I never fit the standard.
As a brown girl with curls, I rarely saw myself reflected in the beauty ideals of the fashion world. For years, I was made to feel like I didn’t belong — not in brand campaigns, not in catalogs, and certainly not on the runway.
But on June 1st, 2025, that changed.
At this year’s Miami Swim Week, I opened and closed the Syrena Swimwear show with two choreographed performances. I wasn’t just there to perform. I was there to take up space — to dance not just for entertainment, but as a living message of representation, sustainability, and radical visibility. Partnered with the Volo Foundation, Syrena Swimwear used their platform not just to showcase fashion, but to confront the industry’s climate and labor crises — publicly, boldly, and beautifully.
This wasn’t just my first runway show. It was a full-circle moment. A celebration of a journey from invisibility to empowerment, and a reclamation of space in an industry long shaped by exclusion.
Fashion Can’t Be Beautiful If It’s Harmful
The fashion industry, particularly fast fashion, continues to exploit both people and the planet. Each year, it emits over a billion tons of greenhouse gases — more than international flights and maritime shipping combined. The industry consumes massive volumes of water, contributes to toxic waste, and relies heavily on garment workers (mostly women of color) who endure dangerous conditions and poverty wages.
Despite growing awareness of these harms, fast fashion continues to thrive. Many people genuinely care about climate justice and human rights, but still find themselves buying into an industry that violates both. This behavioral disconnect — between values and actions — is something I explored in a behavioral economics group project at the London School of Economics.
Through interviews, focus groups, and field research, our team identified key behavioral barriers to sustainable fashion choices. Marketing, social norms, and emotional states all drive impulse buying. Convenience often trumps conscience. People experience cognitive dissonance — that uncomfortable inner tension when actions don’t match beliefs — and cope by justifying purchases or ignoring the problem altogether.
This is why the Syrena Swimwear x Volo Foundation collaboration was so important. It challenged the norms of the runway — a space often associated with excess and inaccessibility — and instead offered a vision of fashion that’s grounded in values and aligned with a livable future.
The Behavioral Economics of Why We Buy
Behavioral economics helps explain why good intentions so often fail to translate into action. Unlike classical economics, which assumes people are rational actors, behavioral economics recognizes that decision-making is often shaped by emotion, habit, and limited attention.
Take availability bias: fast fashion is cheap, easy to find, and constantly advertised — so it becomes the default. Or present bias, where we prioritize the short-term dopamine hit of a purchase over the long-term environmental harm. And then there’s social proof: the sense that if everyone else is doing it, it must be okay.
In our Behavioral Economics project at LSE, we found that even people who wanted to shop sustainably often didn’t know where to start. The perceived lack of affordable, ethical alternatives and confusion caused by “greenwashing” left many stuck. For those aware of the issues, guilt and regret followed — but not always change. That’s classic cognitive dissonance. And unless you intervene at the right moment — before the impulse purchase happens — that dissonance gets rationalized away.
Understanding these dynamics is critical if we want to shift behavior at scale. We can’t just rely on awareness or shame. We need systems that make sustainable choices easier, more visible, and more rewarding.
A More Beautiful Standard
Sustainability shouldn’t be niche. And representation shouldn’t be rare. Fashion must begin to reflect the real world — in skin tones, body types, beliefs, and behaviors.
I’m proud to have participated in a show that didn’t just talk about change — it embodied it. Syrena Swimwear and the Volo Foundation showed what’s possible when fashion is guided by purpose: from using biodegradable materials to making climate literacy part of the brand DNA. The message was clear — what we wear should honor both people and the planet.
As a performer, policy maker, and advocate, I see movement as more than dance. It’s how we shift narratives, break norms, and build culture. This show wasn’t just my moment on the runway. It was a reminder that real beauty is aligned with justice — and that the industry can move toward better.
Choose Differently
Every outfit tells a story. Every purchase is a decision. Let’s make ours count.
Support brands that do more than follow trends — ones that pay fair wages, source responsibly, and build their ethos on inclusion and climate care. Let’s normalize repeating outfits, buying secondhand, or simply choosing less.
Because fashion should make us feel seen — not complicit. And beauty should never come at the cost of human dignity or a livable Earth.
🌍💃🏽
And if you made it this far, here is a look into my choreography for this special moment:
https://vimeo.com/reshmadanse/syrenaswim2025
👙 @syrena_swimwear x @volofoundation
#SustainableFashion #BehavioralEconomics #CognitiveDissonance #MiamiSwimWeek2025 #RepresentationMatters #ClimateJustice #FashionForThePlanet #RealBeautyMatters #DanceForChange #HumanRightsInFashion #ReshmaDances