Fight Fashion Waste
no cost to those ential landfill, available at New clothes, rescued from pot e “Thread n of the Australian initiativ sio Mis the is t Tha t. mos it who need doing it tough. h charities to clothe people Together” which partners wit Thread Together is the only organisation in Australia whose main mission and focus is to source new and excess clothing from fashion retailers and redistribute items to those in our communities that need it most. Founded in 2012 by Andie Halas, former shareholder of Seafolly, Thread Together embodies her vision of ensuring unsold clothes can go to support people in need. By collaborating with some of Australia’s largest clothing suppliers and social service agencies, Thread Together changes not just the future of the clothes but also the futures of people in crisis. In five years they have distributed over $8 million worth of new clothing to people in our community who are vulnerable and in need. Working with around 40 fashion partners, more than one million items of clothing have been diverted from landfill, and more than 300,000 people have benefited. “Our model is very simple,” says
34 / SPRING 2021
founder, Andie Halas. “We collect end-of-line brand new stock from clothing providers. With the support of volunteers, the clothes are sorted by age, gender, and purpose, and then re-distributed to people in need through charities across Australia. I think of it as redistributive justice.” An increasing number of Australians do not have access to essential clothing. According to the Social Policy Research Centre report of 2016, 2.99 million people (13.3 percent of the population), are living below the poverty line. Thread Together is currently supporting the people who are homeless, youth at risk, Indigenous communities, survivors of domestic violence, refugees or long term unemployed. People in need of comfortable clothing to enable them to feel safe and warm, or people seeking clothing for a new job. Men, women and children that are finding themselves in a tough spot, are welcomed to choose a complete new set of clothes. This
is facilitated through our Wardrobe Initiatives and Clothing Hubs. This has resulted in tonnes of new clothing being diverted from landfill to date. As well as helping us achieve our mission, it has cemented Thread Together as an effective solution for the textile waste problem in Australia. In 2020, Thread Together opened a warehouse and fulfilment centre to continue their work. CEO of Thread Together, Anthony Chesler and Founder, Andie Halas said “The new warehouse will enable Thread Together to continue their mission to being the most ethical response to excess fashion waste in Australia”. “The new facility in Banksmeadow (NSW) will future proof Thread Together for the next three years, the additional capacity enabling the charity to efficiently manage the growing needs of the organisation in supporting vulnerable Australians.” More at threadtogether.org
