We treat garments as disposable skins that can be peeled off at any time, thrown away, and replaced with the next best thing with no consequences. Every week, new season collections are expected.
We extract resources from our planet in environmentally hazardous ways to make garments that are only worn three times before being discarded in landfills for hundreds of years.
Globally, we produce 100 billion garments per year, and we discard half of all fast fashion within a year of purchase.
Fortunately, the fashion industry and society as a whole are realizing that our resources are limited and that our future on this planet is uncertain. We’re brainstorming strategies for combating this global issue, keeping resources informed, and establishing a fashion industry that doesn’t harm the environment.
Circular Fashion is a new concept in town that could be our knight in shining armour.
Globally, we produce 100 billion garments per year, and we discard half of all fast fashion within a year of purchase.
Renting, borrowing, repairing, swapping, recycling, thoughtfully designing, revamping, upcycling, and recreating are all examples of circular fashion. Circular fashion embraces the notion that clothes are valuable investments and rejects the idea of treating a garment as if it were a cheap and quick takeaway coffee. The circular fashion concept sounds fantastic, but what does it mean for the end-user?
RENTING
Circular fashion frequently disregards the concept of clothing ownership. Circular fashion, on the other hand, embraces the idea of clothes circulating in a resource pool for all humans to draw from, with no one individual claiming ownership of anything. This can only mean one thing: renting.
The clothing rental appears to be the new black. The number of rental stores that are not only opening but also growing and succeeding, is astounding. I had never heard of a renting store until two years ago. Without even thinking about it, I could think of at least five.
You’ve probably heard of magazine subscriptions, but what about wardrobe subscriptions? Renting clothes is usually done on a subscription basis. Pay a monthly fee for a limited or unlimited number of clothes, return them after use, and select a bundle of newbies. This way, you’ll always arrive at the party (or simply to work!) looking fresh, but you won’t have to spend a fortune on a new dress every weekend. With the rise in popularity of renting, fewer dresses sit forgotten in the back of closets, and the number of clothes produced may decrease. A win for our wallets and a win for the environment.
SWAPPING
Casually swapping clothes with a friend is fantastic, but clothing swaps have recently advanced. The Global Fashion Exchange organizes clothes swapping events all over the world and promotes a circular economy through education. Meanwhile, smaller groups in hundreds of countries organize independent-clothing swaps. So, what’s holding you back from organizing a clothing swap?
Gather a group of friends, invite them to bring a few friends, and see what treasures you can find in someone else’s junk pile.
RE-SELLING
Buying pre-loved fashion allows shoppers to wear designer labels and beautiful items without paying exorbitant prices, and selling pre-loved fashion allows you to recoup your investment!
The preloved fashion economy allows you to resell your loved but no longer used items and use the proceeds to purchase someone else’s preloved fashion. The concept of ownership is still in use, but it is much more fluid and less possessive. Preloved items are less expensive than retail prices, and clothes continue to circulate in our fashion economy.