Why sustainable fashion is best and how it can help you
Designers started to tout the name sustainable fashion last year, presenting their 2020 collections. Only then did no one expect that a trend that was expected to be long-lasting would become so close to everyone so quickly. When the fashion sector was forced to stop due to Covid-19, it became obvious that both buying habits (online shopping has grown like never before) and consumer values had changed dramatically in just a few months.
Giorgio Armani, who is currently sharing the most interviews about the future of fashion, emphasizes that from now on, shopping will be more conscious, and it is precisely now that we have the opportunity to stop and re-evaluate the world of fashion. Sustainable fashion encompasses many aspects: quality, the raw materials from which clothes are made, protecting the environment, and also more thoughtful purchasing and efforts to ensure that clothes last a long time.
5 steps to becoming a skilled advocate for sustainable fashion right now:
- Start loving your clothes like they're your second skin.
Since Inditex (the largest clothing group founded in Spain, which owns Zara, Bershka, Mango, Stradivarius, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Uterqüe, Zara Home) has taken root in Lithuania, the most fashionable clothes have become accessible to basically everyone. Of the aforementioned brands, the most expensive is Uterqüe, and Massimo Dutti also offers prices that are not quite fast fashion, but the remaining brands are accessible to most people, and during sales, literally everyone. Naturally, the most fashionable clothes of the season flood the streets, consumption has increased, and with it the attitude has flourished - "it will be suitable for this summer at least".
In Spain, it is believed that if you want to have exclusive clothes, visit Zara more often than your hairdresser and manicurist - once a week. With such frequency, you will not miss the new items that are bought out in a few days (in Barcelona, the new items displayed in the windows are bought out faster than they are updated) and you will find your size. Such a "hunt" for new items is inspiring, but you will help nature and your wallet the most by following the 80/20 philosophy: let 80 percent of your wardrobe consist of clothes that match your style (if you are a fan of the classic style, the main heroes in your wardrobe are straight jeans, a silhouette-shaping jacket, a classic raincoat, etc.), and let the remaining 20 percent be whims. The latter are what is fashionable now (a combination of knitted blouses and a sweater, T-shirts with fruit prints, chamomile print etc.) BUT, even those whims should be as classic as possible - for example, puffed sleeves are very fashionable this season, so if you want such a blouse, and you are not fashionista , choose not extremely puffy sleeves, but puffy sleeves that simply emphasize the shoulder line. Buy clothes that you fall in love with immediately or that you feel a strong attraction to - then you will definitely not go wrong and, believe me, you will become a more responsible consumer at the same time.
- Take your time.
You should check your clothes at least once a month – sew up a loose button, remove lint, and maybe take some to the dry cleaners. Although the biggest love You will show your closet if you prepare your clothes for the week ahead on the weekend. This way you won't rush, you will have more time to think about combinations, you will avoid the morning shock that your closet is full, but you can't find "anything". And you will simply put the clothes you need to repair aside.
When taking care of your clothes, you shouldn't forget about your footwear - in the summer, you'll need to take good care of your white sneakers. Their care is made easier by special whitening products designed to maintain or renew the whiteness of the rubber. Another important detail is the shoelaces. The newer, neater and cleaner they are, the better the footwear looks.
- Invest in clothing care products
Every home should have a "clothing rescue" kit. With proper use, your clothes will last much longer. What should you have to make it easy to care for your clothes?
- A lint remover, because there's nothing more unpleasant than wearing a "pillowy" sweater.
- Special laundry bags for lingerie and very thin blouses and tights, and silk scarves.
- Laundry wipes that absorb dye and dirt, protecting the color of fabrics from fading (e.g. Formil or Dr. Beckmann, which you can find in supermarkets).
- Special detergent for white fabrics/detergent for black clothes.
- A quality detergent for colored clothes.
- A steam iron is the most expensive of the above tools, but it's a long-term investment that will allow you to wear those beautiful shirts you paid so much for but never found the time to iron. Steam ironing eliminates the need for an ironing board and a lot of time.
- Think and experiment
Don't throw away clothes you're bored with. We used to get rid of clothes that we no longer wear or don't fit very easily - when cleaning out our closet, we simply threw away what we no longer need. Although the numbers in Lithuania are not so scary, consumption has already caused great damage worldwide. About 5 percent of garbage in European landfills is clothing, footwear and accessories. Every year in Great Britain and the USA, one person throws away 30-35 kg of clothes. Such statistics are scary and make you think. You can exchange clothes with friends and thus renew your wardrobe, give them to those who can't afford them, and throwing clothes in the container should remain only a bad memory. Owners of original looks and good taste are united by originality. These are people who experiment: they turn tired long jeans into trendy shorts and stylishly wear them with a jacket, they take a dress to a tailor who turns it into a combination of a short T-shirt and a skirt, or they decorate their clothes themselves with appliqués, which can be ironed on with a hot iron, or lace, which can be sewn on by hand. So the most important thing is not to be lazy.
- Participate in campaigns promoting cotton recycling
The H&M chain has been encouraging people to bring in old clothes and receive a discount for several years now, and it seems that this chain's commitment to recycling cotton is long-term - at least for now, this campaign is scheduled to last until 2030. Of the large clothing chains in Lithuania, H&M's campaign is the longest-lasting. After all, it's nice when you buy new T-shirts later to see that they are made from recycled cotton and to know that you contributed to it.
Shorter initiatives are also being organized that promote environmental friendliness and environmental protection. Just before the quarantine, the Italian lingerie chain Intimissimi offered two ways to contribute to environmental protection: take advantage of a discount on a new silk collection by bringing in clothes you no longer wear for recycling or, after spending 80 euros, "plant a tree", that is, choose one of five Intimissimi plantations where a tree would be planted in the customer's name and whose growth could be tracked via a special app. Of course, not all such campaigns reach Lithuania, but you will definitely find ways to become a more responsible shopper.