Dance 495

Sustainable dancewear

Helen Banks, Brand Director at Imperfect Pointes Future Friendly Dancewear, shares her top tips on becoming more sustainable.

It has been almost two years since the start of the pandemic, and this forced a huge lifestyle change for many of us. As the mum of an up-and-coming ballerina, I was frustrated that, within the multimillion-pound dancewear industry, very few brands are focusing on sustainability. It may not surprise you to know that the number of garments made from oil-based synthetic fibres has doubled since 2000 (Greenpeace) and that £140m of clothing goes to landfill every year in the UK alone (WRAP).

The dancewear industry is largely based on the principles of fast fashion and with high throw out and new collections sold online every week, that is a huge amount towards these statistics.

As I was already training to be a sustainability advisor and consultant, I decided to launch my own sustainable ballet wear brand, Imperfect Pointes, in order to make a change.

We can all change something to help the planet – one leotard at a time.

The good news for dancers is that the last few years have seen an explosion in new and exciting dancewear brands focusing on more sustainable options. Within dancewear, it can be a challenge to find the right fabrics to make leotards, unitards, tights or skirts that create less environmental impact and have a lower carbon footprint. Finding durable sustainable fabrics that can stand up to the most rigorous ballet rehearsal means that price can sometimes be perceived as premium.

At the same time, dancers are starting to want transparency, and there has been lots in the media about greenwashing – when brands make vague or unsubstantiated claims about their ‘eco-friendly’ practices in the name of selling more products. Furthermore, the concept of ‘sustainability’ encompasses both social and environment aspects and following on from the work of the Black Lives Matter movement, we hope that dancers with black and brown skin tones will see much needed greater inclusion and representation, both on and off stage. After customer feedback and social media campaigns, several brands have put greater emphasis on skin toned pointe shoes, such as Freed of London and more recently, a major campaign from Bloch.

We all know, we can act more responsibly in our daily lives by taking small actions such as switching to metal drinks straws, carrying a reusable coffee cup, and cutting down on our single use plastics. But what can we do to help our students become more proactive in their dancewear choices? Beyond unpicking pointe shoe ribbons and salvaging for the next pair, what else can we do?

Top tips

Here are a few thought-provoking tips for becoming more sustainable without really having to make much of an effort.

• When you’re shopping for dancewear or simply browsing online, ask yourself ‘do I really need this item?’ If you want something, wait 24 hours, and see if that burning desire to purchase is still lingering! The biggest way to be more sustainable is to cut back.

• Spring clean your emails. Unsubscribe to all the fast fashion (fast dancewear) brands you signed up to pre-Christmas. If brands are constantly emailing you with heavily discounted offers, they are unlikely to be built on a sustainable business model.

• Invest in dancewear produced in more equitable ways. Look for small or local brands where dancewear is being produced consciously in small batches, made to order, or sewn by the owner themselves. Freda Silk ballet skirts and Designed by Alice make handmade dancewear.

• Always check the origin of the dancewear you buy. What country is it made in? Who do you think made the dancewear? The plight of garment workers is often overlooked. If the leotard is cheap, the chances are it was not made by someone receiving a fair wage. Ethical manufacturing is high on the agenda of much-loved label Singapore based Cloud & Victory and Seoul based, SMK.

• Get used to checking the label to see what your dancewear is made from. The majority of dancewear is made from virgin nylon that comes from fossil fuels. You can find out more at www. fashionrevolution.org plus lots of resources in return for a small donation.

• Look for brands using recycled materials. At Imperfect Pointes https://imperfectpointes.com everything is made using ECONYL. This innovative material is made from recycled plastic waste from landfill, ghost fishing nets and industrial waste. Dansez also use ECONYL for some of their UK made collections and contribute to the Healthy Seas Initiative.

• Look online at brands’ sustainability and environmental policies. If the brand doesn’t have much to say, they may not be taking much action.

• Some brands are making commitments to support good causes and charities their customers care about. Yumiko has recently committed to joining www. onepercentfortheplanet.org and giving 1% of profits to this impact organisation. Imperfect Pointes donates £1 per order to Ditch the Label, the youth empowerment and mental health charity.

• Choose compostable and biodegradable packaging and mailers. These are increasingly popular, and all of the above brands are making strides in this area.

There’s never been a more pressing time to switch to sustainable dancewear. No-one can do everything, but we can all change something to help the planet – one leotard at a time.

Helen Banks with Imperfect Pointes dancers photographed at Victoria Baths, Manchester

Imperfect Pointes dancers photographed at Victoria Baths, Manchester