Unlimited life of clothes: “We reincarnate.”

If you could choose between quality, sustainability, price tag, or style when buying clothes, what is your priority?

There is a noticeable smell upon entering the underground area of Brick Lane Vintage Market. This is a smell that is characterised by the secondhand clothes hanging all around scattered stalls. Some retro, some classics, some winter jackets and sweaters, and even season-less needs with striking visuals and various colours mixed together. Each hanger rack has a variety of models and colours. Everyone must be prepared to put their hand in to see the clothes one by one because there could be "treasures" that cannot be found with one "screening".

"We don't call it secondhand clothes anymore. It is now called pre-loved or vintage fashion, including upcycled, recycled clothes pieces.”

His grey hair shows that he may not be young anymore. Still, Andy, who has been working in one of the Brick Lane vintage stalls for five years, has a keen eye for detail and the conditions of items that are still good enough or not on display in the collection. He refuses to use the words secondhand clothes. For him, these reincarnated clothes have their own value. This value can be better reflected by calling them pre-loved or vintage. The clothes supplied to the store come in dozens of boxes and kilos. Behind the cashier's desk is a non-permanent room in a corner that was purposely made as a warehouse for unsorted clothes. That afternoon, Andy was seen busy sorting several black suits and giving them price tags. When asked where he got all the clothes from, he answered firmly,

"That's my boss's secret. He has a good connection with people who are also pre-loved and vintage clothes suppliers. I won't let you know where it is coming from.”

Even though Andy does not openly tell where the clothes come from, it is common knowledge that pre-loved clothes are indeed sold per kilo or even per ton and are imported from other parts of the world, leaving lots of carbon footprints along the distribution process. According to the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles (1), 1.4 million tons of textile waste were exported to non-EU countries in 2020. Yet, there is still no reliable overview data on these flows, whether they were pre-sorted or not, and their ultimate destinations.

Shop owners and employees like Andy sort and curate the kilograms of clothes received. He gives prices based on the cost of clothes in the market. Some of the clothes in his shop are priced at $300 and up because they are well-known brands, classic, aged, and well-maintained. Other clothes have prices below or the same as market prices. Everything is calculated based on the clothes’ condition, whether the clothes are fixed or upcycled already or in raw condition. Raw, which means it is not curated, not upcycled, and comes with unrepaired damage, the cheaper it gets.

Unlike the shop where Andy works, Shiley (known as @the_vintage_reborn_london on Instagram) is another shop owner who directly looks after her own shop. Her interest in fashion and antique collections can be seen in her knowledge of fashion history and her ability to curate items. Unlike most sellers on Brick Lane, Shirley gives prices according to her expertise in determining the value of an item. For her, the things she has made have their own soul and might be the only ones that can’t be found elsewhere. This makes many pre-loved clothes pretty fantastic because apart from being more environmentally friendly, they also have unique tastes for some customers.

How sustainable are pre-loved clothes?

As you read through this article, it means, directly or indirectly, you are one of those people who are concerned about whether or not the choice of clothes you buy are sustainable. Let's take a brief look at what impact this actually has on our fashion choices. Referring to the journal on Waste Management in the Fashion and Textile Industry, which was just released in 20222. Until now, the fashion and textile industry is the second largest polluter in the world, following the oil industry (2).

Most people and scientists nowadays refer to the term carbon footprint. This means our sins can be easily calculated. The carbon footprint calculation is also counted not only for the manufacturing process but also for the process of distributing until the waste processing these clothes. Our purchasing behaviours contribute to 39 million tons of post-consumer fashion waste created globally every year, primarily in the form of clothes. More than 57% of all apparel thrown away ends up in landfill. The textile water waste used in garment production is untreated and contains toxic substances such as, mercury, arsenic, lead, and others which are directly dumped into the water bodies risking the human race and aqua life around the globe2.

The percent of clothing waste per year (end-of-use waste). (Sources: Gupta, R., Kushwaha, A., Dave, D., & Mahanta, N. R., 2022)

Calculating the carbon footprints of each process needs detailed data on the ingredients that are being used during the process. There are 3 types of ingredients in forming our clothes: plant-based, synthetics, and animal-based clothes. Although all three have an impact on the environment, synthetics and animal-based have the most significant percentage of impacts. For example, overgrazing of grasslands via sheep and cashmere goats raised for their wool, and each time “synthetic” garments are washed (polyester/nylon), around 1900 single microfibers are freed into the marine ecosystem, creating their way into the oceans2. Does all this data make us pessimistic about wearing clothes? Is it time we all migrated into a sect of naked sun worshipers?

Sustainability aims to derive maximum advantage from products by increasing their lifespan. Sustainability practices try to do as good as possible by trying to reduce the production process. According to Nadira Lase, "Most of us don't count the reuse carbon footprint because it's a different category as it doesn't make new clothes anymore. After all the calculations we did, what determines whether the product has a significant carbon footprint or not is in the material, not in the use of transportation. As the results of our calculation of the life cycle assessment (LCA), transportation does not produce a lot of carbon compared to the manufacturing process, that's why reuse is more favourable than the others." Nadhira Lase4 works as an Environmental Specialist at an LCA software company based in the Netherlands. She assesses and calculates the carbon footprint and LCA in fashion, including in the manufacturing process and the distribution of all until it wastes calculation.

However, carrying out sustainable fashion practices is still challenging to do thoroughly. Many considerations must be made regarding quality, price, style, and sustainability practices. Knowing that sustainable fashion can not only partially be defined as how big the carbon footprint is in certain clothes. One of the students attending the University of the Arts London, Vallerie , who is a regular customer of clothes at thrift or vintage stores stated, “For me, fashion is a statement, I feel that thrifting helps me explore myself through it because it has a lot of choices and it is also a way for me to define myself”. But even so, she also revealed how difficult it is to always purchase pre-loved clothes, especially in London. Most of the clothes sold at curated vintage markets have fantastic prices for students and part-time workers like them. Some clothes that have a lower price are sold in a not curated condition often at times they are not very good quality.

“In the end, for my daily needs, some of it I bought at Primark again because the prices are lower. The need to save money and lower prices make it hard to be more sustainable. The existing system still forces me to return to this fast-fashion cycle.” Some of you reading this article may agree with Vallerie, or maybe not.

What can we do?

Price is still becoming a primary concern for most consumers in making decisions rather than sustainability. They know they care about the environment, but they don't act in a sustainable manner when buying products. It will take time and a small step for sustainability and zero waste lifestyle to be a pillar in the fashion industry rather than just another trend. Therefore, it is urgent to change the mindset of the ethical apparel industry.

The fashion design industry is worth $2.4 trillion, employing about 60 million people worldwide, and the size of the business is expected to continue to grow in the coming years2. It is time for fashion designers, corporations, and the government to create joint actions for a "close loop" fashion system. Efforts in research, knowledge sharing, and strengthening synergies will lead to changes in fashion trends and help countries develop the need for ethical fashion. Many brands and companies have also started to shift to more sustainable ways of manufacturing their products. The more sustainable scheme available on the market, the more choices consumers have in buying things to be more sustainable. Step by step, it will raise behaviour change in the consumers as well as all the market stakeholders.

Although not to mention, there is a lot of debate over sustainable fashion, pros and cons around those big brands that have launched organic and sustainable collections. Their transparency, not only over the source of material but also fair labour often being questioned. The term "greenwashing" also needs attention, as customers don't want to get blinded and trapped in an unconscious fashion choice. All those significant steps from those powerful and big brands companies must still be accompanied by the efforts of consumers who have the same important role in making decisions. Being fully aware and sustainability-conscious people is something that we can do to provoke a system change.

The most promising strategy is reduction aimed at avoiding waste generation. Textile waste management includes a 3R approach; Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. In a literal sense, "reduce" is still the most preferred method to reduce textile waste effectively. According to an annual report by climate NGO WRAP3 an additional 9 months of active use to extend the life of your garment will reduce your carbon footprint, waste and water footprint by approximately 20-30%. This may require physical expertise to repair a product and our mental strength to restrain our ego rather than buying something we don't need. Both are hard, indeed. Practice is required to make this become a new habit. The second one is “reusing”. This is where thrifting or why buying pre-loved clothes could be an answer for this. As there is no emission for the production process, reusing clothes leaves less carbon footprint and is considered a wise choice in practising a sustainable lifestyle. There are a lot of start-ups and organisations that make a business model like this. For example, Nuw (www.thenuwardrobe.com) is a social network platform for sharing clothes with people in the local community. A charity shop such as Oxfam also became the first national charity to develop its own facility for recycling and reusing clothes and never sends clothes to landfills. Quoted from an interview with Forbes, Stella Tennant, a model for an Oxfam photoshoot, stated, "One dress could raise enough money to provide a woman in Bangladesh with a safe bathing cubicle, a shirt could provide safe, clean water for 10 people in an emergency, and a coat could help train two farmers in Rwanda to better cope with extreme weather conditions." Vintage markets and thrift stores are indeed the closest business model that runs the reusing practice. The last one is “recycling”. Recycling approaches are more cost-effective than waste disposal, and due to the high energy, water, and manufacturing consumption, recycling is much better than making new textiles. Economically wise, recycling also generates job openings for many small businesses. The term reworked or upcycled clothes is often found in many vintage markets. These clothes are re-produced by small and medium enterprise businesses using clothing materials that are no longer used to become value-added goods with the same quality as new clothes.

Ultimately, no matter how hard this article scientifically suggests you support preloved fashion stores, suggest you buy clothes at a charity shop, or consider organic or sustainable fashion brands, everything goes back to your decision. The best choice that we can make also depends on our circumstances. We can try at least to be environmentally conscious, which will drive us to be as sustainable as possible in every given situation.

So, if you could choose between quality, sustainability, price tag, and style when choosing your clothes, which is your priority?

References:

1. Boiten, V. (2022). Building a circular economy for textiles supported by common rules on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in the EU. Recommendations and open questions for the upcoming revision of the EU Waste Framework Directive (WFD), 16. https://emf.thirdlight.com/link/51d055xl9pwf-jbvkcd/@/preview/1?o

2. Gupta, R., Kushwaha, A., Dave, D., & Mahanta, N. R. (2022). Waste management in fashion and textile industry: Recent advances and trends, life-cycle assessment, and circular economy. Emerging Trends to Approaching Zero Waste, 215-242.

3. WRAP. (2012). Valuing Our Clothes: The Cost of UK Fashion, 5. https://wrap.org.uk/sites/default/files/2021-01/WRAP-valuing-our-clothes-2012-07-11.pdf