Fashion Forwards?

I heard about a great idea today. Some children in country Victoria Australia, lead by their teachers hold regular meet and swaps to share their unwanted clothing. Children are given a ticket for every number of clothing items they donate and can reclaim other people’s clothes, per number donated in return. It’s such a great idea given children grow out of clothing so quickly. Alarmingly 95 percent of the clothing items donated were by girls because they churn through their purchases so readily. We can thank marketing around fast fashion for this kind of statistic.

There’s a lot of companies entering the damage control stakes when it comes to sustainability. Unfortunately, such concepts are very problematic. It’s possible that changes to manufacturing practices and use of  “recycled” fabrics or more “sustainable” products can have a minimum impact. Most of these companies use heavily derived statistics from, well, no -where in particular and blur the lines of truth to legitimise shopping models and advertising frameworks that still ask people to want more and more and more. The problem is not just in the production of the clothing but in the chain store culture of pushing at people a barrage of advertisements that can, especially for much younger non suspecting people, feel like a rather large dose of mind control.

Looking at production models and use of fabrics alone, some of the new “innovations” in “sustainable” materials I find difficult to understand. There’s some making clothing from Pineapple leaves for example. I suppose it might depend on where the Pineapple leaves come from.  Even more alarming is that most pineapples are grown in Costa Rica where horrible slave labour is in order, even including small children in which case I will buy my boots from a vintage store or save up and have an artisan make them and not have too many boots at all.  Possibly, drought tolerant as pineapple growing is, if grown in ethical ways, it might not be too bad an option but it’s still better to buy second hand. Another idea was one which involved growing algae in labs and adding it to kelp to make fabrics due to its biodegradable nature. I’m assuming at the moment the kelp is sourced from oceans or kelp farms, neither of which really provide a sustainable option. Kelp found washed up on shores is still part of our eco system. Climate scientists predict that many of our kelp forests will be gone with the rise in global warming because kelp relies on cold water to grow. Growing kelp inside in tanks is totally possible and may be an option, however the energy costs in running these tanks would currently be very high. In the future via, clean energy though, it’s perhaps possible. The only issue is; how long do you wish you clothing to last for? I’m sure we’re not talking about walking down the street where one arm falls off your shirt because it’s a biodegradable item after a year and that’s ok because it’s out of fashion now. Does the item last 10 years, 20, 30? We don’t really have any room left for waiting at all. Asian countries have stopped taking the waste from other countries such as Australia and America where they could recycle at a low cost. That’s because THERES TOO MUCH WASTE. It’s probably a better solution than non-biodegradable clothing items like say nylon?  Wait hang on, plastic can be recycled, so too can nylon.  Also some forms of nylon are actually biodegradable and inventing a new kind of fabric from algae and kelp might not be cost effective for H and M given teams of innovators are possibly being paid to make them. It’s possibly an interesting experiment nevertheless but could be a bit of a PR spin at present.

Cotton is the coal of fashion. There is no sustainable way in actual fact to really grow cotton. It takes thousands of litres of water to irrigate crops. It’s a bit like saying we source diamonds responsibly. In both cases there’s a fairly major impact to the environment. Perhaps it’s not so dire as before, but we would be better off too cut back to the bare minimum on such purchases though. keeping in mind the people who sell these brands, such as celebrities are caught in a system of sales that not only pushes at us clothing but also a hankering for big cars, big homes and big parties and even claim to be suddenly “plastic free” while having a few weeks early advertised Fiji water and iced coffee in plastic cups on Instagram or in the Daily Mail.

What is the solution to the great chain store massacre to the environment, to the real environmentalists, the ones actually on the ground chugging away at some wonderful greening the earth projects. I don’t think we have a clear answer just yet in a collated collective way. That’s where my head is going, pulling all the many threads together from those who have investigated the area of climate change from a real scientific base in the most non contradictory of ways and who are legitimately wanting to fight the war on waste rather than providing band aide solutions. Here’s my list (just where fashion is concerned) and given I’m possibly just an ordinary gal who is not an Economist, Scientist or Environmental expert, I’ve done a bit of reading around those who are, so I feel inclined to the following list.  In order of priority, this is how I’m making sense of it all.

Vintage, vintage vintage / Swap and Save for Big Business

Buy vintage, shop vintage, don’t be ashamed to re-wear other people’s clothes, all the cool kids are doing it. There’s already enough clothing in waste and vintage stores to cloth, most of the world for a long time as it is. A lot of it is now sitting in landfill because, while second hand stores are thriving big chain stores are still the huge competition and a lot of the very rich business people of this world are reluctant to add a fifty fifty split of vintage to new clothing. They really just need to be prepared to profit but possibly not quite as much. Who knows though, it could actually be more cost effective If some of those companies themselves offered a swap and save aspect. The swapped second hand items could most definitely be resold.

 Self-Control when buying clothing

Rather than buying lots of clothing, especially on line at prices so low one cannot imagine proper wages are really being paid in due, don’t give in to the spin. Buy reasonably. Just because you can buy three t-shirts because they are 11 dollars each, don’t. Inject money into the economy by spending differently. It’s hard to know how and where? Lots of café’s, leisure activities, markets, festivals, gardening and more are a better option than going to a shopping mall a lot or buying up big on the internet. The online world of advertising is making young people a bit frivolous and actually a bit sad. Clinical studies are indicating a direct harm to young people’s body image because of the rise of Instagram and including model prototypes of the perfectly toned, tall, tanned physique that are an advertisement for fashion and pop culture. Many young people are living in debt even before they are 22 years old.

Cottage Enterprise.

Contrary to popular opinion there is money to made in cottage industries that offer a more sustainable model. Some of these industries are well suited to regional localities and have room for growth and connectivity via the internet.  Given our cities are bursting at the seams it’s a good option. The reason why people often fob these kinds of models off as “not high money spinners” is because the market place is monopolised by big business not because there’s no money in it at all. They often get swiped from the floor before they even begin because a large store moves on in and creates competition that is very hard to beat. Politicians talk about the great small business versus big business vote card policy every time there is an upcoming election.  In fashion, there’s no reason why small manufacturers with lower emissions or even hand crafters focusing on using reclaimed fabrics, can’t be happening in a small way but in lots and lots of places. Yes, the garments can’t be made as quickly and as cheaply, especially in the early stages of a business being set up. A “chain store” that is still operating under the cottage industry model is a solution though. I think we just can’t hold onto massive chain/sweatshop products in the way they are currently manufacturing goods, because, though they are looking at their materials more, the manufacturing outputs via pollutions are still very high and we really need to be looking at community models moving forwards even for the sake of our mental health. It’s strange to think we might need to almost go “backwards” to some degree, to the good old country town feel, in order to move “forwards’ with greening the earth, connecting to each other, loving one another and being truly proud of our efforts and who we are hanging out with.  A lot of costs of course are hidden under the umbrella of economic money shuffling. There’s a heck of a lot of money that is being paid out in mental health and in health in general. Feeling loved and proud and happy is a good way to stay well, it’s not always going to work, but often it will. Just one example too.

Lace Overdress made From Old Curtains. 

Make your own Clothes

Our grandmothers or great grandmothers or even grandfathers did it. It’s fun. It’s something you can do with any piece of fabric, new or reclaimed from another old garment, a pair of curtains for example. Join a knitting collective, any age, it’s cool for all people these days. You can even do courses in making your own shoes which would be great fun and a great business to run or be a part of.

Design Clubs that operate as a Business or Community Engagement Activity

This is a bit of a fun idea which would involve people coming together in clubs to make clothes for one another with skills or a readiness to learn. The activity would involve clothing being made to each person’s story, tastes, body shape or inspiration from others. It might involve watching movies about fashion and its history as a point of interest and inspiration too.

Limit your Social Media Use

Have one set time a day to engage in social media or even use social media every second day. Everything in moderation is a good piece of advice. Connect to the people who are making you feel inspired to be active with your mind, heart and body in ways that are healthy and realistic. Try not to be ashamed of your choices. Stay strong in your resolve to be a greenie and critically analyse what it is you are seeing and being fed via the internet.

I’m not being rude. We are in for a rude shock though unless change happens quickly in the most uncompromising of ways.