Style Swap: Redesigning the Concept of Hand-me-Downs

The concept of hand-me-downs is nothing new to us Filipinos but several sustainable fashion groups are reshaping its connotation through a unique approach of style swap parties.

The first-ever Sustainable Fashion Festival in the country was held on Wednesday where participants exchanged pre-loved items. Stylists, designers and fashion enthusiasts gathered to learn the essence of sustainable and ethical fashion through styling exercises, sharing fashion tips and a night of networking.

Fashion Revolution in its fourth year in the country, Wear Forward an online (r)-ecommerce dedicated to reviving old textiles, Forth Co. an online shop for sustainable apparel and other sustainable fashion groups hosted the event at Element Boutique Hotel, Poblacion, Makati.

According to Changing Markets Foundation, the fashion industry is one of the most polluting and wasteful sectors in the world. The World Bank says 20 percent of water pollution globally comes from textile processing - making it the second biggest polluter of freshwater resources on the planet. Ever watched The True Cost? The documentary on fast fashion portrays the social and environmental injustices prevalent in fast fashion brands. Articles exposed big brands that dump and burn tonnes of unsold, off-season clothes in landfills.

"In fact it is a tradition for big brands to burn their clothes." sustainable fashion designer and CEO of Wear Forward, Prince Ventura revealed.

"It's to retain their exclusivity and their prestige and so no one can copy their style." He continued.

The environmental and human costs of manufacturing new trends dished out by staple giants is unthinkable. What's even more shocking is the unawareness of their consumers with who made their clothes and what conditions they were made in. Do you know where your clothes come from?

The sustainable and ethical fashion movement otherwise known as "Slow Fashion" promotes circular life-cycle of clothes - a solution alternative where used textile is recycled back into the supply chain instead of it going to waste.

Style swap parties are just one of many avenues in joining the movement. Circular fashion can be as straightforward as purchasing quality apparel made from non-toxic and biodegradable materials, accepting hand-me-downs, prolonging life spans of old clothes, to something more technical as deconstructing used textile and reusing it to make new clothing. The movement targets everyone in the supply chain - from farmers, suppliers, producers to consumers, in order to redesign the fashion industry.

The international movement faces fast fashion brands with a highly inclusive approach. The sustainable fashion groups present in the event believe in collaboration and openness to create tangible change in the industry.

In fact, instead of calling for boycotting certain brands, Fashion Revolution promotes a two-pronged approach to halting the highly polluting and unethical labor costs of fast fashion by targeting everyone in the supply chain.

Country coordinator of Fashion Revolution, Sophia Calugay-Morita stressed the importance of critical and responsible consumerism in the movement. She encourages shoppers to ask important questions and on the other hand, for brands to practice transparency, social and environmental justice and accountability in their manufacturing process.

"For us, we believe that we cannot make long term industry wide change if not everybody in the supply chain is involved. Supply chain from the farmer to the consure - anything in between the manufacturer, the sower, the retailer and the consumer. If not everybody in the whole supply chain is involved in the discourse of sustainable fashion then we are just isolating different groups. That's why we are engaging H&M and all these big brands." Morita shared.

Despite the movement's early stages in the Philippines, she pointed out that Filipinos - especially from the lower class, are already adept to sustainable and ethical fashion.

Calugay-Morita picture here

"In my opinion, [the lower class] are living sustainably but it just isn't in their vocabulary yet. For instance, they go to ukay-ukays so that's second hand clothing, and the clothes [they have] are passed on from generations. Then you have friends and family dumping clothes to them. They will use them until it's in rag condition. The lower class are actually the true sustainable people. And they don't even know that."

"You have a lot of designers here in the [Philippines] who are very innovative. They are making new collections from scraps and the rise of social entrepreneurs lately proves that Filipinos have always been using scraps. Designing them into new collections is nothing new" she continued.

Case in point is Ventura and his upcoming (r)e-commerce Wear Forward. Ventura is dedicated to promoting the use of recycled textile in the Philippines and repackaging clothing as a service through high involvement for everyone in the community- from traditional ethnic weavers, upcoming designers to regular citizens. Collaboration is key in the Slow Fashion Movement. His company's success and the support he has received in the short year just after it was established is evidence of the growing plethora of effective social entrepreneurship and transitioning mindsets present in our country.

Slow fashion and the appreciative reception of many young Filipinos to the idea of sustainable and ethical apparel is indeed inspiring. It is gaining an impressive momentum just from the last few years. Check out how you can host your own style swap party and other resources on sustainable fashion at Fashion Revolution's website. Visit Forth Co and Wear Forward online for more information on how you can join the Slow Fashion Movement!