Billie Eilish frequently recycles her outfits, a practice that has earned her the Vanguard Spotlight Award at the 2024 Costume Designers Guild Awards in Hollywood.
This week, Billie Eilish was honored at the 2024 Costume Designers Guild Awards in Hollywood, where she received the Vanguard Spotlight Award. This award celebrates a visionary trailblazer who uses their fashion choices to highlight other innovative designers. Recently, Eilish and her brother Finneas won a Golden Globe for Best Original Song with their Barbie track “What Was I Made For?” At the CDGAs, Eilish was particularly recognized for her commitment to wearing upcycled and sustainable fashion. “Eilish has always prioritized ethics and incorporated her beliefs into her looks,” the release stated, “while remaining true to herself and never compromising her image.”
Eilish has consistently used her platform to promote sustainable practices, such as through her 2022 climate-focused “Overheated” conference and her 2022 Met Gala gown by Gucci, made entirely of upcycled materials. Therefore, it was fitting that her red carpet look at the CDGAs was also sustainable.
Instead of opting for a new or custom outfit, Eilish chose to recycle her 2020 Oscars look, designed by Gucci’s former creative director Alessandro Michele. The ensemble included the same sparkly shirt, trousers, and monogrammed mesh top she wore underneath.
For Eilish, making a thoughtful fashion statement at the event was important, and she saw continuing her practice of recycling outfits as the perfect way to do so. “Wearing only new clothes all the time is unnecessary and unsustainable,” Eilish told Vogue. “I’m so lucky to be able to wear so many incredible clothes for my performances and public appearances. I wɑnted to celebrate their beauty and the craft of everyone who designed and made them by wearing them again.”
Eilish first wore the Gucci outfit to perform at the 2020 Oscars with her brother Finneas, where they performed a cover of The Beatles’ “Yesterday” during the In Memoriam segment. In an industry where celebrities are pressured to constantly debut new looks, Eilish’s advocacy for repeating and rewearing outfits is refreshing. “If I love them, I don’t want them to just live in an archive,” she said. “I want to wear them!” And why not? No one aces re-wears quite like Billie Eilish.