Can I kick my fast fashion habit?

 

As you've probably gathered from my recent blog posts my work this semester has focused a lot on sustainability within the fashion industry. It is a subject I have been interested in for a while but learning more about the reality of how and where our clothes are made has really made me want to change the way I shop for the better.

The fashion industry uses huge amounts of resources: water, energy, chemicals, oil, the list goes on, but it is also responsible for terrible pollution from the use of pesticides and dyes as well as the exploitation of workers around the world.


Water Pollution caused by textile dying
 http://we.thinkaboutit.eu/profiles/blogs/nightmare-maritsa-river-with



We all know that Primark is bad but the reality is many of the high street chains people perceive as offering better quality and ethics don't, Zara for example, despite charging much more for their products were recently at the heart of a scandal involving the use of slave labour in their factories.  As consumers we have very little concept of where our clothes come from or how they are made and what I have realised from my research is that often companies don't know either due to the complex supply chains in the fashion industry.



3% of Hong Kong's daily textile waste

http://www.ecouterre.com/16-foot-mountain-of-clothing-illustrates-hong-kongs-daily-textile-waste/

I am as guilty as anyone of shopping and not thinking about what it is I am buying, what its made from and who they are made by but I've decided that I need to change my shopping habits.
There are a lot of ways to wear more sustainable clothes, the most obvious one is to buy less and wear what you already have. If you think about the amount of energy, resources and time that goes into each garment you own it makes no sense to leave half of them in the back of your wardrobe and then throw them straight into landfill.



Another way to be more sustainable is to buy from charity and vintage shops. Reusing clothes means your are consuming less virgin materials and  making use of what has already been produced. Another great idea is upcycling, either by adapting your old clothes or buying from companies that remake second hand clothes. A brand I really admire are Goodone who produce beautiful clothes from second hand clothes and industrial waste fabric, the designs are really modern and wearable, breaking the stereotype of what 'ethical' fashion looks like.

Goodone AW 2012 collection

There are a lot of companies out there that are doing a lot to improve how sustainable they are, one of the aspects of this is improving the tractability of products so consumers know where their clothes have come from. Nurmi are a band that really focus on this element of their business producing garments that not only are low impact but can be traced back to their source. I really love their jeans which are made from hemp and organic cotton and produced in Finland.

Nurmi Jeans

Unfortunately buying sustainable fashion is more expensive than high street clothing and in reality a lot of people will choose the £2 Primark T-Shirt over the more expensive organic cotton, ethically sourced version. But on the other hand by cutting back on the impulse buys in the Topshop sale you will save money allowing you to invest in better quality clothing that doesn't cost the earth, that's my plan anyway!

Junky Styling

 

This semester at university all my work seems to have been very focused on sustainability and designing with an environmental conscience. I think these are important issues for the fashion industry to tackle and I have been very inspired by some of the companies I have researched.
 
A company I came across a while ago but which really stuck in my mind when it came to considering a more sustainable model for the fashion industry is Junky Styling. Operating out of their shop in London this brand's focus is up-cycling and recycling clothing,  creating unique pieces from customers own clothing or second-hand finds.




Junky Styling up-cycled Jacket
http://www.junkystyling.co.uk/

 
As part of my research into the company I read the book produced for its 10 year anniversary, it tracks the evolution of the brand from an inspired idea to a full blown business. It also shows past collections, one of my favourite things about them is the way basic garments such as men's shirts can be remade in to create so many different garments in so many styles. Once you know that the dresses below are made from shirts you can see all the different elements, the collars, buttons and sleeves, but if you didn't know they still look like interesting, classy dresses. 
 

Junky Styling Catwalk
http://sustainablethimble.wordpress.com/tag/recyclable-fashion/ 

 
 
I love the idea that worn out, old clothing can be remade into something new and beautiful; given a whole new life and cherished by someone else. I think the reuse of existing materials, and so the reduction in the use of new raw materials is an important aspect of creating a more environmentally sound fashion industry.
 
 

Berlin: Wilfried Pletzinger

I've spent the last week traveling around Europe as part of a charity hitchhike, we managed to blag our way to Berlin which is an amazing city full of history, street art and quirky shops. 




Wilfried Pletzinger AW12/13


Wandering around the city we found a little shop called Wilfried Pletzinger selling up-cycled clothes. The focus of the company is customised sportswear, sweatshirts became harem pants while football shirts are made into dresses giving old clothes a new lease of life.


As part of a slow fashion project at university I have been looking into ways garments can be made to last longer, one way of doing this is by reinventing clothes that have become damaged of outdated. Creating something new that can be loved by someone else.

My favourite pieces in the shop were these dresses because of the way they combined bold, bright sportswear with softer fabrics and shapes to create a romantic, feminine garment. I also loved the tops that were made into trousers because of the way they challenged how garments should be worn.


Sustainability in fashion is something I'm really passionate about and seeing up-cycling in practice, being used to make exciting and innovative clothing was really inspiring. It showed that sustainable fashion doesn't have to be about hemp and hippies but can be colourful, fun and interesting.