12 Ways to Take Part in Slow Fashion Season
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Happy Slow Fashion Season! We're delighted to be joining in with this year's season celebrating a more sustainable approach to fashion. As a leading second-hand site in the UK, we know the importance of keeping garments in circulation, and out of landfill. Will you join us in taking the slow fashion season pledge?
What is the Slow Fashion Season?
The Slow Fashion Season is a period of three months, from June 21st to September 21st, where people commit to making more conscious fashion choices. The Slow Fashion Season was created by CollAction, a not-for-profit organisation based in Netherlands that supports people with solving Collective Action Problems through 'crowdacting'.
How to join in with Slow Fashion Season
To join in with this year's Slow Fashion Season, all you need to do is pledge to make conscious fashion choices. This means switching out shopping for first-hand fast fashion, and instead:
- Swap clothes with friends or family
- Upcycle clothing that's already in your wardrobe
- Try fixing or customising your clothes
- Buy second-hand clothing
- Shop for vintage fashion
- Support sustainable, local, small fashion labels
Of course, you can only do one or two of these, or if you're a slow fashion fan, go for all of them! Either way, you're helping to change the fashion industry for the better.
What's the problem with fast fashion?
'Fast fashion' is a relatively new phrase that is used to identify fashion brands who reproduce on-trend clothes at a high speed and low cost. The problem with fast fashion is that many garment workers who produce fast fashion are treated very poorly, with long hours, low wages, and stressful work environments. Did you know, workers receive only 0.5% - 4% of the final retail cost of a garment as salary?
On top of that, the current rate of clothes production is unsustainable, with more clothes being made than many of us need. In the UK, the average woman buys a suitcase-worth of clothes each year - more than any of us need.
Here on kathywilliamsmarketing we sell a lot of second-hand fashion from fast fashion brands, so if you'd still like to dress in threads from Boohoo, Fashion Nova, Missguided, Pretty Little Thing, or other high street brands, go for second-hand instead! You'll find clothes that no-one else has, stop funding fast fashion, and save money too!
How will Slow Fashion Season help change the fashion industry?
If all of us pledged to avoid fast fashion, we can help change the fashion industry for good. We can reduce the demand for new clothes, which in turn reduces the demand for low-cost, unfair labour, and unsustainable processes that are harming our planet.
Currently, the fashion industry is responsible for using enormous amounts of water and creating a huge percentage of the world's CO2 emissions. This directly contributes to the climate crisis.
Places to find slow fashion inspiration
If you're looking to switch to slow fashion, whether it's for Slow Fashion Season, or for life, here's a few great places to get started!
- Read my personal guide to switching to ethical fashion
- Try our guide to shopping second-hand
- Sign up to Fashion Revolution
- Follow Slow Fashion Season on Instagram
- Read our guide to shopping sustainably on a budget
- And of course, start shopping second-hand fashion on reliked