All that glitters isn’t green
Sequins dominated the awards season. But few realise how they can pollute the planet
SPARKLy, fun and unashamedly eye- catching, sequins have long been a go-to for glamour. And over the past few weeks, the awards season red carpets have offered up a riot of them, with stars draped in shimmering gowns of every shade.
At the Oscars on Sunday, Emma Stone, Jennifer Lopez and Kate Bosworth dazzled in head-to-toe sequins, while last week’s Brit Awards saw Kelly Brook in a ruby red gown.
It’s a look adored by such designers as Gucci, Marc Jacobs and Prada, who all showcased sequins in their 2018 catwalk shows — and the trend has trickled down to the high Street where sequins are mass-produced to meet demand. Fashion-search platform Lyst says searches for sequins have increased by 42 per cent in the past six months.
And it’s not just the grown-ups: any parent of a child under ten will be familiar with the craze for ‘flippy sequins’ (two-sided sequins which reveal a different picture according to which direction they are brushed).
Whatever your age, the glittery sparkle of a sequinned outfit is hard to resist. But there is mounting evidence that all this razzle-dazzle comes at a price — and may have devastating environmental repercussions.
‘Sequins are a short-term hit with long-term consequences, none of them good,’ says Dr Trisia Farrelly, environmental anthropologist at Massey University in New Zealand.
‘They may appear inert and innocent and are certainly aesthetically pleasing, but there are problems associated with sequins all along their life cycle.’
That’s because more often than not, they are made from plastic — so their production involves the use of dangerous chemicals, they have a lifespan of thousands of years and will never biodegrade.
In fact, sequins have a lot in common with the toxic plastic microbeads that were, last year, banned for use in cosmetics and personal care products in the UK after a campaign by the Mail. Microbeads are defined as any plastic fragment less than 5mm long.
While sequins vary in size, with some much larger than 5mm, they share many of the troubling characteristics of this plastic menace.
‘Conventional plastic sequins can persist in the environment for thousands of years,’ says Dr Linda Campbell, a professor at Canada’s St Mary’s University and director of its School of Environment.
ThE devastating impact of microplastics in our oceans has been welldocumented — in 2016, marine biologist Dr Richard Thompson led a research project which found the presence of microplastic in a third of UK caught fish. While there is no specific study of the impact of sequins, Sue Kinsey of the Marine Conservation Society says we ought to be worried.
‘If sequins go in the washing machine, they can easily fall off and go down the drain. If they’re not captured by the sewage works and go out to sea, there’s a good potential for them to be eaten by a wide range of creatures up and down the food chain. It’s like glitter, which is also problematic —it’s contributing to the problem even if we can’t pinpoint exactly how much at the moment.
‘If you wash sequinned garments in your machine,’ she advises, ‘put them in a cloth bag which can capture any that might fall off.’
Dr Trisia Farrelly warns of other problems with sequins. The production process itself, she says, has wide-ranging environmental, social and health impacts. For example, production of the PVC and PET plastics from which most sequins are made releases dangerous pollutants.
‘PVC plastic is made with toxic additives called phthalates, which gives sequins their flexible and durable qualities,’ says Dr Farrelly. ‘These additives are hormone-mimicking chemicals that disrupt the endocrine systems of the bodies of animals and humans. There’s been a lot of work linking these chemicals to a wide range of diseases.’
Then there’s the wastage that occurs when sequins are made — their circular shape means lots of plastic is discarded.
‘Most sequins are punched out of a plastic sheet, which means a significant amount of material is lost,’ Dr Farrelly says.
‘Safe disposal of these plastics is not possible. Plastics literally never go away — they just end up in a more hazardous and smaller form somewhere else.’
And what makes sequins particularly problematic is that all this goes to make clothes that — realistically — are often worn on only a handful of occasions.
Designer Rachel Clowes says sequinned garments are an example of a phenomenon she calls ‘ waste within the wardrobe’. ‘These are items that people are willing to spend money on, but don’t wear very often,’ she says. ‘The reality is that we’re often talking about ten or 15 hours of use for an item decorated with plastics that last for 2,000 years.’
Sequins haven’t always been made from plastic. Ancient metal sequins have been found on archaeological sites from Pakistan to Egypt.
The earliest versions were gold nuggets hammered into thin circles, or coins sewn onto clothes for safekeeping — the word sequin comes from the Arabic
word ‘sikka’, meaning coin. Part status symbol, part adornment, they were a privilege of the wealthy. Only in the Twenties, when European designers began to experiment with making them from gelatine coated with shiny metal, did they become more accessible.
By the Thirties, the Eastman Kodak company was producing sequins from the acetate used in its photographic film, while 20 years later, the invention of Mylar — a thin polyester film — led to the machine-washable sequin.
Lighter and cheaper, it was the ancestor of today’s massproduced version. Now, designer Rachel hopes to find a material to make sustainable sequins.
She set up The Sustainable Sequin Company in a bid to produce a biodegradable alternative. After months of research, she has developed a bio-plastic sequin — a type of biodegradable plastic — that looks just like a normal one, but dissolves. ‘It means you can go out in your dress, then hand wash it and gradually the sequins dissolve and you are left with an everyday dress,’ she says.
Rachel is working with researchers at Bangor University to find a commercially viable, biodegradable sequin that could be rolled out to the mass market. In the meantime, she’s turned her attention to re-using old sequins.
‘If you use recycled ones, you’re reducing emissions and landfill,’ she says. ‘I have had enquiries from major retailers, which is a sign we are waking up to the fact that plastic comes in lots of different forms but always harmful.’
It’s a sentiment echoed by Purva Chawla, founder of The Materials Consultancy, which promotes sustainability in fashion.
‘Two major High Street retailers have contacted us, interested in looking at more sustainable materials,’ she says. ‘Obviously cost is a major factor — conventional sequins are mass produced which makes them far cheaper — but it’s an encouraging sign that people want to do things differently.’
The Marine Conservation Society’s Sue Kinsey is cautiously hopeful of a sea change when it comes to fast fashion. ‘It’s about making the right choices when you shop,’ she says. ‘We can’t stop what happened in the past, but we can stem the tide.’ is