Students at the University of Portsmouth are celebrating Fashion Revolution Week by bringing light to a controversial issue in the industry; fast fashion. With online shopping sites such as Shein and Aliexpress gaining traction for their small price tag, low quality garments are more accessible than ever.

 

Fashion Revolution Week was established after the Rana Plaza collapse in 2013, which saw the death of over 1000 people at a fast fashion factory.

 Issues of worker’s rights, overconsumption and the impact of fast fashion have been very contentious in recent years. Due to the low prices of fast fashion offers, many people view these garments as disposable. In fact, the amount of occasions consumers wear their clothes before throwing them away has decreased by more than 30% in the past 15 years. This is due , in part, to the quality of fast fashion garments, which has reduced drastically in recent years. 

 

The swap was alongside a week of events focusing on sustainability in fashion. I was quite surprised to see quite a lot of 'trendy' items and big name brands; especially considering I'd arrived later on. There was a lovely sense of community as there were many students on hand to help out. 

 

As well as the volunteers, concerns about the impact of this new wave of consumerism were shared by those who attended. When speaking to Malachi, a customer at the event, he explained to me that ‘ the treatment of garment workers has impacted [his] reluctant use of fast fashion’ as well as the quality. 

With big name brands such as ‘topman’ appearing at the clothes swap, is this approach the answer to the fashion industry? It seems so, with students stating that ‘the clothes swap is a great idea’ and that they’d like to see this ‘on a larger scale with more variation’. . 

I’m sure we will see the return of the clothes swap, not least for its environmental impact but also the sense of community it has brought to the university.