Slow & Circular Fashion: Yes

Meera Naveen
Mar 3, 2024
3 min read

Updated: Jun 24, 2024

This is the alternative to fast fashion, and in reality, the future of fashion.

According to Lebby from Treehugger, slow fashion is a movement that rethinks the focus of fashion on quality instead of quantity. Labor, the environment, and culture is all taken into consideration when producing this type of fashion.

Also, according to Liva from Vogue, circular fashion mainly involves caring about, again, the quality of clothing. Where the clothing is sourced from, how it is produced (is it produced to be durable, biodegradable and recyclable) and how it's distributed.

So how did these concepts start and evolve?

Slow fashion was a movement inspired by a similar one in the 1980s against fast food, called the Slow Food Movement. Just like that, the movement would be against fast fashion, focusing on creating original, ethical clothing and bringing a modern version of the traditional trends before the Industrial Revolution took over.

Meanwhile, circular fashion, which you can say might not be as heard of, is inspired from the concept of a circular economy, where reusing and recycling and making most of what you have is important. This is a "movement" that goes against the original, linear model and economy, where after something is used, it is immediately thrown away.

So how can we take part of this movement?

In Treehugger, it states that if you want to learn more about slow fashion brands, you can use the the hashtag #slowfashionbrand on several social media platforms. Even more, reaching out through online communities and especially your local community to find small businesses that follow this concept and people, maybe even neighbors, that would be interested in this subject is a great way to help raise awareness and shop ethically.

Taking part in classes or clubs to learn how to sew and create clothing can also help you, as you can use worn-out fabrics that you own and upcycle/repurpose them to create something new and long-lasting.

Even more, when buying an outfit, seek to reduce (the most effective of the three R's): consider if you're going to use that outfit a lot or if it's just going to gather up dust in your closet. And before deciding to buy something new, think, do I really have to buy something? Or could a garment I already have work? Not only does this promote sustainable thinking, but it also promotes a consciousness of the value of items, resulting in less mindless splurging.

So, the next time you want new clothes, first consider if you really need them. Next, consider if you already have something similar at home. If you don't, think if you can create the clothing or if you know of some slow and circular fashion brands you can buy from. And when you're buying, look for durability and ask yourself if you're actually going to use it more than once.

Fast fashion, a linear economy, and harming the environment and workers doesn't have to be our future. Instead, we should focus on how we can help others as well as the process and the journey rather than the destination.