LA, she paired her look with the key things to look for when identifying sustainability in a brand. Her community sees her values through her content. In an interview with Remake Niha said, “You don’t have to sacrifice your style to be sustainable. In fact, it actually helps you create your own unique and authentic style.”

What she looks for in a brand partnership: For Niha, it’s an imperative that any brand she works with be an enriching ecosystem for anyone working for that brand. This includes livable wages, just treatment, and culture. She looks for brands who focus on restorative justice for people and the planet, value artisanship, and amplify the cultural roots of craft communities. “I need the brand to give back or support the communities they work with or speak out about through donations, relationships, and resources.”

@theconsciousbrunette

Elizabeth Harrington helps her community curate a conscious life through clean beauty, sustainable style, and everything in between. She’s created an engaged community by showing an authentic life, from which low-waste skincare products are currently in her vanity to relationship updates. All of her content ties back to a broader mission of showing how to lead a clean, eco-friendly, happy lifestyle. For example, her recent wedding scored her a feature in The Knot’s sustainability issue.

@dominiquedrakeford

Dominique Drakeford is redefining sustainability by carving the path for inclusive representation in fashion. Through her digital platform MelaninASS (Melanin And Sustainable Style) and as the co-founder of Sustainable Brooklyn, she is dedicated to bridging the gap between the sustainability movement and targeted communities. Dominique truly does it all while looking incredibly chic. She teaches her audience that there are many layers to sustainability, that it “also means supporting indie brands by POC that may or may not always be created with an environmental ethos—but have messages that support a cultural or political one.” Dominique’s voice reaches far and wide having been featured in major publications like Elle and Vogue.

Brands know that sustainability is no longer a choice. According to a 2020 McKinsey study, “[brands] must address increasing consumer concerns over sustainability if they want to secure their future”. The trick is showing that genuine commitment in a differentiated way despite being in a crowded market. Influencer marketing is an instrumental tool that brings this commitment to fruition. These seven influencers, and so many others, put a face behind a brand. They teach people fiscal responsibility by revealing their own passionate personalities in a time where the Internet is so prevalent in the world.