Fashion with a Conscience – Plant Faced Clothing
Zef culture is an interesting one, as, at least from the outside, it appears to be a movement that has been derived from a state of shame and of national melancholiac sentiments and a way for Afrikaner to self-parody in post-apartheid South Africa.
The South African group Die Antwoord channels its alchemy around the incorporation of local counterculture movements to spice up their musical emissions with anarchic sub-cultural nuances.
Word around the campfire has that Yolandi Visser of Die Antwoord once described the essence of Zef as being poor “but you're sexy, you've got style."
While the point about being impecunious does not necessarily apply to the clientele of Plant Faced Clothing, the latter definitely holds true when it comes to their plant-based and ethical fashion movement, which is geared at preserving our planet to actively support the non-harming or exploitation of any beings - humans, animals, or plants.
The common denominator between Die Antwoord and Plant Faced Clothing is that one of their sweaters is adorned with an excerpt from “Baby’s on Fire”, which was my first exposure to the streetwear brand with a conscience.
What I instantaneously liked about the sweater is the attention to detail and the awesome feel to the use of sustainably, curated fabrics, such as organic and chemical-free cotton or alternatively recycled polyester , all of which have been put together by stringently adhering to ethical certifications, such as Fair Wear or WRAP. The fact that the final products are durable yet feel fluffy on the skin does not hurt either.
However, it does not stop art style and quality as even the mailer boxes are made from 100% recycled paper and printed with lead- and PVC-free water-based inks, with the next stage of PBC looking at phasing out their woven labels to be replaced with recycled ones as well.
Plant Faced Clothing is at the forefront of a new independently owned vegan movement that sits at the crossroads of fashion, art, music, and a cruelty-free lifestyle, which does not let eco-friendly sustainability come to the expense of style and fashionable gear and thereby transcends being a mere brand or fashion fad.
Given that clothes design is one of the more efficient ways of subtly planting seeds for ideas and conversations, brands like Plant Faced Clothing infiltrate the scene conspicuously to spark thoughts within a crowd that under normal circumstances might not be confronted with such ideas.
If you are familiar with the preachy straight edge and vegan movements of the mid-1990s, it is easy to see how much progress has been made when it comes to the creation of sustainable streetwear and Plant Faced Clothing is an example par excellence for the advancement of eco-friendly endeavours with a sensibility for style.
---
image from company website
