A quick note on our wonderful brands and the beauty of slow retail for Earth Day 🌿
This Earth Day 🌍 we want to shine a light on the brands leading the way to a sustainable fashion and homeware industry.
Every year the world consumes 80 billion pieces of clothing. According to UNEP, the fashion industry accounts for up to 10% of total greenhouse gas emissions - more than international flights and shipping combined - and that's excluding the homeware sector.
But there is another way: slowing down and rethinking our relationship with the things we buy. While sustainable or "slow" fashion can seem like a new concept, this idea of slower manufacturing, trendless designs, long-lasting quality and circularity has existed for centuries and is rooted in traditional craftsmanship. From a time when all our possessions were crafted using handcraft techniques, local materials, on a needs bases and designed to last down the generations.
Fast retail may be cheap, but it's true environmental and human costs are no longer a secret. More and more, people are speaking out about resource exploitation, unsafe working conditions, poor wages, over-production and overflowing landfills.
The term "sustainable retail" is rising in popularity, but what does this mean? As fast fashion giants cotton on to the "trend," its meaning has become diluted and unclear. Greenwashing misleads those seeking to buy better and undermines the companies that truly seek to do good (a recent report revealed that 59% of claims by UK and European companies are unsubstantiated!)
At its core, fast fashion and homeware is centred around constant production, fickle trends and buying new and more. Even with all the recycling schemes and eco-friendly packaging promises, can this model ever truly be sustainable?
What we need is less smokes and mirrors from the big names and a recognition that producing less and designing to last is crucial for a more sustainable industry.
But in the meantime, we're celebrating and supporting those who are ahead of the game by returning to ancient wisdom. As always, proud to be a part of such an incredible community wowing us with their beautiful creations and knowledge every day.
Happy Earth Day to all our brands and readers! ✨ ✨
