Fashion
Dec 07, 2021
by Sidney Pacampara
Gaz Oakley Drops New Vegan “Plants Only Kitchen Fruits” Collection
by Sidney Pacampara
Dec 07, 2021

Trained chef, author and YouTuber Gaz Oakley has grown a following showing his audience of over two million people the creativity and healthy alternative of vegan cooking. As someone who was introduced to the lifestyle through social media and eventually his favorite music artist Jme, who cites a video by animal activist Gary Yourofsky as his turning point, Oakley soon realized his cooking skills are the best means for him to promote veganism. Just scroll through his Instagram feed – dishes like “cheesy” stuffed squash, crispy kickin’ cauliflower, vegan burgers, and many more may make you forget you’re missing meat.

Oakley has turned his continued recognition and ongoing mission into the Avant-Garde Vegan brand where he publishes cookbooks, produces content, and develops merch. His latest drop is the certified vegan Plants Only Kitchen Fruits collection featuring a T-shirt, hoody, joggers, and a woven black shopping bag. Illustrated graphics of fruit and remixed logos are found around the “Plant Only Kitchen” phrase as well as the message “the plants only movement, filling your kitchens with nourishing plants that nurture, heal, enliven your soul & tastebuds.”

All pieces use natural raw color dye and constructed from various amounts of organic cotton. The T-shirt is made from 100% organic cotton, while the hoody and joggers use a mix of 85% organic cotton and 15% recycled cotton and the bag is developed using a similar combination, 80% organic cotton and 20% recycled polyester. The items are also delivered in fully compostable packaging leaving waste from the shipment a positive afterthought.

The Plants Only Kitchen Fruits collection was designed and printed in Wales, Oakley’s home country and where he’s now based after relocating out of London during Covid. “There’s a Welsh phrase, it roughly translates to ‘a place where the soul finds peace.’ That resonates with me because I did find peace here. I feel so calm and collected and amazing and I’m just so grateful for it,” Oakley said in an interview with plant-based lifestyle media house Antagonist.

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Oakley’s goal to promote a healthier lifestyle to the circle around him and beyond online does come with challenging perspectives, but the peace he speaks of is evident in his tolerance in opposing views and his understanding of the divisiveness some vegan messaging can carry. “For a long time, I was all about ‘Team Vegan’ but often this would push people away. It would make the vegans proud, but I think it pushed the general population away. I just want to try to make it as open and inclusive as possible, showing that there’s not one type of vegan that looks a certain way,” said the chef.

Although the bits of online information and awareness from his favorite artist helped Oakley reevaluate his lifestyle, he knows his journey may not be the same for everyone else. The platform he has now is established to help provide others more access to information on ways plants can be powerful alternatives in our day-to-day lives from growing our own food to discovering dinner knockouts like seitan brisket.

“It took me 24 years of my life to decide that I’m going to go vegan, but it took my parents 56 years of their life before they went vegan. So, who knows, just because this artist I’m posting about isn’t vegan at the time doesn’t mean that they will find out that they should have gone vegan way sooner when they’re 70,” said Oakley when discussing dialogue versus cancelling in vegan culture. “Everyone’s path to a better lifestyle is at different rates.”

Shop Gaz Oakley’s new Plants Only Kitchen Fruits collection (£29-£69 GBP) online via avantgardevegan.com.

In other news, the latest FUTUREVVORLD Progress Over Perfection podcast explores how the T-shirt is being used as a piece of clothing to build a more sustainable future.

Photos: Antagonist/Gaz Oakley