When The Duchess of Cambridge wore an Alexander McQueen gown in February this year that she had been pictured wearing back in 2012, she was praised—by the very same publications that have historically shamed public figures for turning up to major events in previously seen clothes. Why the sudden U-turn? Because ‘fast’ fashion—that is, the purchase of a new shirt or dress for every occasion, facilitated by highly affordable catwalk-copycat brands, such as ASOS—has been replaced by a ‘slow’ fashion movement. Reports that 300,000 tons of used clothing ends up in UK landfill every year has prompted a revival of make do and mend, encouraging increasing numbers of people to take a renewed interest in maintenance, to buy second-hand and to choose quality over quantity.
Lauren Bravo, author of How to Break Up with Fast Fashion (published by Headline, 2020), is a former shopaholic. ‘I was constantly shopping, either scrolling on my phone or walking up and down Oxford Street,’ she confesses. ‘Since finding out more about the humanitarian side of fashion —the exploitation found throughout the supply chain—I decided to go for a year without buying anything new.’ In her book, Miss Bravo highlights that textile production creates some 1.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, which is more than international flights and maritime shipping combined. Of course, there are some textile recycling collections, but the technology doesn’t yet exist to fully rework all old clothes into usable fabric. ‘At best, it gets used in mattress stuffing or insulation,’ she explains. ‘That’s obviously better than landfill, but it’s still labour intensive. The best thing we can do is to use less, for longer.’
Denne historien er fra November 18, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra November 18, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds