Fast fashion isn’t
really about speed, but greed: selling more, making more money. Time is
just one factor of production, along with labour, capital and natural
resources that get juggled and squeezed in the pursuit of maximum
profits. But fast is not free. Short lead times and cheap clothes are
only made possible by exploitation of labour and natural resources.
Yet it doesn’t have to be this way. We can design a different system
for ourselves that makes money while respecting the rights of workers
and the environment, and produces beautiful and conscientious garments.
Slow fashion is about
designing, producing, consuming and living better. Slow fashion is not
time-based but quality-based (which has some time components). Slow is
not the opposite of fast – there is no dualism – but a different
approach in which designers, buyers, retailers and consumers are more
aware of the impacts of products on workers, communities and ecosystems.
The concept of slow fashion borrows heavily from the Slow Food
Movement. Founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy in 1986, Slow Food links
pleasure and food with awareness and responsibility. It defends
biodiversity in our food supply by opposing the standardisation of
taste, defends the need for consumer information and protects cultural
identities tied to food. It has spawned a wealth of other slow
movements. Slow Cities, for example, design with slow values but within
the context of a town or city and a commitment to improve its citizens’
quality of life.
In melding the ideas of the slow movement with the global clothing
industry, we build a new vision for fashion in the era of
sustainability: where pleasure and fashion is linked with
awareness and
responsibility.
Slow fashion, with the
shift from quantity to quality, takes the pressure off time. It allows
suppliers to plan orders, predict the numbers of workers needed and
invest in the longer term. It gives companies time to build mutually
beneficial relationships. No longer will suppliers have to employ
temporary or subcontracted workers, or force workers to do excessive
overtime to meet unpredictable orders with impossible deadlines.
Instead, workers will have secure employment with regular hours and the
opportunity for promotion.
Of course, quality costs more. We will buy fewer products, but higher
in value. A fairer distribution of the ticket price through the supply
chain is an intrinsic part of the agenda. Jobs are preserved as workers
spend longer on each piece. Slow design enables a richer interaction
between designer and maker; maker and garment; garment and user. A
strong bond of relationships is formed, which permeates far beyond the
garment manufacturing chain.
Slow fashion is a glimpse of a different – and more sustainable –
future for the textile and clothing sector and an opportunity for
business to be done in a way that respects workers, environment and
consumers in equal measure. Such a future is but a garment away.
Tips to slow down your wardrobe:
• Repair your clothes with a smile (it’s easier than going shopping)
• Or ask stores about repair services… that may get them thinking
• Ask your friends for new ideas about how to wear the garments you already have… it’s always good to wear things in a new way.
Kate Fletcher is an eco textiles consultant and author.
www.katefletcher.com
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