Three Quick Steps to Smart (Slow) Fashion

Most big brand clothes are made as quickly as possible, then marketed to be used briefly then disposed of.

Buy then cull.

Buy some more then Marie Kondo your wardrobe. 

Fashion magazines show us what to buy weekly, then show us how to purge our wardrobes clear of rubbish every season.

If this were food, we'd be a bit wiser to it and spot it for what it is: 

Bulimia.

And though we call it fast fashion it isn’t really about speed, make no mistake, this is about greed:

Sell more, make more money, pile it high, sell it cheap, grab yourself a bargain, Black Friday sale spectacular.

But how do they get such low prices?

Simple - short lead times and cheap clothes are only made possible by the exploitation of labour and natural resources.

This world of sweat shops, pesticides, pollution, child labour and animal cruelty, all normalised by fast fashion chains and by extension, retailers, this is how they maintain their fat profit margins on that super cheap stock they sell.

But it's not sustainable, they can't keep doing it that way, something has to break.

So what can we do?

To start with we can design a different system for ourselves that makes money while respecting the rights of workers and the environment, and produces beautiful and conscientious garments.

 And that's where we fit in here at Lux

Smart fashion is about designing, producing, consuming and living better.

Smart fashion is not time-based but quality-based. (There's a bit more about this on our waiting-list page. Afterall, it's why we have a waiting list)

Smart or slow fashion is not the opposite of fast –  it's simply a different approach in which designers, buyers, retailers and consumers become more aware of the impacts of products on workers, communities and ecosystems. 

Remember the Three point Smart Fashion checklist:

1. Turn your back on mass produced fashion and it's surrounding culture easily and simply by buying from second hand shops, local designers and artisans. You'll be supporting small local businesses or charity and you'll look totally amazing. 

2. Choose sustainable clothing made with sustainable fabrics, ethically made and built with love to last a lifetime. Our big brands have been relentlessly feeding us a diet of disposable clothes so that we buy more, every season (or else they go out of business). More items, more often is their mantra. It doesn't matter at what cost, this is about profit: 

3. You probably don't need so many clothes, imagine the joy of having a handful of key pieces that look amazing on you across the years. All you have to do is choose quality garments that will last longer, transcend trends because they suit your body type and colouring, and are repairable.