After the Met Gala on Monday, April 22, all people can talk about is fashion. Every celebrity who attends the gala has to be ready for every inch of their glamorous outfits to be dissected by complete strangers on the internet. This year especially, many people were infuriated by the Met’s guests’ inability to stick to the theme: Gilded Glamour, which essentially represents the age that spanned from 1870 to 1890 and denotes a time of prosperity, industrialization and growth. But an outfit can be more important than just its looks as many celebrities demonstrated at this year’s Met Gala.

I know that statement may sound crazy. You’re probably wondering ‘What more is there to an outfit, other than its looks?’ The answer is sustainability.

Sustainable fashion is fashion that is produced in a way that is considerate of both humanity and the environment. For example, sustainable fashion can be vegan and cruelty-free, upcycled or meet ethical labor standards.

For a fashion company’s production to meet ethical labor standards, employees need to be treated with respect, employees cannot be subject to any kind of abuse and the production cannot involve forced labor as stated by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The main goal of sustainable fashion is to create a system of production that is efficient without creating a negative footprint.

Although sustainable fashion is a relatively new idea, it has already gained tons of support. Many guests at the Met Gala demonstrated their support by showing up in completely sustainable outfits. Some of these considerate celebs include Emma Stone, who rewore her wedding dress; Shawn Mendes, who sported a look made entirely of seasonal fabrics that are no longer sold; Camilla Cabello, who also appeared in a look made of fully upcycled fabrics; Billie Eilish, who walked the carpet in a Gucci gown made of completely upcycled textiles, and Kim Kardashian, who wore Marilyn Monroe’s iconic dress that she sang happy birthday to JFK in.

Embed from Getty Images

Now I know that these celebrities’ looks may not have fit the theme or been particularly Met Gala-worthy, but at least they used their platform at such a prestigious event to promote sustainability. Sustainability is so important to not only our environment but the integrity of the workforce. With that being said, it is very admirable that these celebs chose to promote something for the greater good while at such an elitist event. And in my eyes, their statement was much more important than the cuteness of their outfit.

With the current state of our environment, we need to be doing as much as we can to make a difference. I know it may be hard to stop buying super cute clothes for such a cheap price from sites like Shein and Romwe, but it is so important that we try our best to make a change. Maybe try thrifting instead of heading down to the mall. Or donate your clothes instead of throwing them away. No change is too small, because at the end of the day it’s one less item of clothing that ends up in a landfill polluting the environment.