Swimmingly Sustainable Solutions to Fast Fashion – @londrebodywear

There is no question that individuals will ever stop consuming mass amounts of items. People are constantly changing whether physically, and psychologically in terms of age, size, weight, wants, needs, styles and preferences which makes mass consumption of products inevitable. We all have that massive pile of clothes stacked on the chair in the corner of our rooms – that we’re going to fold tomorrow (we swear!). Our closets are bursting with items for all the seasons and fashion trends and our shoes are trickled all over the house, left where they were hastily kicked off at the end of a long day. Consumption is inevitable, we’re all apart of it, but is it time to make it sustainable?

Fast fashion is a critical environmental issue that is often ignored from other pressing concerns in relation to climate change that must be addressed.  Jo Wilkinson from the  University of Sheffield sums up beautifully this growing issue in his article, explaining that currently “the fashion industry is now the second largest generator of pollution on Earth after oil¹, with 300,000 tonnes of used clothing going to landfill in 2016 in the UK alone².”1 What happens is the clothing ends up in landfills, and decomposes similar to food waste by breaking down and releasing methane. Any synthetic materials such as those made of plastic (like polyester or nylon) do not biodegrade and become microplastics (which is infinitely tiny particles of plastic that goes into the water and soil and out bodies). Not to mention the chemical contaminants from the bleaches, dies and fabric treatments which sink into the soil and groundwater.  All around fast fashion is disastrous for our planet and a creative alternative must be found.

Passionate about this issue I have been seeking out local sustainable companies that have solving this issue in mind throughout their entire business model. Recently I was happy to discover the company Londrebodywear,  co-founded by Ainsley Rose + Hannah Todd, which I discovered when I was searching for a new bikini for my upcoming vacation to Mexico. Londre differentiates itself from other swimsuit companies as it offers swimsuits made from discarded water bottles that have been collected from the streets of Taiwan. These bottles are then processed into fibres and formed into fabrics. The fibre is a “certified eco friendly fibre called chitosante, which is made of crushed shells that are a byproduct of the shellfish industry”.2 Then “fairly paid awesome people” at a factory in East Vancouver cut and sew the fabric and package the suits in biodegradable materials which are then shipped to the customer, making the company’s entire value chain ethical and sustainable!

I was most impressed that the clothes were made locally in Vancouver and that the packaging was biodegradable. I find local, environmental and fashionable clothing a trifecta that is extremely hard to come by when it comes to sustainable clothing. The issue of plastic waste from online orders is another issue altogether, but Londre was able to find a solution to that problem. The company started with clear values of their love of the environment and sustainability and then went above and beyond to tackle multiple issues most fashion brands ignore by;

• Removing and reducing waste in international countries
• Boycotting cheap international labour
• Improving the local economy with local manufacturing
• Repurposing indestructible microplastics into adorable swimsuits; and
• Creating a sustainable solution to distribution with biodegradable packaging

Londre proves that it absolutely possible to create products that help the environment and the local community at the same time, while also meeting business needs by creating a profit. It makes me wonder why other companies are unable to follow such a model, especially as Londre is small yet growing rapidly with international recognition and endorsement from celebrities and magazines. If Londre can do it. H&M, Zara and other culprits of the “52-weeks of fast fashion” must be able to do so as well. I believe it is time we change our habits, think about what we buy, and choose to support companies that care about us and our planet. Londre shows us that sustainable fashion is possible, profitable, and successful so it is time we consumers are all part of the solution, and it starts with who we choose to consume from.

References

1. http://www.greenimpact.group.shef.ac.uk/wordpress/the-problem-with-fast-fashion/
2. https://londrebodywear.com/pages/the-story