In 2001, my old roommate moved to NYC, to Williamsburg to be more precise. A year later, she came back for a visit looking even cooler than she had when we lived together. Turns out she was under a lot of pressure, the locals had playfully nicknamed her Bedford Ave. subway stop “the catwalk”. She was also the one who introduced me to street fashion magazines, which back then, were only popular in Japan. The underground catwalk was already taking shape.

Fast forward to 2005-2006, a fashion marketing manager turned photographer, an illustrator and a party boy take up their cameras and start street fashion blogs… The Sartorialist, Garance Doré and Face Hunter are born and instantly develop a devout following, they are soon published in mainstream magazines but remain true to their internet roots. Around the same time, artist Jill Danyelle starts a 365-day project documenting her goal to average fifty percent sustainability in the clothing she wore for a year, FiftyRX3 becomes the first website to showcase sustainable designers with a modern fashionable vibe. It’s also, in part, a one year self-portrait experiment. The catwalk goes digital.

February 2009: with the economy in a slump, everybody watches closely to see how fashion designers will respond. The delocalization and contextualization of fashion continues with more designers holding shows in smaller and off-beat places. Already back in October, Courtnex Cox and David Arquette were hosting a fashion show for the brand Propr in their back yard, two weeks ago it was Patricia Fields opening up her Bowery digs to the debut collection of Gerlan Jeans. Of course, they are just doing what eco designers have been doing for years, Doucette Duval were already presenting their Fall 2008 collection in the intimate setting of a Ritz Carlton hotel room and just a few weeks ago Prophetik was showing at Beach Blanket Babylon in London. The catwalk gets cozy.

So where does that leave us? On the one hand, we have the relentless pursuit of personal style, the quest to showcase our personality, mood and originality through the clothes that we wear. The challenge is no longer just to wear clean underwear in case you get hit by a bus, but to wear a fashionable, yet relaxed, yet unique outfit in case you run into a street fashion photographer. On the other hand we have the “emergence of an online-fueled culture of individuals who share, give, engage, create and collaborate. For many, sharing a passion and consequently receiving recognition has replaced 'taking' as their status symbol of choice” (see the latest Trendwatching report).

Some are concerned that this communication frenzy, with pictures of fashion shows available online only minutes after the lights come up, is fueling the infernal machine of fast fashion. But that would be neglecting the big picture, which is that fashion designers while still providing beautiful garments, are no longer the dictators of style. Everywhere, we see proof that fashion is firmly in the hands of individuals with distinct personalities: whether it’s the comeback of the 90’s top-models, the iconic status of certain stylists, magazine editors or fashion bloggers, or the trend of actors as fashion muses. We are inspired by personal style rather than labels and the new catwalk is everywhere.

That’s excellent news for sustainable fashion: if you can find inspiration anywhere, creativity becomes the main factor in putting together your personal style. With just a bit of online browsing (and maybe some leg work), you can recreate any look that’s caught your eye with clothes sourced from sustainable designers or thrift store finds, by customizing things you already have or by swapping swishing and borrowing from friends.

In fact, the street is so cool, that you’ll soon be fighting for sidewalk space with designers. The most avant-guard designers (ethical, of course) have already started taking over the pavement to show their latest creations, whether it’s the renegade Roving Catwalk show staged by the Conscious Designers Collective this past London Fashion Week, or the regular street interventions of Dutch designer and artist collective Streetlab.

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