In sustainable fashion the focus can sometimes be monopolised by farming and production issues like cotton farming and sweatshops. An area that deserves more attention, however, is the consumerist culture of the fashion industry. In a world of flash trends and planned obsolescence, where styles are constantly superseded and cheap garments continually churned out, fashion has become the epitome of consumer driven growth. Australia has a big problem with wasteful consumption with and estimated cost of over $10 billion each year (TAI Wasteful Consumption, 2005). The result is wardrobes groaning under the weight of superfluous garments, charity shops drowning in cast away clothing and landfill sites choked with poorly constructed apparel.
Enter clothing swaps, reactivating unloved garments and providing the thrill of retail therapy without the high financial and material cost. The concept is simple, bring no-longer-worn clothes to exchange for what others bring. Clothings swaps have been around for decades, thriving in friends' and sisters' collections worldwide. Since social media came along clothing swaps have escalated to the next level, with regular events sweeping major cities across the globe.
Some of the most successful clothing swaps (aka swishing) are Twiggy's frock exchange, Clothing Swap, Inc. and Take Off Your Clohtes. In Australia the Clothing Exchange has become one of the best organised swapping events, with gatherings ranging from 20 to 1700 swappers. Established in 2004, The Clothing Exchange have hosted hundreds of events, catering to thousands of lads and ladies and hundreds of thousands of garments. Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney stylistas are covered with regular events in these cities.
Founders Kate Luckins and Juliette Ainch believe the swaps are a vital part of an environmentally friendly wardrobe. By keeping clothes circulating for longer and worn more times clothing swaps reduce both consumerism, and textile waste in landfill. By participating in this growing movement it's easy to combine ethics, environment, sound economics and thoughtful consumption while still satisfying the universal human urge for “newness”.
If remoteness separates you from physical swapping there are some online swapping websites that offer different services. Ebay is one of the biggest international peer to peer selling websites, with 90 million active buyers and sellers. I’ve had different selling experiences ranging from $1 for a pair of Sergio Rossi shoes (damn!) to over $100 for an old blazer (win).
Heading towards a collaborative consumption philosophy there are some emerging “like for like” swapping websites including Swishing.co.uk in the UK, www.swapstyle.com in Australia and The SWAP team in Canada. They all vary on a similar theme; members upload images of their clothes on offer, browse the website for desired items then contact the owner to organise a swap. The SWAP Team estimate they have kept over 44,000 items kept out of our landfills in the last year. As these forms of collaborative consumption become increasingly popular that number is sure to rise.
If your wardrobe is in need of a spruce up, jump on to one of the websites for a budget and environmentally conscious update. Up coming Clothing Exchange events are scheduled for Saturday 26 February in Adelaide and Wednesday 23rd February in Melbourne with more on the horizon for Brisbane, Perth and Sydney.
The Clothing Exchange
The Swap Team
Swap Style
Swishing