For Vogue Taiwan‘s January 2025 issue, overconsumption takes centre stage with the front cover featuring a model adorned in a 30-kilogram gown crafted from discarded clothing sourced from recycling centers, combined with reusable agricultural soil.
Vogue Taiwan’s January 2025 issue, “Never Enough,” addresses the grave issue of overconsumption and its detrimental impact on the environment. The magazine uses a compelling visual narrative to highlight the unsustainable nature of excessive consumerism. The cover, photographed by Zhong Lin, features model Zoe Fang dressed in a 30-kilogram gown made from recycled garments and reusable farm soil. This ensemble represents the terrible load that constant consumption demands place on our earth.
The editorial is inspired by the 1972 publication “The Limits to Growth,” which warned of the implications of exceeding the Earth’s carrying capacity due to overconsumption. Despite the passage of more than fifty years, these problems remain startlingly current, worsened by the rise of online shopping and rapid fashion.
This is not the first time, Vogue Taiwan has initiated a concept focusing on a sustainability issue. Their 2022 issue, titled ‘Heat Wave’ featuring Model Peng Chang holding a popsicle covered in dust highlighted the issue of ‘ pollution’ and its adverse impact on the environment. The popsicles served as a stark visual representation of water pollution, highlighting the pressing environmental issues facing the region. Vogue encouraged readers to consider the effects of pollution and the significance of sustainability in modern society while simultaneously showcasing high fashion and bringing attention to environmental degradation. With “never enough”, Vogue Taiwan had initiated yet another fashion story in their serious and well-credentialed attempts to address one of the most important issues of the twenty-first century ‘Can one ever have enough stuff?’
Editor-in-chief of Vogue Taiwan, Leslie Sun stated “Overconsumption itself and its impact on the earth have caused environmental degradation, resource depletion, ecosystem destruction, and accelerated climate change. This idea, through the perspective of our long-term photography partner Zhong Ling, has given rise to a new prediction about future habitats: in a world where residential land is limited due to rising seawater, we have become seasonal nomads, constantly migrating due to unpredictable weather. The animals and plants we once relied on for survival have disappeared, and when the soil cannot give birth to life, we have to cultivate green plants on our bodies, and we begin to carry our own homes like snails.” Overconsumption is defined as a civilization disease.
This issue is part of Vogue Taiwan’s ongoing #VogueConscious initiative, launched in 2021 to promote sustainable and eco-friendly lifestyles. The campaign encourages readers to make conscious consumer choices, understanding that every purchase impacts the world. On the 14th of each month—named Vogue Awareness Day—readers will be presented with a heavy dose of conscious-driven, original, digital content covering culture, lifestyle and fashion.
By highlighting the negative effects of excessive consumerism, Vogue Taiwan hopes to encourage readers to think critically about their shopping choices and the wider environmental consequences, promoting a change to more sustainable fashion and daily habits.
