As they get ready to launch London design Week with a runway display supporting sustainable design, Oxfam activists are taking aim at the idea that used clothing is "second best".
The organization is focusing on the garment industry's huge impact on our water supply this year as part of its Sixth Second Hand September program, which launches on Monday. The goal is to demonstrate how ethical shopping habits may greatly lessen that load, reported Mirror.
Collaborating with the virtual marketplace Vinted, Oxfam is ready to launch its "Style for Change" fashion show on September 12th, featuring carefully chosen pre-owned ensembles designed by the fashion icon of vintage clothing, Bay Garnett.The stylist, who has dressed celebrities like Kate Moss with clothing from charity shops, claimed it is "insanity" that people view celebrities wearing antique, secondhand, or reoccurring outfits on the red carpet as radical.
She questioned, "I mean, literally, what planet are we on?" It isn't the second-best. It is not an alternative. Because it's more fashionable and cooler, it's genuinely an option.
Garnett maintains that thrifting is significantly more "creative," "interesting," and "exciting" than shopping new, and she has been sifting through Oxfam stores and storage to select eye-catching ensembles for the next event. One particularly memorable discovery Garnett made while on a treasure search at Oxfam's Notting Hill branch in west London was a pair of elusive 1970s Charles Jourdan shoes tucked up next to a sweet needlepoint with the word "kissing" embroidered onto it.
She cried out, "Where else would you find that?" "That's what I love the eclecticism and in the way, the innocence of people's stuff, something that's been part of people's lives ... that has a story." Over the previous five years, Garnett has noticed a "genuine wave of change" in consumer preferences toward used goods.
"For lots of young people, it's seen as a cooler, more proactive, more independent and powerful way to consume and I think that message has really taken hold," she added.
TV personality Cat Deeley, who is supporting Oxfam's Second Hand September initiative this year, also mentioned how much she enjoys thrift store shopping. "You can customize something wholly original that nobody else has, and you'll feel great about wearing it because you're giving those clothes a second chance at life and the money you spent went to a worthy cause." Second-hand definitely does not equate to worse quality."
Oxfam examined data from organizations including the Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap), Water UK, and the NHS in light of the launch of its campaign in order to draw attention to the water footprint of the fashion sector.
The nonprofit discovered that purchasing one used pair of pants and a T-shirt may help save the equivalent of 20,000 regular water bottles. According to the data, 5,400 500ml bottles of water are needed to produce one cotton T-shirt, which would satisfy the daily drinking needs of about 1,600 individuals.
In the meantime, it has come to light that the manufacturing of a single pair of jeans requires 16,000 bottles of water, which is sufficient to supply 4,750 people's daily fluid needs.
Lorna Fallon, head of retail for Oxfam, stated: "These figures make it quite evident that we are overindulged in fashion. Given that climate change is causing the world to run out of fresh water, including second-hand clothing into our wardrobes might significantly lower the water-intensive cost of producing clothing."