Slow fashion is increasingly present in consumer choices. It's no longer about getting the best deals or the most exclusive pieces; now it's about making sure that the clothes don't hurt the environment and the people who made them.
Slow fashion or fast fashion, that's the dilemma. If you haven't heard of the slow movement, you are missing out on something very special: it advocates a cultural shift toward slowing down life's pace. It started with food, spread to cities and fashion as well.
So, no, slow fashion is becoming more prevalent as people become increasingly aware of how harmful fast fashion really is.
There is a growing awareness of the environment, of the poor working conditions, and of how the market affects our consumption decisions in so many other ways. More and more people are choosing to buy clothes with a Fair Trade guarantee as well as for opting for second-hand, vintage, thrift stores and apps such as Depop.
3 Keys ways to slow fashion to join the challenge of a more sustainable planet and a friendly textile industry
1. Slow fashion promotes a more responsible and ethical attitude towards consumption.
It is opposed to the production that is normally carried out in a chain, with clothes having little personality and a lot of standardization. The single-use culture has to go, it does not do any good for us or the environment. In addition, it makes us recklessly run after the latest item and puts unnecessary pressure to fit in. You are who you are, regardless of what you wear.
2. Slow fashion supports companies with few employees and that manufacture locally.
It is committed to recycling and purchasing second-hand clothing products, to give them a new life and to make the best use of the resources. It insists that we must donate the clothes that we no longer use and that return, thus, to the cycle of use.
3. The materials used to manufacture first-hand slow fashion garments are sustainable.
When choosing the clothes you are going to buy, you can find out where the materials come from. This way, you will know how everything was made, by which company and under which conditions. It's worth it!
In case you were wondering whether to still look into the trend, have a look at these numbers:
Some numbers
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52: the number of fashion seasons (previously 2)
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7: the amount of times a person wears an item before discarding it
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2: the percentage of fashion workers who earn a living wage
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1,700: US dollars an average person spends on clothes per year
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103: Average amount of items in your closet
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700: gallons of water needed to produce a single cotton shirt
So please, start looking at your closet and actually using what you own or donating what you don't.
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