A year for slow fashion

fast fashion

noun

Inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends.

Boxing Day sales are winding down. I’ve completely avoided them, though admittedly, that’s mostly because I’d rather squeeze lemon juice on a paper cut than face the swarms of people. Although my avoidance had very little do do with ethics or the environment, it’s been a good opportunity to think about the ways in which fashion is consumed.

As a society, we don’t do ‘less’ very well. Everything we see and hear is geared towards ‘more is more’, ‘bigger is better’, ‘consume, consume, consume’ and I would guess that more of us get sucked into it than those who don’t. I mean, that’s what advertising is for. There are highly paid people who are highly trained to know how people think and what entices them (can you tell I've just finished watching Mad Men??) Maybe particularly when it comes to clothes — how much advertising have you seen in the last week that’s made you think that if you buy a particular item of clothing it will make you look better, perform better, be more attractive, be happier? Our attitudes to fashion can become wrapped up in our attitudes to ourself.

For a long time, I’ve felt like people will judge me if I wear the same outfit within a week. When I get dressed for work, I find myself trying to remember when I last wore this skirt or top, but does it really matter? Here’s a question — do you care if your colleague wears the same thing two days in a row? Do you even remember what they wore yesterday? Social media hasn’t helped this. 17% of young people say that they wouldn’t rewear an outfit if they’d already posted it on Instagram. This is the ground on which fast fashion is built.

Without even thinking about it, I’ve become the classic fast fashion consumer for a lot of my life. I’ve bought cheap and cheerful, and completely unconsciously. It’s only been recently that I’ve started to see that though I might limit my own financial cost, there are a lot of other costs whose effects are much more damaging.

1. The cost of making clothes

The fashion industry is the second largest polluter in the world, after the oil industry. We know about pollution from oil and coal, but do we think about how synthetic fibres like polyester and nylon are also made from fossil fuels? It’s estimated that making 1kg of fabric generates around 23kg of greenhouse gases. Cheap, synthetic fibres also produce toxic wastewater which is often dumped in rivers, causing harm to both people and aquatic life.

Making fabrics consumes a large amount of water. Cotton, although it’s a natural fabric takes 20,000 litres of water to produce just 1 kg. In a world with many people who don’t have access to clean drinking water, we need to reduce other sources of water consumption. Cotton farming also uses large amounts of chemicals (fertilisers, pesticides), polluting water and having a negative health impacts on those who work with it.

2. The cost to the makers

How often do you think about the person that made the t-shirt you’re wearing? This is one of the issues that I think we know a little bit more about, especially since as the 2013 factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed over 1000 garment makers. This brought to light the other issues like slave labour, incredibly low wages and inhumane working conditions. If we demand cheap clothes, companies demand cheap labour. People who are living in poverty may have no other choice than to work for an exploitative industry. It’s very easy to ignore this or pretend it’s not an issue when it’s happening in another country with a culture that is so foreign to us, but these are people and your choices affect them, maybe more directly than you think.

3. The cost of disposal

One of the features of fast fashion is that it is disposed of as quickly as it’s bought. I love a bargain and much of the time when I’ve bought something cheap, I’ve told myself that it doesn’t matter if I rarely or never wear it — it wasn’t a waste of money if it didn’t cost a lot. Because of this, we don’t really think as much about what we buy. When clothing is made so cheaply, items are a lower quality so don’t last as long. And when we can buy new things so cheaply, we don’t bother to fix something broken — we just buy a new one. When was the last time you mended some clothing? I've definitely been mocked by people I've lived with for sewing up holes in my socks, but it's such a simple thing!

The more we send to landfill, the more we consume.

I’ve been mulling all of this over and the conclusion I’ve come to is that I’m not going to buy any new clothes in 2020. I might not be able to maintain it forever — there may be times when new is the only option. But I want this year to make me a lot more conscious about how I consume fashion.

Here are the rules I’ll be trying to follow:

1. The first option will always be to use what I already own.

2. I can buy new underwear — do I need to explain this one?! I have a bit more research to do on ethical and sustainable underwear brands, but they do exist and will be my go to.

3. Second hand — if there is something I need that I absolutely can’t make do with what I have (e.g. if something wears out beyond repair), I’ll go to charity shops, eBay, Refashion UK and any other second hand sources.

4. Homemade — my lovely husband got me a sewing machine for Christmas. I don’t really know how to use it yet but one of my goals for this year is to learn. I’ve always loved the idea of making my own clothes and hopefully by the end of the year, I’ll be able to produce a few basic items. Again, I’ve been doing some research into sustainable fabrics. I’ll blog on this when I’ve looked into it some more and tried a few out. I’ve also been embracing my inner granny by getting the old knitting needles out. I’ve just ordered some 100% Peruvian sheep wool from We Are Knitters. they do a whole lot of different yarns, including a recycled one.

When I do buy new (after this year), I’m going to try as far as possible to buy from places that I know are responsible and sustainable — using sustainable materials, good working conditions and transparency. It seems to me that these things should be second nature in this day and age, but that’s far from reality. We need to start challenging the big retailers about how they function — asking them about where their clothes come from, how they’re made and who they’re made by.

Here are a few brands I’ve found so far who place this and sustainability high in their priorities:

1. Lucy and Yak — I got a mini pini for Christmas and it’s so cute! It’s teal and made of corduroy. So comfortable and high quality. They are a British company whose clothes are handmade by a small business in North India. They did significant research into tailoring businesses in the area before deciding on one that met ethical standards and they continue to work with them to ensure fair pay and good working conditions. All their packaging is either recycle, reusable or biodegradable. And did I mention how cute the pini is??

2. Icebreaker — Icebreaker was created in New Zealand by a guy who wanted to create outdoor clothing with less reliance on petrochemical fibres. They use merino wool mostly sourced locally in NZ, where they have a relationship with the farmers who rear the sheep. The wool is processed mainly in Asia, with Icebreaker keeping a close eye on ethical practices and human rights. I first discovered Icebreaker when I moved to NZ to work as a physio. Part of my uniform was a long sleeve zip up light weight jacket. These things aren’t cheap — around £150-£200 depending on weight and features, but I seriously have never had an item of clothing that has been so durable. I wore it every single work day for about three years and when I left that job, I continued to wear it, especially for outdoor activities when I needed an extra layer. It was finally time to let go when I left NZ after seven years, but it’s left a lasting impression. For incredibly high quality outerwear, Icebreaker would be the first place I’d look. And as a bonus, it’s available around the world now.

3. Passenger — I haven’t actually bought anything from Passenger but they have a great selection and great ethos. They’re based in the UK, with manufacturers in the UK, Europe and Asia. They try to manufacture their clothes as close as possible to the fabric source in order to keep their footprint as small as possible. They also plant a tree for every product sold — so far, they’ve planted nearly 52,000 trees. I also like that they’re not just sticking with what they’ve always known, but are looking into new fabrics (like fabric made from plastic bottles) and striving to increase sustainability. And their packaging is plastic free. If you’re into relaxed and fashionable styles, check them out.

So this is the start of Slow Fashion 2020. I have a lot to learn, so I'm open to any tips (or offers to clothes swap!)