“Fast Fashion”
WENVOE FORUM
Considering Tomorrow Today
“Fast Fashion”
Some time ago only the very rich could afford fashionable clothing made by a famous designer such as Gabrielle Chanel or Yves Saint Laurent and that to be a skilful seamstress and able to “copy” the designs was a very useful attribute, though of course matching the same fabrics was a different challenge. As the economy gradually grew after WW2 a bigger range of fashionable, (not designer) garments came within the reach of far more people. Now fast forward to the present when so called “Fast fashion” uses the abundant cheap labour in less economically prosperous countries and allows the fashion conscious to change their wardrobe 2 or 3 times a year.
It sounds like a very straightforward example of developing economies. We are mostly gradually getting richer and the consumption of resources seems almost to have become the reason for life. We know that climate is changing and that we must change our behaviour if our grandchildren are going to be able to live out their lives comfortably on Earth. But is the fashion industry an important target and what would we do anyway, we have to wear clothes!?
Well, a very short investigation on the world wide web will find you plenty of statistics that may surprise you. By some calculations, starting with the growing of crops and including the dying of materials and making up the final products, the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions. It is the third most polluting industry, worse than aviation; clothes production is growing and the length of time garments are in use is getting shorter.
Rather than fill the page with negative statistics let’s concentrate on some positive ideas others have had.
Researchers from the University of Technology Sydney’s, Institute for Sustainable Futures in Australia suggest that we must aim to reduce our purchase of new clothing by a whopping 75%, buying clothes designed to last and recycling them at the end of their lifetime.
An Oxfam blog tells us that we buy more new clothes per head in the UK than the rest of Europe. To help convince you that you really can manage
with many fewer clothes there are campaigns in which you choose 10 items from your wardrobe and restrict yourself to wearing only these for a month. Apparently having done so you soon learn about coordinating colours and valuing garments that can be worn in different ways.
Recycling clothes through charity shops or fashion swops makes good sense. Some readers may remember the scrum at the beginning of a really good jumble sale to come up with a bargain.
A little skill with a needle and thread can open up all sorts of possibilities.
If there is really no other option a surprising range of natural and synthetic fabrics can be recycled into new fabric often using less energy than is used with new fibres.
We may yet return to older practices. I remember my arms aching as I held them up to be used to hold a skein of wool taut, as my mother unravelled a jumper so that the wool could be reknitted into something else.
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Many thanks to those who gave garden tools and pots to the Reuse table that Gareth and Glenys Stone organised at the Tucker’s plant sale. Not only were lots of items sent off to new homes, rather than the recycle unit, but donations made a healthy contribution to the overall proceeds for the Wild life group. We kept some of the less blemished pots with some plans for Christmas in mind.
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