What is slow fashion and how to join the movement?

In a world that has embraced consumerism, slow fashion is an alternative to the market, that carefully considers the processes and resources required to make clothing. This movement is an awareness and approach to fashion that focusses on timeless, high-quality designs, produced on a small or medium scale.

What is slow fashion?

Slow fashion emerges in opposition to the expression fast fashion, which is defined by large scale industrial production aimed at mass export, aligned with current trends, without considering social or environmental impacts.

Slow fashion and sustainable or ethical fashion are sister movements that follow the same general guidelines. Slow fashion promotes responsible production from start to finish, values fair treatment of everyone involved in the supply chain, and advocates for buying better-quality garments that will last longer.

Aiming to be part of a fashion industry that leaves a lighter footprint for future generations, this movement focusses on reducing consumption and production, harkening back to the era when clothing was a long-term investment rather than a disposable item.

The origin of slow fashion

Inspired by the slow food concept, slow fashion became well-known after being widely used in fashion blogs, social media, and online articles. The movement emerged as a more sustainable socio-environmental alternative in the fashion world.

In the past decade, an increasing number of brands have started to realise the need for a slower pace in the fashion industry and have begun to choose more sustainable approaches to clothing production.

Slow fashion became a movement

Fast fashion’s globalised production standardises clothing for the entire world. This ultimately reduces cultural specificities, devalues local workers, and consumes more resources and raw materials.

But as individuals demand higher sustainability and ethical standards through the years, slow fashion has seen increasing support and has become a movement. Garments that carry a story, origin, taste, touch, or scent and are made especially by hand are increasingly valued.

We are going back to the pre-industrial revolution days, where garments were locally sourced and reflected the place and culture of the people wearing them.

Some characteristics of slow fashion

• Brands are locally sourced and produced.
  
  
• Production systems are more transparent and have less intermediation between producer and consumer, which brings them closer together.
  
  
• Some brands guarantee their own production, as they have their own factories.
  
  
• Productions are small or medium scale.
  
  
• Brands only have a few, specific styles per collection, which are released a few times per year, or have a permanent seasonless collection.
  
  
• Garments are sometimes made to order to reduce unnecessary production.
  
  
• Garments are more timeless than trendy.
  
  
• Garments are made from high-quality, lower-impact materials.
  
  
• Garments are sold in smaller, local stores.
  
  
• Brands practice fair trade.
  
  
• Brands promote socio-environmental awareness and fair and just working conditions.
  
  
• Brands promote circular fashion, as many purchase deadstock from textile factories and transform it into new pieces that can be used to their fullest potential.

Fashion should be a choice, not an imposition

The modus operandi of a globalised textile industry leads to fashion becoming standardised. Choosing a different product in the fast fashion market is simply impossible.

That’s why slow fashion is an alternative that promotes greater freedom in choosing our clothes. Each garment has an origin, a unique characteristic, and consumers can even find out where their clothes were made, how they were made, and by whom.

And as consumers have access to this kind of information, a connection is made. A simple garment becomes more than a disposable item; it gains value.

How to put slow fashion into practice?

If we, as consumers, want to join this movement, we must consider a few questions. We gather some tips to make the transition to slow fashion easier:

• Understand slow fashion: Start by understanding the values, principles, and practices of the movement to know how you can align them with your personal style and values.
  
  
• Mend: The best way to practice slow fashion is to slow down our consumption and start caring for and mending our clothes.
  
  
• Choose circularity: Consider buying second-hand clothes, participating in clothing swaps, and donating or selling clothes that you no longer wear.
  
  
• Choose conscious consumerism:  The next time you’re shopping, ask yourself if you really need that.
  
  
• Look for slow fashion brands: Support brands that are genuinely sustainable and ethical in all their practices. 
  
  
• Buy local: Try to find out local brands and/or seamstresses near you.
  
  
• Pay attention to the fabrics: Try to buy garments made from more durable and environmentally friendly fabrics. 
  
  
• Choose quality over quantity: Build your wardrobe with timeless, high-quality garments that you can mix and match and wear for a longer time.
  
  
• Discard old clothes responsibly: If you haven’t found any alternatives for reuse or donating your old clothes and you need to dispose of them, find the nearest textile collection point for clothes recycling.
  
  
• Lead by example: By adopting behaviours like this, people in your circle start to notice it and may follow your example. 

Why join the slow fashion movement?

Joining slow fashion can bring you several benefits as a consumer, but also as a human being.

The movement can help you build an intentional wardrobe and invest in garments that will lead to the reduction of your carbon footprint and will save you money in the long run.

Also, slow fashion can contribute to your well-being, as living with a minimalist wardrobe helps reduce the stress associated with following fashion trends.