When heatwaves are recorded all across Europe, sea levels rise so high that severe floods flow across Japan, and hurricanes sweep through the US leaving chaos in its tracks, you know something’s up. The disasters of 2018 are telling of our greatest threat in thousands of years: climate change. And if we fail to take proper action, the fall of our civilizations and the destruction of our natural environment will continue to loom.
Chances are you’ve always viewed yourself as someone who cares about the environment. You separate the paper and plastic for recycling, and always throw your trash in the bins. But are you unknowingly contributing to the 1 million tonnes of waste a year by buying new clothes from your favorite brands? In just one generation, the number of clothes made every year has increased by 400%, and alarmingly a third of them will end up in a landfill somewhere. Thus making the fashion industry the second most polluting industry, right after the oil industry.
The pressures of staying on trend and the permanent diary of outfits on Instagram have lead to the success of fast fashion brands such as Zara, H&M and Topshop. Zara founder Amancio Ortega even temporarily knocked Bill Gates off the throne as the wealthiest person in the world in 2017. Sadly, it comes with a true cost. The Aral Sea in Kazakhstan once boasted being the fourth biggest lake in the world. Today, cotton production has completely drained the water as this man-made environmental tragedy reminds us that Earth and its inhabitants may be facing a desolate future.
Online sustainable fashion brand, The Black Market has teamed up with self-taught Berlin designer, Adrian Weiss for their first collaboration together: ‘WASTELAND.’ The collection of 24 pieces are an eclectic mix of upcycled and reworked vintage, comprising of a long coat made from curtains to a neon green football jersey transformed into a jacket. Adrian Weiss stresses the importance of supporting upcycled vintage amidst a sea of fast fashion, stating “I remember going through bags of discarded clothes and thinking to myself, I could make something really cool from this. Why waste when you can re-create?”
With a theme of the end of human civilization, and a techno-horror aesthetic, Berlin photographer, Markus Alexander Voigt offers glimpses into a survivor’s life and how one must grapple with all that is lost.
You can check out the exclusive The Black Market x Adrian Weiss collection here.
Credits
Photographer: Markus Alexander Voigt @truthordare235
Model: Alexia Hahn @ashus2ashus
Stylist: Lisa N’Paisan @lisa.kuro
Make-up: Alexia Hahn
Clothing: The Black Market x Adrian Weiss
