Portland Fashion Week’s Rebellion
on the Forefront of Consumerism
Portland Fashion Week as seen in TIME Magazine 2012
By Kiera Brown Mercedes-Benz of Wilsonville Portland Fashion Week Producer 2025 kiera.brown@portlandfashionweek.net
Since the beginning of time, humans have consumed. Through time, social construct, personal feelings, and political change, have these consumptive desires flourished into a thin line between necessity and convenience. The same feelings and environmental factors provoking the impulse that self-suggests the necessity of a luxury, are the same unspoken and repressed truths the world tries to cover with consumerism and lost messages. Instant gratification is taught as a modern concept, labeled as a illusioned staple for advancement, rather than earned through hard work and dedication.
Humans rush to grab the first thing that comes convenient to their situation. You can’t make time go faster, so why rush an experience? Your first thought is that you would rush because you are running out of time, right? In opposition, rushing causes people to choose impulse over intention and moral decision. Some would say that “lack of time” gave them no choice or “lack of resource” held them back. Nobody wants to just do “okay”. We’re biologically hardwired to want to thrive. Many well-known philosophers of the world make the idea of this statement the basis that their concepts thrive on.
You want the truth?
These statements are true when we have the ability and the choice to control what we do in that very moment. I’m not talking about power imbalances, environmental things, psychological manipulation, or accidents. The narrative is painted that we cannot control what is done to us, and we can’t, however, we CAN control many aspects by practicing preventative measures. Measures of choice that not only become habits, but morals and mindsets engraved into our day-to-day life and passed from human to human until it becomes a trend. Sound familiar? Bandwagon, social contagion, and herd mentality; They exist in our subconscious through repetition of environmental patterns and social constructs, and are carried out through our actions. Trends should happen as a result of impactful and intentional creativity being aimed towards those who experience discomfort and hardships in day-to-day life, and for those who cannot overcome the uncontrollable. Trends should aim to have positive and sustainable aspects. What’s better than making positivity and sustainability a trend?
We as humans allow things to happen as a collective over time. Everything in history that has happened, has happened because one human did something and another human wanted to join in on it (excluding non-controllable factors). Validation then follows.
Some of the biggest factors posing a threat to a healthy society are widespread misinformation, lack of self-education, laziness, and entitlement. We figure that because something doesn’t directly affect us, or that our relationship with our current need is temporary, that we do not have to reciprocate or respect usage and disposal. It is OUR RESPONSIBILITY as humans who consume daily, to also give back daily. We take with no limits. We give conditionally. We care when it benefits us, and only when it is convenient. We feel like we are running out of time, so we use energy poorly. This misuse of time and resources is what we as humans don’t take accountability for. We could blame those providing it for us, or we could blame our own actions. Supply doesn’t happen without demand. Consumption is monitored individually.
In the face of harsh or persuasive environmental factors and social construct, it is our personal responsibility to monitor what/how much we consume. We should incorporate factors of positive intention and moral code into every decision we make. This is why I choose sustainability. This is why I choose Portland Fashion Week.
Portland Fashion Week’s dedication, passion, creativity, and intentions are what bring them to the forefront of fashion. In an industry known for exploitation, controversy, scams, and safety concerns, Portland Fashion Week defies all odds and welcomes ethical and transparent practices. Their zero carbon emissions, cruelty-free, and sustainable aspects are what drive people from all around the world to work with them.
Every year, they showcase their efforts of building a better world by sticking to their moral code. Portland Fashion Week even recognizes the energy use of AI and maintains their principles of sustainability by using original ideas straight from the source -the good ole’ fashioned brain. Their ideas and mindsets come straight from passionate individuals who believe in maintaining sustainable, yet innovative approaches to fashion and events. In a war of consumerism, Portland fashion week has stuck to its branding, while still creating opportunities and room for growth. Who would’ve known you could do BOTH?!
Portland Fashion Weeks aims to be the first one who spreads their sustainable branding into the industry and beyond. Portland Fashion Week does not care about profit. Portland Fashion Week cares about its people. They aren’t Oregon Fashion Week. They love their people, and they love what they represent. They take careful consideration planning their events around inclusion, ethics, morals, and branding. They are the only fashion week in the entire world to do this! They were one of the very first fashion weeks formed. That just shows you how ahead of their time they were! They set the standard for how fashion should be influenced and how the world should continue influencing.
Sustainable shouldn’t be unorthodox. It should be the norm.