What the Sustainable Baddie Team Wore to NYFW FW25
from susty designers to recontextualizing clothes already in their closets
NYFW FW25 has come and gone, and we spent the week running around the city, hopping from one sustainable show to another to see what’s on the cutting edge of sustainable design. Of course, that also meant styling ourselves for the occasion, mixing pieces from our favorite sustainable designers with vintage, thrifted, and preloved finds.
Read on to see our team’s standout looks from the week!
Jazmine - Founder & Creative Director
I like to call this my “techno knight” outfit. The balaclava I'm wearing is actually made from upcycled headphones from a Back Market x Gab Bois collaboration but gives a chainmail vibe from afar. In addition to this Chopova Lowena skirt I'm borrowing from Hauteline and the refurbished iPad I'm wielding, I’m ready to save any damsel in distress.
Balaclava: Backmarket x Gabbois
Top: Damson Madder
Skirt: Chopova Lowena (via Hauteline)
Pants: Em On Holiday
Shoes + jacket: Prev
Everything else is secondhand
It all started with striped socks. I wanted a fun outfit to contrast the frigid day that awaited me. The only thing is that I was so comfortable at home and had on a pair of stripe socks I didn’t want to take off. (Bare feet on a cold floor? No thank you.) So, I unintentionally riffed off of them and threw on this striped ensemble. It ended up being a vibe I hadn’t really gone for before, and I loved it so much—all thanks to socks you can’t even see.
Button up: Marimekko
Pants: Damson Madder
Bag: Baggu
Trench: Secondhand Saks Potts (via Poshmark)
Earrings: My Dearest World
Blue Hair Clips: Chunks
Gloves: Taottao
Everything else is secondhand
Attended my first Selkie show and knew I had to channel my inner fairy princess. I threw on every frilly, pastel piece I owned and truly fell in love with this look. I’ve been afraid to embrace such a girly aesthetic, but f*ck it. I’m so done with preventing myself from trying out new aesthetics just out of fear of how I will be perceived.
Coat: Lirika Matoshi
Dress: JRat
Tights: Swedish Stockings
Shoes: Taottao
Purse: Dauphinette
Earrings: Pink Sessions
Everything else is secondhand
Natasha - Staff Writer & Content Producer
Maybe my favorite outfit of the whole week and the only one I hadn’t pre-planned! I tried really hard not to wear any black and was slightly inspired by that “How to Dress Like a Gucci model” audio from TikTok. I wore this to the Selkie show and then to Santos by Monica x Linh’s Lunar New Year party.
Coat: Found in a boutique in Vermont!
Striped Sweater: Sonia Rykiel Hand-me-down
Red Slip Dress: Simone Rocha (via The RealReal)
Red Mini Skirt: Valeria Anastasia
Bag: Coach (via Poshmark)
Boots: Found in a boutique in Paris!
I had this piece in my closet for a while now thinking it was a skirt that didn’t fit. I was about to resell it when, during my FW outfit brainstorming session, I realized it’s actually a corset… Anyway, it fits perfectly and I felt like a little scoliosis princess in this look. I wore this to the Caroline Zimbalist presentation!
Corset: Antique via Depop
Skirt: Simone Rocha (via The RealReal)
Shoes: Collina Strada x UGG
Bag: Simone Rocha (via SSENSE)
I really really love a pastel blue-and-yellow color combo (and a tulle underlayer). I stole my sister's boots and chose to wear my ludicrously capacious Miu Miu bag because this baddie was on the go that day and even had to make a pitstop at the post office! I wore this to the Taottao press preview, Cucculleli Shaheen show, and Wray x Megan O’Cain NYFW event.
Coat: Vintage via Depop
Yellow Dress: Vintage via Relique
Boots: Borrowed from my sister (lol)
Bag: Miu Miu (via The RealReal)
Dress Shirt Dress: Maison Margiela (via The RealReal)
Andrea - Staff Writer & Designer
I wore this to my first show (The Catwalk) at my first fashion week! In my personal style, I like altering and recontextualizing my wardrobe. Everything in this outfit was built around the skirt. I loved layering the pieces, and this was very much in line with how I would style myself on a normal day.
Top 1: UNIQLO HeatTech
Top 2: Ann Demeulemeester Dress worn and altered differently (via SSENSE)
Top 3: Fabric/cape I got from an LA warehouse sale
Skirt: Junya Watanabe CDG via James Veloria NYC
Shoes (not pictured): Columbia Ice Maiden. She’s waterproof. It was snowing. The equation made sense.
Bag (not pictured): Mihara Yasuhiro x Jas M.B (via Provoke418)
I wore this to Kim Mesches’ presentation. On this day, I wanted to pull out my favorite white button-down and once again challenge the idea of a school uniform. I enjoy the styling process of deconstructing the visual idea of a uniform and seeking out pieces that do the same. Identity and status ambivalence (Mackinney-Valentin) is definitely at play here.
Dress shirt: Maison Margiela Artisanal (via Wasteland)
Skirt: UNIQLO
Shoes: Ann Demeulemeester (via Poshmark)
Bag (not pictured): Mihara Yasuhiro x Jas M.B (via Provoke418)
I feel like I dressed how I would normally style myself for my first NYFW because I just can’t sacrifice my hashtag truth…but all that being said, I wore this to Taottao’s press review. None of my bags were pictured in the previous images (I apologize), but I’m fully supporting the return of Big Bags. I felt like utilizing garments as a form of protection and invisibility that day and this was the result.
Coat: Calvin Klein from a family friend 10+ years ago
Dress/Shirt: Y’s Yohji Yamamoto
Shoes: Ann Demeulemeester (via Poshmark)
Bag: Topologie
Patrick Kelly: A Legend of American Fashion and Culture
This article was contributed by a member of our beloved Sustainable Baddie community. -- A gay Black kid turned high-fashion designer from the Jim Crow South, specifically rural Mississippi, Patrick Kelly accomplished more than many fashion designers dream of in his short lifetime. Before he ever started designing, he had a knack for mending clothes already in his wardrobe and he enjoyed selling vintage pieces.