supporting a sustainable

slow fashion resurgence

+ Wastebusters
+ WE-AR
+ ReCreate
+ UsedFully

With Summer coming to a close and the cooler Autumn days settling in, it’s time to start looking at changing over our wardrobes to suit the cooler climate. With this exciting exploration into the deepest depths of our wardrobes comes finding those favourite pieces that we forgot we even had! That is why at Revology March is all about reminding us to fall back in love with those timeless statement pieces we already have and SLOW FASHION DOWN.

As an industry, clothing and textiles are up there with agriculture, oil and gas as the top three sources of carbon emissions worldwide. Sadly over recent history our society turned towards a system of buying cheap and fast. It’s so easy nowadays that we don’t stop to think, to ask ourselves those pivotal questions around what impact this product has had on our people, our planet and the increasing effects on our climate changing.

Fast Fashion retailers have taught us that “more is better,” creating a huge global consumption issue. These brands produce up to 5,000 styles a week, with many of them operating with 52 ‘micro-seasons.’ The fast-fashion model is built on exploitation of both people and planet. It relies on cheap manufacturing, over-consumption and short-term garment use.

Every year in Aotearoa we import over 380,000 tonnes of clothing and textile products onto our shores, with only a tiny fraction of this global fabric avalanche ever being recycled, the bulk of it ends up in landfill where it releases up to three times its weight in greenhouse gases! A 2019 study found that around 87% of the microplastics polluting Auckland’s waterways came from these synthetic textiles.

Partially to blame for the effects clothing and textiles are having on our ecosystem is that the fashion industry has one of the longest and most complex value and supply chains (i.e. from extraction & production of raw materials all the way to the end of consumer use), and sadly suffers from a lack of business transparency at all levels.

The Slow Fashion Movement is the antithesis to this, coined by fashion journalist Kate Fletcher in her 2007 article in the Ecologist, Slow Fashion is an approach to producing clothing which takes into consideration all aspects of the supply chain. In doing so, it aims to respect the workers and their community and our globally connected ecosystems. It’s about creating mindful, curated collections based on quality materials and manufacturing. It’s a thoughtful way of living and buying that is meant to stop, or at least slow down, the excessive production and mindless consumption that characterises the now typical consumerism of our time.

Simply put, when fashion brands make it their business to trace their supply chain back to ‘cut and sew’, or even raw materials, they will then know where they have inefficiencies and can leverage a change in operations. If they take the additional step to be more transparent about it, they can then make faster changes by participating in industry collaborations, such as the Usedfully – Textile Reuse Programme based right here in Aotearoa.

how to join us on

the slow fashion movement

+ Fabricate
+ W astebusters
+ Merchant & Mills
+ ReCreate

Look Within

Take into consideration your own style, your habits and your lifestyle. Be aware of your body, your shape, and the type of garments you need on a daily basis. Choose clothing that makes you feel good, confident and comfortable. This is the starting point to build an organised and sustainable wardrobe

Quality over Quantity

Yes it’s true, higher quality items generally involve a higher upfront cost if purchasing new. But there are other ways to find good quality textiles if you’re on a budget; search through your local secondhand retailers, swap unused items with friends or try online platforms if you’re more remote. One good quality organic cotton t-shirt will always last longer than three cheap mixed synthetic fibre ones, which undoubtedly will morph and mis-shape after just one wash. Bonus, you also save our oceans and waterways from micro plastics through laundering!

Avoid impulsive shopping

More than often we get seduced into seasonal sales, made even harder to avoid now with the influx of technology in our daily lives. This temptation to buy something only because it’s at an affordable price but later discover that we don’t actually know how to match it to our existing wardrobe, or that we don’t really like how it fits and end up never wearing it. To be more sustainable, it’s better to prepare a list of what is missing in your closet or what you need to replace. This way you will shop in a more conscious way, buying only what you really need, when you need it.

Buy sustainable, locally sourced brands

We are so fortunate to have an ever increasing range of forward thinking fashion brands throughout Aotearoa and Australia. Once you’ve written your list of “MUST haves” or “need to replace,” a quick search online here and you’ll be able to find an incredible list of locally sourced ethical and sustainable brands. Or even better, find a local designer or maker in your area and support them!

Take care and repair

If you want to extend the life of your clothes and accessories, you need to take good care of them! Invest in a a good machine or simply handwash if unsure. Make sure to read the care label and use the appropriate eco friendly products. If any damage does occur to your clothing, try joining a local repair workshop and learn how to DIY any rips or make to alterations yourself or find a seamstress to do it for you.

spotlight on our

slow fashion brands

+ Re Create
+ WE-AR

We are so proud to support two of our favourite forward thinking, ethical and sustainable, Slow Fashion brands based right here in Aotearoa. Both renowned for pushing back against these fast fashion trends and focusing more on slowing fashion down. Producing clothes with trendless designs and premium, long-lasting quality.

WE-AR

WE-AR are one of the few apparel brands in New Zealand that is a registered B-Corp. They are also a member of the Sustainable Business Network, accredited Living Wage employers, and give back through their Social Profit Programs. So much thought is put into the design of their products from the materials, through to who is manufacturing their products and the lifecycle of it once you’ve purchased it. They use a beautiful range of sustainable materials such as natural linen, cashmere and merino as well as organic cotton, Tencel ® and Modal ®

ReCreate

ReCreate are a New Zealand Registered Charitable Trust fashion brand founded by Erica Gadsby. Their entire ethos is to slow fashion down. They design timelessly elegant styles, do not bow to trends and use beautiful natural organic fabrics. They are also apart of the Circular Cotton Initiative looking to get your old garments processed into new cotton textiles. They collaborate with a workshop in Dey Tmey, Cambodia, whose purpose is to transform the lives of the women and families who work there through fair employment, training and empowerment initiatives.

ReCreates fabrics are all either GOTS certified (Global Organic Textile Standard) or fall under the BCI (Better Cotton Initiative) and is Standard 100 OKEO-TEX® certified. Meaning that no harmful substances are used to make their clothing, just sustainably sourced, ultra-soft fabrics.

a fashion show cut differently

Refashion

This is one to mark in the calendars!

In honour of Slow Fashion Month join us at the fashion show of the year supporting our amazing local community groups Wastebusters, Fabricate and the Wānaka Community Workshop. Gather friends and whanau for an evening of seeing first hand what’s possible when the clothing industry slows down and puts places, people and planet at the heart of their practices.

With lineups from:

Wastebusters second hand styling team
Conscious creations from the Fabricate workshop
Local sustainable designers

Tickets $15 (plus booking fee) available from Humantix