Using DIY to mimic catwalk trends

When fashion weeks come round twice a year, my Instagram is flooded with catwalk images of glamourous models wearing the latest eye-wateringly expensive garments from iconic designers. Even though we see and love these items at the top of the fashion food chain, most of us can only afford the cheap imitations at the bottom. The ‘trickle down’ theory is the idea that those designing for a lower price range (think fast fashion brands) take something they think will be popular from the catwalk shows, then imitate it cheaply. This means the masses can access features of the designer brands, but on a low budget. This just increases our desire to buy fast fashion – if these imitations are all we can afford, then that’s what we buy. But could we make sustainable options instead?

Micro skirt: Miu Miu v Fashion Nova

Some catwalk trends are easy to replicate – think the Miu Miu micro-skirts for example. They took the fashion world by storm when they dropped in October 2021 in the Spring Summer show, but instead of buying a fast fashion copy like this one from Fashion Nova that’s made from polyester, you can make your own! Maybe you still have pleated skirts from school shoved in the back of a cupboard somewhere, or you spot a skirt in a second-hand store you like. All you have to do then is take a deep breath and chop most of it off!

Crafts: Valentino v Shein

Crafts have made a resurgence in fashion, but sadly many hand-crafted techniques cannot be replicated on machines, so the hours of work being put into them by garment workers are not being compensated. So, try to avoid pieces that contribute to this worker exploitation, like this top from Shein, and instead, take the summer holiday as time to learn a new skill. YouTube videos and instructional books are easy to find due to craft’s popularity, so give it a go! By the next academic year, you could have an on-trend crochet top or a hand-knitted jumper, without exploiting women around the world to get them.

Fashion history: Gigi Hadid v BooHoo

Trends in fashion are cyclical – things that are popular don’t just go away but come back decades later. I’m sure we’ve all seen the Y2K resurgence and other decades like the 90s (think high-waisted mom jeans and butterfly clips) and the 70s (flared trousers and lots of brown and orange), but rather than buying a copy from BooHoo, try and get the real thing! Have a look in your relatives’ attics to see what you can find or go to a charity/thrift shop to look at what people have donated. Even if it’s not quite the same, maybe you could customise some plain flares with paisley embroidery or turn up the cuffs of your jeans and secure them with a little stitch to mimic the mom style.

Even if sewing is not your thing, with a little bit of effort, we can replicate those seemingly unattainable catwalk trends in a sustainable and affordable way. We don’t have to harm the planet to be part of trendy fashion movements and we don’t have to take out a loan to pay for them either!

- Tegan