Sustainability has been the talk of the town for quite some time, especially in the fashion spheres. Since the early 1990s, the fashion field now has its own history, dynamics, politics, practices, sub-movements and evolution of analytical and critical language in terms of sustainability. Not to mention, it is wide in scope and incorporates technical projects that look into improving the resource efficiency of operations which already exist, as well as the work of brands and designers to work within current priorities and those that look to fundamentally re-imagine the fashion system differently. 

With this being stated, Washington, D.C and Miami based fashion model Anastasia Vakula took part in a shoot titled FCK Plastic. Vakula joined forces with her friend Nataliya Vyetrova, who was the creative director for this special photoshoot and happened to work for Gucci in Italy for many years. In addition, Vyetrova is also a founder of an event design and planning company called NataSabi, which was inspired by Wabi-sabi philosophy and is known for sustainability as well as upcycling in interior design. 

“She offered to collaborate on this fashion shoot with me and we felt that Earth Day, which by the way is also my birth date, would be a great reason to go a little beyond the normal photo shoot and to add a message to it,” said Vakula.

For Vakula, being in the fashion industry symbolized that one is in a long process for delivering retail products to consumers. Therefore, she asked herself what she was witnessing. 

“When I shoot for different clothing brands or beauty products, I realize I might temporarily improve a shopper’s view of a product, but I also wonder what are the social and environmental results of working with my clients,” she said. “Am I working for a client that is rapidly mass producing clothing without an ethos for the impact, or does my client manufacture their products in a way that aligns with my strong belief in sustainability?”

The more questions popped into her mind, the more galvanized she was. The environmental impact of the fashion industry is undeniable, which is why she wants to be associated with brands that also come to this realization. Exploitation of workers can happen at every level of the supply chain, which is a concerning issue to Vakula. 

“I don’t want garment workers to endure unsafe working conditions at a non living wage, only to have me help them sell those products,” she said. “I want to be connected to other models, designers and brands that make our world better, not worse.”

Aside from being a fashion model, Vakula is an environmental activist for the World Bank and became highly invested in sustainability on a trip she took to the island of Kauai in Hawaii. While surfing one day, she came across a longboarder who was hauling plastic trash out of the ocean, he actually paddled back and forth from the waves to the beach with trash on his surfboard. While doing so, he said “the ocean is choking”...and with this message in mind,  Vakula began noticing how careful and mindful native Hawaiians are about their land and the waste they are producing. 

Due to her passion for climate change and environmental issues, she is working on a project to assist with economic recovery and development of Eastern Ukraine, as  a native of Ukraine herself. Not to mention, that she joined the 2021 Climate Ambassador Program where she’ll be promoting climate action on an international level.

“These statements and observations made me think about what harm we are causing to the planet and how we are choking not only the ocean and everything that lives in it, but also ourselves,” said Vakula in regards to her trip to Hawaii. “After that trip, I really dug into research on plastic pollution and its role in climate change, which fundamentally changed my way of thinking in terms of everything...all the way from what I eat, what I drink, what I wear.

FCK Plastic might sound brutal, stated Vakula, however, but this photoshoot was the only way for her and Vyetrova to describe the frustration they both had from the unnecessary presence of plastic in many parts of their lives where it isn’t necessary. Some may find FCK Plastic as a rude initiative, which doesn’t matter to Vakula and Vyetrova at this point, as the world is too far into this crisis to be simply polite the majority of the time.

“I hope people will see these photos and feel like their minds are buzzing with thoughts about how their activity in everyday life intersects with the environment,” expressed Vakula. “They might then wonder about how to enjoy life in ways that are also environmentally friendly and creative.” 

Follow Vakula’s journey on Instagram as she documents her plant-based lifestyle, sustainable fashion and everyday living with her creative videos along with photography. Mainly, you’ll find a variety of initiatives she shares on her social channels to inspire and educate others about climate change as the Ambassador for the World Bank Group Global Youth Climate Network, an initiative of the World Bank Youth (Y2Y) Community. Her Instagram handle is @anastasia_vakula. 

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Credits: 

Creative team:

Agency: @greatsociaslclub

Photographer: @robertgolightlyphotography, retouching by @n.k.beauty.photography

Model: @anastasia_vakula

Stylist and creative director: @natasabi

MUA and Hair: @tetiana.zal