When we talk about longevity of clothing, we inevitably end up in much more important subject matter, which is clothing circularity. A circular economy for fashion creates better products and services for customers, contributes to a resilient and thriving fashion industry, and regenerates the environment. It prioritizes the rights and equity of everyone involved in the fashion industry, and will create new opportunities for growth that are distributed, diverse, and inclusive.
Bored Panda reached out to the co-founder and creative director of Fashion Revolution, Orsola de Castro, who said that the road to circularity demands longevity. “So making your clothes last longer really is the one step that all citizens can do in order to start becoming a part of the solution rather than a part of the problem. And it’s up to you how to make clothes last longer,” de Castro told us.
De Castro said that while there are many ways to make your clothes wearable for longer, maintenance and how you carry them and how you wash them is super important. “Try not to wash them too much because that damages the fiber. Try to understand the properties of the material so you wash your clothes correctly.”
Moreover, according to de Castro, washing is unnecessary most of the time and the rest of the time, refreshing and spot cleaning if there’s a stain is enough.
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The second step is repairing them when they break and that can be either learning simple repairs yourself or working with somebody who’s a professional in that area. “There are several apps these days that can connect you with seamstresses specialized in repairing your clothes.”
Moreover, swapping, sharing, and renting the clothes are also excellent ways to keep our clothes in circulation while using them. “The main thing is understanding that donating to charity is not necessarily the answer, unless you donate something you know that’d be of value to that charity. That means donating something which is in good condition but not throwing away your unwanted clothes. That’s dumping and not donating,” de Castro explained.
According to the co-founder of Fashion Revolution, our unwanted clothes will inevitably end up burdening the economy somewhere else, potentially in Africa or Chile or other countries we already been exploiting for hundreds of years. “So maintaining our clothes in good stay is incredibly important. And you don’t have to be very tidy, you can still be as messy as you want. The point is understanding that clothing longevity is the first step towards circularity.”
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