RE:FRAMING FASHION’S IMPACT

MARINA TESTINO AND ENRIQUE BADULESCU’S NEW PHOTO SERIES, ON VIEW AT LEICA GALLERY, BRINGS LIGHT TO THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY’S SUSTAINABILITY PROBLEM.

By Morgan Becker

In Chile’s Atacama Desert, the terrain rolls. Mountains bracket the sandy dunes, framing a stark and more recent addition: piles of unpurchased clothing that won’t biodegrade within our lifetimes, pumped out by the fast fashion industry and dumped in once-untouched expanse.

By some estimates, there are now 60,000 tons of clothing floating around the Atacama. Massive shipments of retail surplus pass regularly through Iquique, a duty-free port city, to be resold across Latin America; what doesn’t get picked up—around 70 percent—goes to the Atacama, as legal landfills in the nation ban textile waste that could lead to soil degradation. The heaps, added to by the truckful, are now visible from space.

Beyond Noise Sustainability Editor Marina Testino and photographer Enrique Badulescu sought to bring attention to the plight of the Atacama—and more than that, to the risk the fashion industry poses to the Earth in a wider sense, disproportionately impacting the Global South. Their show re:FRAME, on view at Leica Gallery between April 24 and 27, invites New Yorkers to reconsider the weight of their clothing purchases. “More than a reflection on waste, it’s a call to action,” reads a press statement, “highlighting fashion’s potential to lead in sustainability and circularity.”

The trend cycle—exacerbated by social media, unrelenting runway schedules, and the West’s appetite for what’s new and what’s next—has snowballed the fashion industry to an edge. According to the UN, it accounts for a tenth of global carbon dioxide output and one-fifth of plastic production. Marina, a leader in sustainable fashion and conscious consumerism, has dedicated her career to working with brands and their patrons to show the “vibrant, inclusive, and accessible” side of sustainability. Fashion is an art after all, and a mode of expression that should be encouraged—with designers and consumers educating themselves on how to engage responsibly.

“Style doesn’t have to come at the expense of the planet,” she says. “True fashion isn’t about excess, it’s about expression—and we can redefine luxury through creativity and conscious choices. We don’t need to stop loving fashion; we just need to start loving it differently.”

Enrique (a fashion photography veteran who’s shot stars like Kate Moss and David Bowie, editorials for Vogue and i-D, and campaigns for Hermès and Saint Laurent) has long shot with a Leica. After a hiatus from the scene, he thought back on his last four decades making fashion hyper-desirable—and how he might both celebrate and build upon that legacy: “My work has always been about vibrancy—color that excites, images that make you want more. But what happens when that desire is endless? re:FRAME is my way of turning that question back on itself. The images are bold, beautiful, and full of life, yet they reveal a deeper truth about fashion’s impacts. This time, there’s nothing to consume—only a perspective to shift.”

The resulting images are poppy, saturated, fun. Shot by Enrique with Marina as his subject, they feature sets from the mind of stylist Romina Herrera Malatesta—clothes piled high, like in the Atacama, but also skirts fashioned from plastic bottles, and bags of undecipherable textiles swung over the shoulder. They have a sort of surreal quality, which compels a closer look: The photographs have all the makings of an eye-catching advert; instead of driving your endless appetite, however, they make you sit back and think about what we stand to risk in feeding it.

The show is a powerful addition to Earth Month, as it draws to a close. States Karin Rehn-Kaufmann, Art Director and Chief Representative for Leica Galleries International, comments on Leica’s interest in art with a mission: “[Enrique and Marina’s] powerful exhibition highlights fashion’s challenges and showcases creative solutions for a better future.” In a world where aesthetics often eclipse ethics, this exhibition insists on both—leaving us looking forward in style and substance.