I’ve explored various areas of sustainable footwear in our previous posts but this week, I’m bringing you a fresh perspective. Meet Lauren Demaris, a self-proclaimed sustainable fashion connoisseur. Hailing from Beaverton, Oregon, Lauren attended Westside Christian High School, where she excelled both academically and athletically as the captain of her soccer team. Now, as a senior at the University of Oregon pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing, Lauren brings a unique blend of passion and expertise to the world of sustainable fashion.
From an early age, Demaris developed a passion for sustainable shopping. Her interest deepened significantly when she turned 19 in 2020. Amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, with more time on her hands like many others, she turned to online shopping. However, she soon realized that many of the clothes she had purchased over the years were rarely worn and quickly went out of style, ending up neglected at the bottom of her laundry hamper. This realization hit her like a wave, opening her eyes to the importance of sustainability in fashion.
“I realized how many shirts, dresses, and even shoes I had just sitting in my closet or in boxes under my bed that were the epitome of fast fashion—those trendy pieces everyone wanted for a month until they became too basic and lost their appeal. It was a constant cycle of buying clothes and shoes, getting bored, and then buying more,” Demaris explained. “Once I recognized this pattern, I wanted to understand fast fashion more deeply. It was 2020, and like many others, I had a lot of time on my hands. So, I started researching fast fashion—what the companies did and the truth behind these major brands—and I wasn’t prepared for what I discovered.”
Demaris started her journey by watching a few TikTok videos about fast fashion. From there, the algorithm began showing her more and more content on the topic. “I remember being appalled, especially by how so many of these companies treated their workers incredibly unethically. I felt this twisted stomach feeling mixed with a heavy weight on my chest. Initially, I felt a lot of guilt. I would sit on my bed watching these videos, and in the closet next to me were clothing items with the brand names of these awful companies sewn on the tags. It was horrible, but it helped me realize I wanted to change my habits and start shopping sustainably,” she shared.
The love for clothes and shoes was still a big part of Demaris’s life, and she didn’t want her passion for fashion to fade. She began upcycling and shopping at second-hand and thrift stores for most of her wardrobe. She also joined a group of friends who do monthly clothing swaps. They all share a love for fashion and sustainability, so by trading clothes, they can get new pieces without the unnecessary purchase of new ones.
Demaris’s biggest challenge when deciding to shop sustainably was finding shoes, a common struggle among her friends. “We have fallen in love with so many shoe designs, and the ‘it girl’ shoes are almost always sold by these big corporations that epitomize unsustainability. For example, the Adidas Sambas—they are my dream shoes, but I can’t bring myself to shop at Adidas and pay so much for shoes I will feel ashamed to walk in. I keep searching for them at second-hand stores but haven’t had any luck yet. My saving grace is upcycling my old shoes. I do this by dyeing them, drawing on them, or even embroidering fabric into them. Not only is this a fun activity to do with my friends, but it also creates unique, personalized pieces,” she explained.
Katie Galimanis 
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