Vivienne Westwood, climate change, and the fate of Los Angeles

Author:  Damien M. Schiff

Celebrities are not known for the acuity of their political and scientific analyses, and Ms. Westwood, a world-renowned clothing designer, is no exception to that dictum.  Chicology reports that at the opening of her new LA boutique last week, Ms. Westwood declared that human beings are becoming an endangered species owing to climate change, and that, "[w]ithin one generation, Los Angeles will be uninhabitable if people don’t do something about it."  She also gave her auditors a prescription for avoiding environmental apocolypse:

Don’t buy clothes, but when you do buy clothes, buy less, choose well, make it last and make sure you can wear it over again. This dress I have had for more than five years but I will wear it again and again because I think it is one of the greatest dresses I’ve ever had.

I must say, it does seem rather contrary to interest for Ms. Westwood to advocate not purchasing clothes.  Perhaps Ms. Westwood is truly a disinterested humanitarian.  Her analysis, however, of the connection between climate change, clothing purchase, and the fate of LA needs a little more explication.