The fashion industry has a lot of problems. It also has plenty of innovative designers, creators, and change-makers working on solutions. One umbrella movement that encapsulates their efforts is the slow fashion movement. This guide covers what it stands for, why it’s necessary, and how to support it.
Recent years have brought with them an enhanced understanding of our impact on the environment, with more and more people looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint, change their consumption habits and look after the world around them.
The fashion industry has been one of the chief culprits of waste, over-consumption and damaging production methods. But with the advent of the slow fashion movement, we have seen a change in the way consumers behave and the way the fashion industry is adapting itself in line with more eco-friendly ethics. So what is slow fashion and why is it so important?
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The History of Slow Fashion
Before the Industrial Revolution and the arrival of mass-production, people would often make their own clothes, or have clothes made for them, using locally-sourced materials, creating garments that were built to last for a long period of time. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, manufacturing methods for clothes became more automated, with garments being made on a mass-scale. This meant that clothing became easier to make and cheaper to produce, resulting in lower prices for the consumer.
Designers would show their latest collections on the catwalks and the clothing manufacturers would rush to get these looks into their current production lines. With fashion weeks becoming more and more frequent throughout the year, there was a high turnover in styles. Thus, fast fashion was born.
The slow fashion movement came about in the past few years as a reaction to the production methods and wastage of the fashion industry. There were several investigations of fast fashion, all citing the environmental impact and the poor working conditions for labourers in developing countries. This was brought to the public’s attention in the 2013 Dhaka garment factory collapse (also known as the Rana Plaza collapse), in which over a thousand people died. Some of the world’s biggest fashion brands had factories as part of the structure.
So, what is slow fashion?
After the manufacturing techniques, environmental impact and human cost of fast clothing production were brought to light, the slow fashion movement began. Put simply, slow fashion looks to improve the sustainability and ethics of the fashion industry. This is done through measures such as making garments out of high-quality (often durable) and sustainable materials. Clothing is usually sourced, produced and sold locally with fewer new styles every year. Bespoke tailoring is considered to be part of the slow fashion movement, as suits are made for a specific person (so there is no waste from excess stock), are built to last and often made out of high-quality materials.
SLOW FASHION vs. FAST FASHION
“Fast fashion” is a term used by retailers and designers to describe a widely implemented phenomenon and business model. It describes when companies imitate styles and trends seen on the runways at fashion week and recreate them at a much lower price and quality to sell to the mass market. At Study, we utilize Slow Fashion. Slow Fashion is the movement of designing, creating, and buying garments for quality and longevity. It encourages slower production schedules, fair wages, lower carbon footprints, and (ideally) zero waste. By adding transparency about our production process and educating consumers about the craft of making clothing, we hope consumers will begin to understand what is required of producing a well-made garment.
A final note
At the end of the day, not everyone will have the luxury of shopping this way. Many people can’t afford to be picky about their clothing. They don’t have the time to shop around for the perfect piece or the money to spend on durable designer items. If you do, it’s your responsibility to use that purchasing power to support a more fair, equitable, and sustainable fashion industry for everyone.
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