Is recycling fashion so revolutionary?
A friend recently announced proudly that, following the advice of some online movement, he had avoided buying new clothes for a full year. I laughed at the notion. I am so behind fashion now that I doubt I have any piece of outer wear newer than three years. In fact, looking across the room here, I see a fleece top that I bought twenty years ago when living in Plymouth. Despite regular wear in that time, it still looks relatively new which gives you some idea of how it would fare in a landfill.
The rise of fast fashion is a relatively new thing. As a child (two score and more years ago), sending a torn pair of trousers to the local seamstress, buying a coat with a view to many winter's use and hand-me-downs were normal. The rise of disposable fashion culture was driven by the emergence of brands like C&A, Topshop, Dorothy Perkins. Now those names are gone from the High St, can we re-think?
There was a gigantic shift in attitude to fast consumerism even before Covid and during this last year of Covid, it has really cemented itself as people see no need to have the latest fashion when your main contact with the outside world is on a Zoom call. Issues such as supply chain transparency, workers rights, environmental impact all became topics of conversation in ordinary households. Articles such as these made mainstream media;
https://www.vogue.com/article/repairability-is-the-way-forward-for-fashion
I'm not saying fast fashion is dead and I am sure there will be a huge upsurge in clothing buying once we are out of this but I do hope people take stock of their purchases before rushing to Asos, BooHoo et al.
Ask yourself these questions,
- Is this of a quality that will last me a few years?
- Can it be repaired or refurbished at a later date?
- Am I ready to replace this item?
When your newly acquired clothing zen turns its third eye to your glasses or sunglasses, of course I am here to help.