Tag Archives: fast fashion

Sew 232 – Cheap disposable clothing, not

repair and renovate garments to extend lifeSome clothing has become so cheap and available in the 21st century that it is effectively disposable, with most items worn only once or twice before being discarded.

This cheap fast fashion, like cheap fast food, satisfies an immediate need to dress for the day – but the true social, ethical and ecological impact is not yet understood.

We know the world wastes about one-third of the food it produces and we are only beginning to grapple with clothing and textile waste.

FAO data on fibre apparel use shows we now consume clothing at three times the rate we did two decades ago. Since 1992, global population has increased by 25 percent and textile consumption by 80 percent. In 1992, we each used 7kg and that increased to 11kg per person by 2010 – with most of the increase being synthetic fibres, derived from petroleum. Synthetic fibres that are cheap, readily available, ultimately unsatisfying and disposable.  Continue reading →

Sew 169 – Gorgeous zero-waste skirt

Creative reuse of waste garmentsAt a global level people are beginning to question the way we dress, where clothing comes from, and whether it is made with ethical and sustainable processes.

As there is rising interest in home cooking and food growing for health and wellbeing, there is a pressing need to rethink our approach to textiles and fashion. Fast food and fast fashion are convenient – but not necessarily sustainable or good for us and our planet.

My model for a social and environmental shift includes empowering individuals to reimagine and recreate their own wardrobe collection by creatively chopping and changing existing clothing to suit themselves.

Instead of global generic bland brand dressing, this shift involves local, individual unfashionistas branding themselves through sustainable, ethical eco-clothing as part of a REfashion Revolution turning waste and reject clothing into something to wear with pride. Continue reading →

Sew 9 – Eco-fashion new values

Linen dress with added collarA dress length that flatters your shape is a very individual thing. Below knee is unflattering for me, which is why I cropped the bottom off this dress and turned it into a collar.

There are some amazing ideas in Eco Fashion, a book by Sass Brown which chronicles sustainability leaders and their creations, and says one of the strongest trends in fashion is the expression of ecological, social and community consciousness.

But the forward by Geoffrey B Small who first recycled menswear in a Paris collection in 1996, pulls no punches: “Fast fashion, planned obsolescence, ignorance and waste rule.” Continue reading →