The fashion industry is one of the most needed in the world because there’s no single person that doesn’t wear clothes. Wheatear you make your own clothes, buy them at thrift stores or brand new, we all consume fashion. Still, there’s a big red cross on the fashion industry, the big elephant in the room, and yes, we are talking about fast fashion.
We have all consumed brands like Forever21, Zara, Pull & Bear and many others that belong to the fast fashion industry at some point. But have we ever considered the environmental impact these brands and all the clothes we consume have on our planet? And not only on our environment but on other human beings with their low salaries or lack of work ethics.
That is where sustainability plays an import role in changing the fashion industry. Sustainability is the ability to have a balance in between the things you take from the Earth and the things the Earth gives to you.
The Global Fashion Xchange Project or GFX is an international platform that promotes forums, educational and cultural events all regarding the sustainability of the fashion industry. One of their main particularities is their swap parties which are international events they have been making all around the globe. These events are based on the exchange of clothing you no longer use for ‘new’ one’s other people bring, and you’ll like to have as your own. It’s a great way to refill your wardrobe and at the same time empty it from items you no longer need instead of throwing them away. It’s a small step you can take to save thousands of pieces of clothing of going to the landfills every year, it’s also a great way to meet new people and get items that carry a history. Mr. Patrick Duffy is one of the founders and the great mind behind this project, you can follow him on his social media and discover more about this amazing project. And maybe go to a swap party near your town!
GFX Fashion Swap, V&A Museum, London, 1July2018, ©BronacMcNeillThe Devil Wears Sinai or DWS is a digital project based in Costa Rica and founded by Wendy Soto in which the team uses social media to encourage people to buy second-hand pieces to promote a slow fashion model of consuming. The team of DWS uses their media to provide information about ways of protecting the Earth by the way you consume fashion, also facts about the way your garments might be being productive and ideas of styles that had been achieved by buying only second-hand items. Recently they have visited schools and universities around the country giving talks about the importance of changing our mentality from fast fashion to slow fashion which makes people at least a bit interested in the subject. The Devil Wears Sinai also provides a data base of second-hand stores they recommend and local people that design and sew original pieces to have more unique garments in your wardrobe.
Metawear is a brand founded by Marci Zaroff in 2012 in India. Their main purposes are to build a vertically integrated supply chain equipped for both high and low volume production textile categories. They provide their customer with a totally transparent process of what they do since the manufacturing thru the shopping of the product the customer knows what is going behind the curtains. Metawear is dedicated to implementing the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certification and build a network of self-sustainable factories that produce garments and accessories. Their first factory in Virginia certified that the apparel made there was cut, sewn, dyed, printed and embroidered all under one roof.
Ecoalf is a brand based in Madrid that took an opportunity in waste since 2009 founded by Javier Goyeneche. Their main objective was to manufacture the first generation of fashion products created with recycled materials of the same quality, design, and technicalities of a non-recycled garment. Their motto establishes that there is no planet, so we have to take care of what we have and all the resources the planet gives us under control. Ecoalf has all the fashion products you might need for women, men and kids!
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