The Slow Fashion
Movement
The Slow Fashion movement is about creating fashion CONSCIOUSLY and with integrity while consuming less and consuming better. It’s a unified representation of all the eco, green, ethical and sustainable fashion movements which intends to SLOW DOWN our rate of fashion consumption.
Above all, the slow fashion movement is a SOLUTION to the fast fashion industry that instead encourages consumers to support local and small businesses, donate or re-purpose unwanted garments, shop secondhand, sustainable or artisanal, and invest in versatile, high quality clothing that will both last longer and transcend fashion fads. Ultimately, the goal of slow fashion is to get consumers to become more MINDFUL about where they spend their dollars. But before we dive right into what the slow fashion movement is, let's start with some definitions.
Above all, the slow fashion movement is a SOLUTION to the fast fashion industry that instead encourages consumers to support local and small businesses, donate or re-purpose unwanted garments, shop secondhand, sustainable or artisanal, and invest in versatile, high quality clothing that will both last longer and transcend fashion fads. Ultimately, the goal of slow fashion is to get consumers to become more MINDFUL about where they spend their dollars. But before we dive right into what the slow fashion movement is, let's start with some definitions.
| ■ SOME DEFINITIONS |
Fashion created by garment workers whom are paid a living wage in good working conditions, whom are of a proper age, and whom are supported positively by the fashion company they are employed by. A catchall phrase that is often used synonymously with “ethical”, “sustainable”, or “eco”. Popular with brands that greenwash. However, don’t let this deter you from brands who use the word and who employ actual sustainable practices. "Sustainable" in fashion refers to the impact that production of a fashion item has on our planet. How was it taken from the earth and how will it return to the earth? How much waste was involved in the manufacturing process? If it never biodegrades, a garment is not truly sustainable. Sustainable products should always return to the earth as food, not poison (in the words of educator Céline Semaan). Creating sustainable fashion means producing in a way that harms the planet the least. |
| ■ THE FASHION REVOLUTION |
| On April 24th, 2013, the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh catastrophically collapsed, killing 1,134 people and injuring at least 2,500 others, becoming the worst industrial disaster to date. This building contained clothing factories linked to over a dozen fast fashion companies, like Primark, Benneton, J.C. Penney, Mango, Walmart, and more. Prior to the incident, cracks were discovered in the building. Yet the building’s owners ignored warnings to avoid building use and garment workers were forced to return to work under threat of withholding payment. Consequently, the building collapsed during the morning rush-hour. As a result of this tragic collapse, the Fashion Revolution was born. It is a grassroots movement composed of consumers, brands, designers, retailers, makers and producers working together towards radically changing the way our clothing is sourced, produced, and consumed in order to ensure that our clothing is made in a safe, clean, and fair way. |
 PHOTO: ZAKIR HOSSAIN |
Every April, Fashion Revolution asks consumers worldwide to call for a more transparent and ethical fashion industry by asking their favourite brands or retailers #whomademyclothes on social media. And it has been working. More brands are being transparent about where their clothes are made and more manufacturers are ensuring safer working conditions for their employees. More producers are being seen and heard. But this story is far from over. The Fashion Revolution won't stop until every garment worker who makes the clothes we love is seen, heard, paid properly and working safely. Our voices make a difference and we need to keep asking brands #whomademyclothes? For more information on the Fashion Revolution and how you can get involved, head to their website here. |
| ■ DIRTY LAUNDRY |
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Did you know that up to 25% of each garment's carbon footprint comes from the way we wash and care for it? Plus, 9 out of 10 garments end up in a landfill long before they should often because of over-washing. Clothes cleaning processes are a source of various environmental impacts which result in water pollution, eutrophication, carbon emissions and potential toxicity impacts. So here are some things we can do to change the way we wash our clothes, and thereby reduce our environmental footprint... |
| ① Air dry our clothing, as this would reduce the need for mechanical drying. ② Instead of tumble drying, spin dry our clothes in a washing machine as it is a far more energy efficient method of removing water from textiles. ③ Wash our clothes at colder temperatures. According to the UK Sustainable Clothing Roadmap, if all UK citizens currently washing their clothes at 40ºC instead washed them at 30ºC, the UK would save 12 percent of the energy that is currently consumed on clothes washing annually. ④ Use laundry detergents with reduced environmental impacts, and choose concentrated detergent products if possible. Compact powder and concentrated liquid detergents perform better than regular powders and liquids across a range of environmental indicators. Also, keep an eye out for products that contain sodium laurel sulphate and optical brighteners (both of which are skin irritants, artificial fragrances and usually derived from petrochemicals). These chemicals act as toxins once flushed into waterways. ⑤ When buying garments, avoid petroleum-based synthetics. Washing petroleum-based synthetic textiles like polyester and nylon releases half a million tonnes of plastic microfibers into the ocean every year, accounting for 38.4% of global microplastic pollution. ⑥ Think twice about dry cleaning. The usual process involves soaking clothing in a harsh solvent that may be a probable carcinogen. Many "dry-clean only" fabrics can be gently hand-washed, but make sure to research the fabric first! ⑦ The average American family washes about 300 to 390 loads of laundry per year - that’s nearly a load per day. Yikes. So what if we simply washed our clothes less? Here's a guide to how often you should wash your clothing in order to: a) preserve the longevity of our garments and b) minimize our damage on the environment. |
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| ■ THE FASHION REVOLUTION |
| On April 24th, 2013, the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh catastrophically collapsed, killing 1,134 people and injuring at least 2,500 others, becoming the worst industrial disaster to date. This building contained clothing factories linked to over a dozen fast fashion companies, like Primark, Benneton, J.C. Penney, Mango, Walmart, and more. Prior to the incident, cracks were discovered in the building. Yet the building’s owners ignored warnings to avoid building use and garment workers were forced to return to work under threat of withholding payment. Consequently, the building collapsed during the morning rush-hour. As a result of this tragic collapse, the Fashion Revolution was born. It is a grassroots movement composed of consumers, brands, designers, retailers, makers and producers working together towards radically changing the way our clothing is sourced, produced, and consumed in order to ensure that our clothing is made in a safe, clean, and fair way. |
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PHOTO: ZAKIR HOSSAIN |
| Every April, Fashion Revolution asks consumers worldwide to call for a more transparent and ethical fashion industry by asking their favourite brands or retailers #whomademyclothes on social media. And it has been working. More brands are being transparent about where their clothes are made and more manufacturers are ensuring safer working conditions for their employees. More producers are being seen and heard. But this story is far from over. The Fashion Revolution won't stop until every garment worker who makes the clothes we love is seen, heard, paid properly and working safely. Our voices make a difference and we need to keep asking brands #whomademyclothes? For more information on the Fashion Revolution and how you can get involved, head to their website here. |
| ■ DIRTY LAUNDRY |
| Did you know that up to 25% of each garment's carbon footprint comes from the way we wash and care for it? Plus, 9 out of 10 garments end up in a landfill long before they should often because of over-washing. Clothes cleaning processes are a source of various environmental impacts which result in water pollution, eutrophication, carbon emissions and potential toxicity impacts. So here are some things we can do to change the way we wash our clothes, and thereby reduce our environmental footprint... |
| ① Air dry our clothing, as this would reduce the need for mechanical drying. ② Instead of tumble drying, spin dry our clothes in a washing machine as it is a far more energy efficient method of removing water from textiles. ③ Wash our clothes at colder temperatures. According to the UK Sustainable Clothing Roadmap, if all UK citizens currently washing their clothes at 40ºC instead washed them at 30ºC, the UK would save 12 percent of the energy that is currently consumed on clothes washing annually. ④ Use laundry detergents with reduced environmental impacts, and choose concentrated detergent products if possible. Compact powder and concentrated liquid detergents perform better than regular powders and liquids across a range of environmental indicators. Also, keep an eye out for products that contain sodium laurel sulphate and optical brighteners (both of which are skin irritants, artificial fragrances and usually derived from petrochemicals). These chemicals act as toxins once flushed into waterways. ⑤ When buying garments, avoid petroleum-based synthetics. Washing petroleum-based synthetic textiles like polyester and nylon releases half a million tonnes of plastic microfibers into the ocean every year, accounting for 38.4% of global microplastic pollution. ⑥ Think twice about dry cleaning. The usual process involves soaking clothing in a harsh solvent that may be a probable carcinogen. Many "dry-clean only" fabrics can be gently hand-washed, but make sure to research the fabric first! ⑦ The average American family washes about 300 to 390 loads of laundry per year - that’s nearly a load per day. Yikes. So what if we simply washed our clothes less? Here's a guide to how often you should wash your clothing in order to: a) preserve the longevity of our garments and b) minimize our damage on the environment. |
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BUY Less, CHOOSE Better
Over the first nine months of 2015, the Earth's surface reached 1ºC above preindustrial temperatures for the first time, resulting in record heat waves across the world, food and water shortages, coastal flooding, the destabilization of a key part of the West Antartica's ice sheet (and therefore an expected sea level rise of more than 3m over the next centuries), the third ever global coral bleaching event (due to higher ocean temperatures and acidification), and the local extinctions of plants and animals all across the world. And now, the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) has predicted that we'll pass the 1.5ºC marker by 2050 (or as early as 2030) at our current levels of greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, by 2050, an estimated 150 to 200 million people (who are disproportionately BIPOC from the Global South) could be forced to leave their homes due to climate-induced desertification, extreme weather conditions and rising sea levels. The climate crisis has already displaced over 20 million people a year from 2008 to 2016. More than ever, we need intersectional and scalable solutions alongside individual efforts to demand large corporations to pay respect to the environment and reduce our own individual environmental footprints.
Before we talk about being a mindful consumer, we first need to understand that we can't solve sustainability simply by buying things. Furthermore, there are no binary solutions to fashion's sustainability problem, just reduction of harm. Yet that doesn't mean there is no value in being a mindful consumer, which is not quite as easy as it looks. After all, it has become habit for most people to just look at a price tag and think nothing else of it. But fashion has become more than just a t-shirt on a clothing rack. Beyond the everyday decisions we make to determine our OOTDs, we need to redefine our relationship to consumption and understand the environmental and human exploitations carried out by the fashion industry. Furthermore, we need to become more demanding consumers – demand better quality clothes that afford a better quality of life to the people who make them, and demand that each item we choose to buy and wear was made with dignity, made to last, and made with respect to the environment. As Vivienne Westwood famously said, buy less, choose well, and make it last.
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