Shah Rukh Khan’s daughter and debutante actor Suhana Khan has spoken on something other than The Archies – against fast fashion. She praised Alia Bhatt for repeating her wedding saree to receive the 69th National Film Award for Best Actress for her role in Gangubai Kathiawadi. Alia, she said, was ‘making a statement’ toward recycling.
Usually, debutante actors rarely stray off script. So it’s kind of brave for Suhana Khan to speak up. But let’s not get carried away. It’s not exactly radical.
Yes, repeating an outfit is a cardinal sin in the entertainment industry. But no, Alia’s Sabyasachi Mukherjee wedding sari worth lakhs is not exactly going to bring down the carbon emission levels.
It’s only the elite and the well-heeled who can afford to talk about sustainable fashion. Because it is an expensive habit – organic fabric, fair trade practices and wages.
Suhana can and should go deeper into what recycling and sustainability really mean.
“Recently, Alia wore her wedding saree again for the National Awards, and I think as somebody with a platform, who has an influence, I thought that was incredible and a much-needed message,” said Suhana in a now-viral video. She brought in the aspect of environment in her statement, too.
“We don’t realise that making new garments creates waste, which impacts our biodiversity and environment. So, it’s very important,” she added as her co-stars from The Archies looked on. Repeating one insanely expensive designer outfit in a sea of glitzy Bollywood events won’t make a difference. Not one bit.
Celebrities must do more
Alia is hardly the first celebrity to have repeated her clothes. Actors like Deepika Padukone, Malaika Arora Khan, and Bhumi Pednekar have, on a few occasions, worn the same outfit. In an era where Instagram influencers are minting money out of styling one outfit in multiple ways, it really doesn’t make sense to laud a celebrity for repeating her beautiful designer saree twice.
Fast fashion, which focuses on the rapid production of cheap and trendy clothing, is one of the biggest contributors to carbon footprint across the globe. Even at the COP27 summit last year, designers pledged to reduce emissions drastically. But is repeating a dress – which stars often consider sacrilegious – enough to achieve it?
Celebrities, through advertisements and appearances, decide consumer trends. If they really want to make a difference, they should actively promote the repetition of clothes and buy from affordable, sustainable brands. Casually dissing fast fashion won’t help.
Sonam Kapoor recently spoke about ways to achieve this.
“For me, everything that I buy needs to be wearable for several years. I don’t believe in wearing it once and then returning it unless I’m borrowing an outfit for an event,” she said. It’s hard to tell if Sonam practices what she preaches, but she does manage to give one great solution–renting clothes instead of buying them. That, actually, would be a step toward sustainability in fashion.
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Stop glorifying the bare minimum
Sustainable fashion refers to fair-trade practices, ethically sourced materials, eco-friendly dyes, and better relationships with craftspeople, among other things.
But these sustainable products are also more expensive and can hardly be bought by everyone. Luxury brand Stella McCartney sells a pair of yoga pants for Rs 11,000 after discount, while Indian brand Beej sells postcards for Rs 1,200 or more. Clearly, resorting to fast fashion is much easier for most people.
We all want to wear what our favourite celebrities wear but can’t afford the same designers. In this case, fast fashion makes for the only affordable alternative.
So, the onus is on celebrities to do more than just lip service. They should stop glorifying the idea of wearing an outfit more than once. It is the bare minimum.
It’s a good start for Suhana Khan. But now, she really needs to get up to speed with this and go beyond hashtags.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)