Saving Endangered Species Through Fashion

Aspiring veterinarian Gabby Wild is changing the world for animals in perhaps the most unique way I’ve seen, and tons of people are noticing. Aiming to raise awareness about the plight of 12 animals who have made it to the dreaded endangered species list thanks to the greediness of human(un)kind, Gabby’s “12 in 12 for 12” project is an educational campaign that uses fashion to bring much-needed funds and attention to these animals. Every day of every month this year, Gabby is wearing an originally-designed, animal-inspired outfit that represents a different endangered animal — 12 animals in 12 months. Every month is devoted to a different one, so she is wearing the outfit every single day of the month.
This month, the animal she is focusing on is the Blue Morpho Butterfly, a real stunner whose favorite food is rotting fruit juice (perhaps a flutter of these beauts should take a detour from their tropical rainforests to visit our abundant and fruitful compost pile here in Portland). Thanks to asinine human collectors who capture the butterflies for jewelry or display, as well as the threats of deforestation, not to mention natural predators, the Blue Morphos are seriously endangered.
Enter Gabby and her gorgeous morpho-inspired dress (designed by Amelia Brown).
Last month her focus was the Red Panda; next month the Rondo Dwarf Galago. In addition to her wardrobe-tivism, Gabby’s press interviews, blog posts, and funds raised will benefit that particular month’s animal.
This campaign reminds me of something that fashionista Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart, founder of the all-vegan high-end fashion company, Vaute Couture, discussed when she was on our podcast recently. Fellow fashion guru Joshua Katcher, of the men’s fashion hub The Discerning Brute, designed a dress inspired by “fur animals” — specifically, a fox, artfully decorated to show the bloodied remnants of an animal raised for fur and then anally electrocuted, as fur animals are. The dress Joshua designed is a one-of-a-kind design that Leanne displays in her store, to raise awareness — much like Gabby does — of animals exploited for no good reason.
For artsy activists, fashion clearly goes well beyond simply deciding what to wear today.
Unfortunately, I cannot neglect to mention that it seems that several of Gabby’s dresses include silk, and one even includes feathers. This is a sad irony, given the horror of silk production (silk comes from larvae cocoons, and most don’t live past the pupa phase, because they are gassed alive in their cocoons), and the further irony of raising awareness for one animal while exploiting birds abused for their feathers. It is, of course, not uncommon for wildlife preservation advocates to be divorced in their mindset from many other forms of animal advocacy (including farmed animals and animals used for clothing). I do not mean to negate the incredible strides Gabby is taking to raise awareness, and I greatly admire her creative efforts. I only hope that there can be more synergy created, synergy amongst the issues that arise from the exploitation and untimely deaths of all animals — whether wild or farmed.
Still, my (wool-free) hat goes off to this campaign, which in so many ways is like a breath of fresh air. Hopefully, that breath of fresh air will be shared by the endangered animals Gabby is aiming to save.
Photo at top of blog, and drawing above: Courtesy of GabbyWild.com.