The Slow Fashion Movement. I Support This. Big Time.

First of all, thank you to everyone who sends me ideas and links to things that I may be interested in. You are all so great! Thank-you for your support!

This morning I woke up to an article that my friend Leanne had sent me. I was soooo excited to read about this movement!

It is called 'The Slow Fashion Movement'

“Slow fashion encompasses sustainable fashion, but it takes a broader view than just supporting organic T-Shirts,” said Elizabeth Cline, author of Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion.

“It’s about the consumer becoming aware of the whole process–from design through production through use and through the potential to reuse,” Hazel Clark, research chair of fashion at Parsons said.

(Article: Fashionista blog)

Erica Weiner, in addition to operating one of our fave jewelry shops in Nolita, makes all of her products by hand in the lower east side, reusing materials that were mass-produced in the USA in the 20th century. For more complicated crafting, they employ like-minded NYC companies, most of which are family businesses.

(Article here)

I absolutely LOVED this part :

“The problem with something like green fashion [or other movements],” Clark continued, “Is that it’s still very much focused on the item’s consumption, whereas slow fashion addresses the whole cycle.”

And that’s the thing: Past consumer awareness movements have still encouraged our country’s crazy consumption rate (see: H&M’s new recycling program/genius marketing campaign)–a rate that is simply not sustainable for our planet. That’s where slow fashion comes in: Much like the slow food movement, slow fashion encourages consumers to be more mindful about the products they consume and ultimately, to consume less altogether.

“Slow fashion also means buying less, caring for what you own so that it doesn’t end up in a landfill, and upcycling or swapping/trading* used clothing,” Cline said.

(* I am having a Clothes Swap at my place in Hamilton next week- Let me know if you are interested in attending)

And this section really spoke to me and what I believe:

“Some designers are doing some very interesting things…making clothes not tied to a season, using very lovely fabrics and thinking beyond the three-week fashion cycle of Forever 21,” Clark said.

I simply LOVE that. That is what absolutely drives me bonkers. That "Ya-this-will-be-outta-style-next-month-but-it-doesn't-matter-because-it's-so-cheap-and-disposable" mentality.

Lily, who said she feels “very passionately about the slow everything movement” just launched her first collection, but has been working on her line for a year and half–not only sourcing locally in L.A., but often using deadstock fabrics and vintage trims. “There is a very finite amount of what I am able to produce, but it adds to the charm of owning a piece from my collection,” she said. “I think my customers like knowing every piece has been lovingly crafted and made of limited, hand-selected materials.”

(Article here)

I strongly encourage a look-see at this article. It is titled "The Slow Fashion Movement: Ten Brands That Are Doing It Right".

It lists ten U.S. brands that have embraced the Slow Fashion  Movement and are producing clothes within the states sustainably and with a social-conscience.

Happy Friday everyone. Have a fabulous weekend.