Social Pics: IMAGE x Drinks Ireland Sustainable Styling Session at Venue 35

In an evening all about the importance of curbing our fast fashion habits, the audience learned a lot from our panel of experts

How can I keep my style up to date while making sustainable choices? It’s the question that many of us are grappling with these days, as 2019 has surely become the year of sustainability. Fashion is the one industry we all indulge in ad nauseum but when you think about the environmental impact of our need to constantly stay on-trend, it really does pack a punch.

Last night in the glamorous surroundings of Venue 35 on Anne’s Lane in Dublin, lovers of fashion and those interested in more sustainable wardrobe options gathered to discuss our love of fast fashion. With drinks by Drinks Ireland, IMAGE’s partner for the evening and advocates for sustainability themselves, and canapés, the audience settled in to listen to a panel of experts dish their tips for beating the fast fashion beast.

Hosted by IMAGE’s own Acting Digital Editor Katie Byrne, first up was a catwalk session with stylist Justine King, who let us in on her industry favourites for shopping sustainably. With looks from both high street sustainable collections and vintage selections, there was a great range of styles and price ranges to suit every taste and budget.

Justine herself discussed her own transition to more of a practical approach to shopping the high street — instead of grabbing every new-in piece on a weekly basis, she now considers her purchases much more closely, and is working to abandon the societal stigma we now have against being seen in the same outfit twice.

After some fabulous looks, we then moved onto a panel discussion with Katie, Justine and Ella De Guzman, founder of luxury consignment store Siopaella — and this is where interests were really piqued. Ella was there to talk about how looking at luxury shopping as an investment can be a great earner for fashion lovers, and can shift our perspective from buying cheap to buying responsibly.

Ella let the audience in on the figures that some luxury items can attract from consignment buyers like Siopaella, and the profits are on the rise. And her top tip for looking after your designer handbags? Keep your make-up in a ziplock pouch — nothing can get foundation out of a good handbag.