The BAFTA's are back and trying something new with guests walking the runway in old and new clothing after being encouraged to re-wear outfits in an attempt to be more sustainable. I was lucky enough to experience the efforts to improve our climate action first hand after winning front row seats to the awards red carpet.
Whilst the action itself won’t have made a huge imprint on our nations climate footprint, it produced great publicity and reiterated the need for more sustainable choices. To be honest, the direct action of re-wearing outfits for an awards show is not extremely sustainable but the notion forced conversations about climate change.
Just the day after the BAFTAS Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain criticised the idea suggesting that it was merely a superficial action. However, it did encourage further debate about climate change and ensure that it was the focal point in the next day news.
My personal favourite dress of the night was Gillian Anderson’s classic black dress. Paired with a contrasting silver necklace, the ensemble created a perfectly elegant outfit. I also adored Olivia Colman’s dress - a sheer black gown embroidered with bright coloured flowers. The later also wore lab-grown diamond earrings rather than mined diamonds. Similarly, Daisy Ridley also chose to wear a stunning green gown that had been made using sustainably sustained fabrics.
All three of guests were extremely nice when I had the pleasure of meeting them. However, the only guest to re-wear a dress she had previously worn before was the Duchess of Cambridge who re-wore her Alexander McQueen dress that she had previously worn whilst on tour in 2012.
The dress code was also matched with a reused red carpet and a plant-based menu. Again, these act as symbols to promote sustainability and encourage discussion rather than actually combat climate change. However, the use of private jets by many of the guests massively undermine the award show’s central message.
many of the dresses were on loan in order to be more sustainable
Whilst many of the guests still docked outfits from recent lines, the notion still encouraged debate and forced climate change to the forefront of news stories. Therefore, I believe that it should still be encouraged at other award shows in order to ensure that sustainability is always present in the mainstream media. As many of the dresses were on loan in order to be more sustainable it still ensured that the red carpet was extremely fashion-forward.
