How to Become a Slow Fashion Supporter So, what is slow fashion? As it says on the tin, it requires you to slow down on your fashion consumption. It asks you to consider what you are buying, whether you need it, and how it was made. There are several ways to support slow fashion. Firstly, stop buying into fast fashion and open your mind to buying pre-loved, vintage, and from independent designers. Obviously, you can’t go wrong with a “Chazzer” shop, loads of unique pre-loved items, with all money spent directly supporting the charity rather than lining corporate pockets; whilst creating a circular economy to reuse existing garments. Vintage boutiques are also high on the slow fashion register; independently run with unique pre-loved collections and pieces that have been lovingly curated, offering vintage and retro gems from the 1920s to the early noughties. You are literally spoilt for choice! Which is your decade? Independent fashion designers and businesses all run on small, slow fashion ranges that are carefully handmade and often bespoke, not mass produced like fast fashion. If you want a unique item, the independent designer is your friend. Many also offer bespoke services personally for you; plus, you will also have a warm feeling that you are supporting indie businesses. Good for you!
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Online platforms like Depop, which is gaining a reputation as a hardcore seller’s paradise, offer private sellers and indie businesses opportunities to sell vintage, pre-loved and independent fashion over brand-new fast fashion items. Which is a good thing. (Follow Depop Drama on Instagram!) Well, now we know what slow fashion is, what exactly is fast fashion? A colleague asked me this question the other day, even though I’ve been banging on about it the whole four years I’ve known them – Aaargh!! But at last they are now listening! We are getting through! Fast fashion is anything that is mass produced; its fashion drops, new collections, the latest big trend, BooHoo, Primark, supermarket brands, Topshop, crazy low priced online fashion platforms... The list goes on. Even our beloved M&S, despite their attempts to be as transparent as possible, will still over produce and fill their shops with new lines dropping on a weekly basis. Do you think they sell every garment? What do you think happens to the unwanted clothing??? Hello, landfill! This is all fast fashion! How can you become more fashion conscious? Consider how much the fashion items cost in the first place, if its cheap as chips you can bet it didn’t get to the shops sustainably and ethically. Cheap garments = poorly paid workers. If that top cost you £3, how much do you think the worker got to make it? What was their cut? It’s not good is it?
