We enjoyed a great panel of slow fashion enthusiasts speaking at our recent Festival of Solutions - Maggie Zhou, Nina Gbor, Clare Press and Laura Wells!
When it comes to overconsumption and waste, Fashion is a biggie! In Australia we throw away 6000kg of fashion waste every 10 minutes!
A sobering statistic for many in the audience was that the Australia Institute has revealed Australians are the world's biggest fashion consumers buying, on average, 56 new items of clothing per year. With the average value per item being AUD13. How can anything of quality be sustainably and ethically manufactured for $13! Well, it can't.
We can change this story by buying less, buying quality, valuing what we have, swapping and sharing, buying second hand and finding new ways to refresh our wardrobe, repairing and making clothes last.
A positive take away for me was when the panel asked everyone in the room (over 1,300 people) to stand up if they were wearing something pre-loved, it was the overwhelming majority.
I have noticed in my local area that the number of charity, pre-loved and on-consignment shops has increased over the past year. Our local Vinnies has just undergone a facelift and it's now set out so well that you can't help but go in for a browse. I have also seen a couple of fashion shops close on our strip and on-consignment pop up in their place. This is a promising sign but possibly the result of a combination of factors - the increased demand for second-hand clothes, tough economic times and a sign that people are shopping for clothes online rather than in physical stores. Whatever the reason it is great to see that shopping for preloved is becoming more commonplace.
When I was trying on a pair of pre-loved jeans in one of these new local shops I got talking to the owner. She said it had only been open a week but business was great. She had a visit to her shop from a group of friends who have challenged themselves "not to buy anything new for 6 months (with the exception of socks and underwear)". I loved this idea and wouldn't it be great to get more friendship groups, clubs and families to take on this challenge. Apparently this group of women were finding it quite easy to do and only one person had bought something new (as she had a "dressy" function to attend and didn't find anything in time!). As we have said before, it's not about doing it 100% of the time, it's about doing as much as you can.
Buying secondhand clothes can be a bit like a treasure hunt, when you find that coveted piece, for a great price, it's very satisfying. But sometimes like this person, with the "dressy" event to attend, you sometimes need to buy new and that's okay.
And when you do shop new, seek out fashion labels that are making a big effort to do the right thing and lighten their impact on the environment through choice of quality, natural fabrics, using offcuts and redesigning preloved pieces. Many have worked hard to achieve their B Corp standard (The B Impact Assessment evaluates a company's practices and outputs across five categories: governance, workers, community, the environment, and customers).
Try to buy local and support the smaller designers rather than the huge fast fashion brands. Try not to buy online and if you do, avoid buying from far away places where the freight is going to chalk up a lot of carbon, particularly if you get the wrong size and have to return it. Arggghh more packaging, more transport miles, more carbon in the atmosphere!
Try to buy from labels using natural fibres like hemp and linen, over synthetic. Polyester has become the most commonly used fabric in the textile sector. Polyester is bad because it is NOT biodegradable and it contains petroleum i.e fast fashion companies using polyester rely on fossil fuels industries to make their clothes
Repairing your clothes is also a big one. The mending skills of our mothers and grandmothers are no longer passed down and hence have almost disappeared. Younger people are keen to do the right thing and hold onto their clothes. We have to instil the virtue of buying quality that will last and to repair clothes so they can be worn for longer to counter the fast fashion fever.
Many younger people are keen to learn to repair/make their own clothes to save money and keep their clothes for longer. Some small fashion brands out there are including sewing classes in their stores. What a great idea - I spotted this one in Brisbane recently. Be sure to support stores doing similar initiatives. What a great birthday gift for a young person - a sewing course!
Let's all embrace preloved clothes where we can and make it the norm and cure this fast fashion epidemic sweeping our world.
Check out the incredible women who were part of our panel below!
