Fashion isn’t just about wearing clothes according to your culture and showcasing your personality to the world. It’s a complete ecosystem in which multiple factors are involved. The slow fashion movement is a powerful example of this holistic perspective.
This slow fashion movement supports the production and consumption of clothes that gentle on the environment, respects labor rights, and values quality over mass trends.
As a fashion lover, it’s your responsibility to dress with a purpose and support this movement for a better world. In this article, I am going to discuss what slow fashion is in detail.
What is Slow Fashion?
Slow fashion is a movement that supports an ethical and environmentally friendly approach towards manufacturing and consuming fashion items.
It’s the opposite of fast fashion, which focuses on producing low-quality trending clothes without considering the environmental and labor safety in consideration.
The main purpose of this movement is to encourage people to be more thoughtful when it comes to their fashion choices. Instead of going for trendy clothes that are of a low quality, they should purchase high-quality clothes that are manufactured ethically.
❓Did You Know
The fashion industry contributes to 10% of global carbon emissions and is the second-largest consumer of the world’s water supply. Slow fashion aims to reduce this impact.
The Beginning of Slow Fashion
The slow fashion movement began as a response to fast fashion. The Industrial Revolution brought so many opportunities for people, but it also brought some issues. Companies started manufacturing clothing items in bulk in order to make more profit in the market.
In doing so, they forgot to take care of the environment or the labor involved in the production process. There are still many companies that manufacture low-quality clothes and do not focus on any ethical considerations. There is gender inequality, and some companies are even using children for manufacturing work.
To oppose this brutality, the slow fashion movement came into being. The slow fashion term was first used in 2007 by sustainability researcher Kate Fletcher.
Soon, it became popular, and many professionals, regular fashion lovers, and companies now focus on creating and consuming clothes ethically.
Key Principles of Slow Fashion
The slow fashion movement consists of a few key principles. I’ve discussed their details below:
1. Using Sustainable Materials:
Using sustainable materials is a key principle of slow fashion. It focuses on encouraging companies to use sustainable materials while manufacturing clothes. This material could include things like:
- Organic cotton – grown without toxic pesticides.
- Linen – a durable fibre made from the flax plant.
- Hemp – a fast-growing, low-impact plant.
- Tencel (Lyocell) – a soft fibre made from sustainably harvested wood pulp.
These materials are eco-friendly and do not harm the environment. As a result, the manufactured clothing remains safe to use by people and has a positive impact on the overall environmental health.
💡Pro Tip
Look for certifications like GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) or OEKO-TEX® when choosing sustainable fabrics.
2. Ethical Labor Practices:
The labor crisis is a huge pandemic going on around the world. Developed countries like the United States have improved their labor practices a lot over the recent decades. Many workers, particularly in developing countries, are subjected to:
- Child labor
- Low wages
- Unsafe conditions
- Gender discrimination
People are being underpaid and even forced to work under unsafe conditions. Some companies use women and children for manufacturing and don’t pay equal wages.
The movement condemns these practices. It encourages people to provide deserving wages along with a safe and comfortable working environment.
3. Quality Over Quantity:
The quality over quantity principle of slow fashion applies to the consumers. People should prefer purchasing fewer high-quality products instead of many low-quality ones. Low-quality products are usually manufactured by companies following fast fashion.
So, instead of following the trend, people should purchase evergreen quality clothes and keep them for a long time.
4. Transparency:
Fashion clothing brands should be more transparent with their consumers. By transparency, it means not hiding any activity related to the manufacturing of items.
Companies should showcase how they collect materials, manufacture clothes, and then ship them to retailers. Consumers now demand accountability, and transparency builds trust, encouraging others to follow slow fashion values.
5. Evergreen Design:
Fashion has changed a lot due to the popularity of social media platforms. A new trend emerges every day out of nowhere, and a huge number of people start following it. The trend dies soon, and the purchased items stay useless in people’s closets.
Slow fashion opposes it and encourages evergreen designs. It promotes manufacturing clothes that won’t go out of style for a long time. In this way, people would have to purchase fewer clothes, which would have a better impact on the environment as well as personal finances.
How to Dress with Purpose by Following Slow Fashion?
As a fashion enthusiast and a responsible citizen, it is your duty to dress with purpose. Here’s how you can do it by following slow fashion:
1. Support Ethical Brands:
The first and foremost thing that you need to do is support ethical brands. There are hundreds of brands manufacturing products out there, and only a handful of them are authentic. Even fewer are those that actually support slow fashion.
Some globally recognised ethical brands include:
- Patagonia
- Eileen Fisher
- People Tree
- Reformation
- Everlane
💡Pro Tip
Always verify a brand’s ethical claims through independent certifications or reviews on websites like Good On You.
2. Shop Wisely:
Another thing to focus on here is shopping wisely. Many people simply go to malls or open online stores and start shopping without any consideration. That’s not what you should do. Instead, be more mindful of your needs and requirements when it comes to fashion. ask yourself:
- Do I really need this item?
- Is it made from sustainable materials?
- Will it last for years to come?
Always go for high-quality material and timeless trends. Not only will it help you promote slow fashion, but also help with saving money.
3. Shop Second-Hand Items Often:
Purchasing second-hand items is a great way to dress with purpose. It’s not always ideal to buy new fashion items whenever you need them. Sometimes, it’s a wiser decision to go for second-hand products.
There are thousands of thrift stores available out there where you can buy affordable, second-hand fashion items.
Sometimes, people even find a high-quality brand for a very low price. So, make sure to purchase from these places often in order to promote slow fashion.
Donate Clothes:
People usually purchase a lot of clothes that they don’t wear later on. Instead of keeping them in the storage or throwing them away,
- Donate to local shelters
- Give to recycling centres
- Host a clothing swap with friends
This helps reduce landfill waste and gives your old clothes a new life.
Final Verdicts
Slow fashion is a movement that supports manufacturing and consuming fashion items in an ethical way. It’s the opposite of fast fashion and encourages environmentally friendly practices while consuming and creating clothing items.
It also promotes gender equality in labor and demands that companies pay deserving wages to people. As a person who is into fashion, you should support this movement as much as you can.
It will help you dress smarter while making sure that the environment and people in general stay unharmed from the consequences of fast and brutal fashion ethics.
People Also Ask:
Nike is a big brand that promotes sustainability. It uses 50% recycled content, which is a huge step towards slow fashion. However, it’s not considered a full slow fashion brand.
There are different ways to practice slow fashion. You can start by purchasing fewer high-quality items and using them for a long time. Also, purchasing from brands that promote this ideology is another way of practicing slow fashion.
Kate Fletcher started the idea of slow fashion when she used this term back in 2007 in an article for The Ecologist.
There are no major disadvantages of slow fashion. However, practicing this ideology can be temporarily expensive and may stop you from wearing trendy clothes.
Luxury fashion and slow fashion aren’t the same things. However, they do overlap with each other. Luxury brands usually follow labor ethics and use high-quality and sustainable materials.
